Well, crap.

 

Hondaguy put ABS in his RS too, the car that KingTut now owns. If he pops in maybe he can elaborate on it.

I rarely hit ABS on track. Maybe for a second in some of the downhill hard braking zones at WGI. Coming into the heel, or T1, combined with taking a late point by. That's with DTC60's and street tires.

 

to get rid of the ABS in the X was really had and complicated. In fact that was one of the biggest reason why i had to ditch the OEM ECU.

With out ABS the braking a lot more predictable, you can go harder in braking , but the main reason is when u lets say lift a wheel of the surface, either bumps or tripod or jump the ABS could interrupt the car attitude you set up. Also on very slippery surface its even more noticeable.
It can make you turn wider since takes over your braking etc.

BUT for those who didt drive enough without ABS , can be dangerous. Its all about tire choice in my opinion.

I had the IX RS and the X without ABS absolutely love it. MY street X does have it , but just way to much job and money to get rid of it properly.

 

ABS module in my VIII GSR failed about 6 months ago, so I've been skkrt skkrt'ing about pretty regularly. I usually find the limit and lockup about once per autoX event, usually in an early run trying to figure out what works and what doesnt. Doesnt seem to make much difference to me, in fact I think my reaction to fix a lockup by slightly lifting and getting back in it is quicker than my reaction (if any) to the ABS activating, or just staying in it and letting ABS sort out the mess. It is certainly more eye opening, clearly communicating which tire(s) were unhappy with what input(s).

 

I'm all for that, except for someone above mentioned the ABS unit takes care of our brake bias. So what happens to that if the ABS ECU is disconnected?

 

Thats why I wanted to bring up my own example. I dont think the ABS module actually does take care of brake bias, I surely would have noticed the change during all the daily driving and autocross I was doing when the abs light started flickering.

I will say tho, the only verification I have of the "ABS module is fried" is from the Mitsu tech that plugged in the OBD2 Mitsu Scan tool, he "could not get it to connect with the ABS computer". I asked and he clarified "only the ABS computer would not connect", so his interpretation was that it was fried. He was otherwise pretty knowledgeable so I dont have reason to doubt, just sharing as a not 100% certainty since I am not a full fledged ABS-does-not-exist-in-my-car, car. Is it possible ABS is gone but biasing is still functioning, I would have no idea.

My ABS does not work and my bias is unchanged, take it as you will.

 

Seems theres a lot of guessing here on how it works. I havent looked into how our ABS system works but I bet the info is available either here or in the FSM.

 

talking out of my *** but it probably proportions mechanically in the block in the top of the abs module ( where all the lines connect) via hole size or something so if the unit fails it still works in that aspect.

 

Since the bias valves are typically a mechanical unit, I'd also *assume* they just integrated it into the unit, as opposed to being controlled by a computer, which wouldn't make much sense.

 

When my ABS went out (bad wheel speed sensor), the rears locked first when threshold braking in a straight line. Like most modern cars, I think the brake bias (at the limit) is contolled by the ABS pump. This is also evidenced by most modern cars wearing rear brake pads out first, including the Evo when it's not driven in anger.

The STM ABS delete kit includes a new brake master, lines, and what looks like proportioning valves.

 

Could that just be how the car is setup (biased to the rear)? That would make the car a bit more safe and stable for the public, along with rake, etc; nice and stable in a straight line. With ABS, they could get away with having the rear bias and not worry about the car locking up. Is that what you are talking about?
Just thinking out loud, since manufacturers like to set cars up for safety, as opposed to performance.
If not, then never mind

 

ABS will obviously artificially affect ur brake bias as it can detect each wheel speed and adjust the braking force to whichever caliper when it detects a lock up. But and im just assuming here, under normal braking you will have the factory set brake bias and it will not be variably changing as such via the abs unit until it detects a lockup.

In saying that. You need to leave the actual electronic ecu module plugged in. unless u feel like rewiring half of the wires to the ecu and bridging them over for the wheelspeed sensors etc as the ACD ECU is wired via the ABS ecu. There is a howto on EvoM to do this but its pretty full on.

If your ABS Ecu is fried i woulda expected you to be getting ACD faults also.

The way i was shown and the way i deleted my ABS system was to removed the mechanical module in the engine bay with the pipes on it but leave the electronic half attached and plugged in. and just tuck it up in behind the strut tower. apparently if u dont you will get ABS faults which will then affect the ACD function.

 

I don't have ACD so that would not apply for me.

Maybe this weekend, I'll pull my ABS fuse and see if there is any difference. Currently, my fronts lock first, I'll double check on the street tires that is the case and then pull the fuse to see if that or anything else changes.

 

it is all in the service manual... the ABS does indeed control the brake ballance and it does so by following the acceleration sensors. It will also ballance the brake force side to side on later cars to help turn in.

The official way of disabling the ABS is to run a manual 4 port brake ballance valve, as it is done on GrN cars. That way you keep the twin diagonal brake circuit.