2010 brake failure - unintended acceleration

[why?]

Originally Posted by vector9mm

If I remember, Consumer Reports bitched about the Yaris having optional ABS a few years back and it not being standard equipment. I thought at the time that it's better to have a choice. My 2008 came with ABS, but if there was a Yaris like mine without it for cheaper, I'd have bought it. ABS is one more thing to go wrong and get in the way in my book. I'm a minimalist.

that's a fact. I'll always hate abs. It might help in certain situations, but it can never possibly help as much as a well trained driver.

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by Flipper_1938

That is exactly how my 2010 sedan acted in the snow a couple of days ago. I am liking my Yaris less and less. Toyota has gone to hell in a handbasket in my opinion. My 2001 Echo was a great car, much better than this POS.

What makes the Yaris a POS in your eyes? You've demonstrated in other posts that you understand what ABS does and yet you call it a POS because it's doing what it is designed to do. You're free to dislike ABS. I don't like it and clearly many others don't. It does seem to take longer to stop when sliding than if you had more control. It's not just the Yaris. ALL cars work the same way. They pulsate and scare you when you're in a slide.

Fact is, is that the Yaris is one of the top 5 most reliable cars on earth. Hardly a POS.

Originally Posted by Steveh27

Thanks to all the posters. I did take it to the dealer & after a test drive he said it is the normal operation of the ABS on snow & ice. I've never had ABS before & it sure surprised me & scared me a bit. I didn't like it. It took more distance to stop than I would have without it, and it's noisy, and the brake pedal reaction is stiff. Felt like i had lost control of the car & it was in charge. Still unsure as to how much pressure to put on pedal when this happens. Sorry for the alarming OP title, but I was alarmed.

Well, at least now you know how ABS works.

It is surprising that people are still just finding out about this. ABS has been on cars since the early 1970's. And commonplace since the '90's. The Yaris was probably the last car to make them standard and now everyone's complaining that it has them. Go figure.

[OTB]

from the discussion above, I would certainly claim cars have gotten WORSE in the past 10 years (ok, probably 30 years). The thing I love most about my '07 yaris is the things it doesn't have: (abs, tpms, power windows and mirrors, sunroof, traction control, etc.) Just more stupid $hit to deal with. Why the hell does a yaris come with traction control? Do mopeds come with traction control too nowadays?

I'm a huge car fan, and it breaks my heart to see what the manufacturers offer nowadays (most likely due to their majority market.)

What if....we were actually responsible for controlling our vehicle or inspecting our own vehicle for safe operation? No, instead, we'll just make a sensor for that, then the sensor will fail, then.....

[DebbyM46227]

Originally Posted by OTB

What if....we were actually responsible for controlling our vehicle or inspecting our own vehicle for safe operation? No, instead, we'll just make a sensor for that, then the sensor will fail, then.....

I agree with you, and I think for the most part we have the Federal Government to blame for most of it. They think we can't take care of things ourselves.

[MUSKOKA800]

When unfamiliar with ABS the drivers first reaction to the buzzing pedal is to lift your foot. This of course results in no braking. Find a snow covered parking lot and become familiar with that ABS sensation in a controlled environment. Learn your car before the next stop light or worse, an emergency situation.

Good Luck!

[Zaphod]

With well practiced compression/engine braking up front and cable/emergency braking to the rear, not only can you bypass the ABS system, but you have complete control to manually balance the front to rear ratio yourself.

Something that I would definitely suggest practicing well before implementing in an emergency situation, but it's a tool to anyone with a manual transmission. I've always felt that everyone should be able to stop their cars smoothly from any speed with the cable and compression braking anyway.

The cable brake is after all your emergency brake, and if you can balance it with good engine braking at the front of the car consistently, you're far more prepared for an unfortunate master cylinder failure, brake line leak or whatever else could happen to your hydraulic braking system regardless of road conditions.

[.Kevin.]

I live in Canada, same gear shit happens.

Dumbasses ever wonder if its uh I don't know? SNOW in the damn wheel well geeze. Just pump the breaks or stop driving like it's a truck you anus nothings wrong with the car, it's a great car.

[p123456789]

I'm glad mine doesnt have abs my car has like no options its basicly an engine and trans lol, it does have the rare optional alloy wheels.

[cherry tomato]

Most people don't have experience driving their ABS equipped vehicles when there is limited or lessened traction so they get suprised and think it is not functioning properly when the vehicle doesn't stop as quickly as they think it should. ABS reduces the brakeline pressure when it senses the wheel slowing down to quickly. If there is little traction, such as snow, ice, dirt roads, this is going to happen with hardly any pressure needed on the break pedal. It does this so the tires keep rolling and you can maintain directional control.
I drive alot off-road in many different trucks and have found that ABS will increase the stopping distance as compared to trucks without it because it doesn't allow you to skid the wheels. It can be scary at times because it seems like the brakes don't work. It would be nice if they could be turned off for certain situations, but due to legal issues, I understand why manufactures don't do this.

[auxmike]

I hate ABS!
Try going downhill on an asphalt road with built up sand from the snowplow's spreader. My ABS would NOT allow my car to stop! Had to use the handbrake to to avoid slamming into my friend's Fiero in front of me.
This was a '93 Saturn, BTW.....

[echaru]

Yeah, the ABS is troublesome. I got into a accident on Monday because of it. A car in front of be braked and I braked. There was some ice on the road, so the ABS turned on and stop my car too quickly. The car behind me didn't have ABS and I got rear ended. I was pissed, I just bought my car less than 3 months ago. My car is now officially broken in.

[Zaphod]

Originally Posted by echaru

Yeah, the ABS is troublesome. I got into a accident on Monday because of it. A car in front of be braked and I braked. There was some ice on the road, so the ABS turned on and stop my car too quickly. The car behind me didn't have ABS and I got rear ended. I was pissed, I just bought my car less than 3 months ago. My car is now officially broken in.

I hope you are just being sarcastic.

You do realize that you could have taken your foot off the brake to stop slower, right? If you had to stop that fast to avoid an accident, you were too close to the car in front of you, because even if you can stop as fast the car in front of you, the guy behind you may not be able to as you just observed. If you hadn't mashed the brakes, they wouldn't have locked up and the ABS wouldn't have kicked on in the 1st place.

Ok, here's the deal ... in icy conditions you leave yourself lots of room. You always stay aware of who's around you, how close they are to you and even whether or not they're paying attention themselves.

In any weather, you want to know who's eating hamburgers, fries or picking their nose, whose texting, or yacking on their phones, who's fidgeting with their GPS system, who's racing each other, etc ... You want to be able to predict the accidents before they occur so that the fools don't involve your vehicle with their accidents. You should drive to never need brakes at all, control the traffic behind you and always try to plan for a path to swerve into a different lane, shoulder of the road, etc ... Kind of like if you're flying a plane and always looking for that place to land in an emergency. Finally, you should always be scanning way ahead in traffic with a good idea of who's doing what.

[echaru]

Yes I was being sarcastic. Any how, I had plenty of space in front of me, but the car behind me was just being an ass because I drove a Yaris. You know, smaller car smaller engine, if you tailgate them the car will go faster. And also, it is impossible to swerve in to shoulder lane when you are at a complete stop.

Anyway, I wasn't eating hamburgers, fries, or picking my nose or anything. I was reading a book, watching youtube on my Android, and doing my homework at the same time. So it wasn't anything dangerous. Next time I won't use the brake at all, I'll use my Jedi force to control the traffic.