I didn't mean to imply that it was unworthy or useless.... just that its not a death trap without it. Its a nice feature. Given the choice I'd have it, but I didn't require my vehicle to have it to feel "safe". After all, my parents felt "safe" putting me in a car without airbags when I was little. Cars without airbags weren't as protective as those with... but I wouldn't quiver in fear being in one.

 

I think another way to look at this, it does not mean you are more likely to get into an accident, just increases your chances to not get into an accident. (not due to someone else crashing into you)

Kind of like watching Deal or no Deal last night, a lady had 11 cases with the top prize out of 26 instead of the normal 1 our of 26 chance & still picked the one that only has $10 in her case. So although her chances of picking a grand prize case increased from, 3.8% to 42%, she still got one of the lowest value cases.

Myself I have never had a car with stability control. The last accident I was in where I was not hit by someone else was in the mid 80's.


Anyway, back on topic, yes the MMH does have AWD. I wonder if the MTH gets a bit better mileage due to the front end design?

 

I just tested the ABS in the 2005 FEH.

The ABS pumps the brakes 3 times every 2 seconds.

Yes, I think a human driver could replicate that. But it is nice to be automatic in most cases. A few times I have wished it wasn't there.

 

There are many times I wish ABS wasn't there. Driving on gravel roads, ABS is just oftentimes downright dangerous. Consider this: you're coming to a stop, and there happens to be a bunch of loose gravel right where you're stopping - enough that all four wheels are on it for a few car lengths. When (trying) stopping with ABS, oftentimes you keep on going just like you're on a bunch of ball bearings - it's an extremely uneasy feeling to hit that pedal and get virtually no response, 'cuz this "intelligent" system decides you shouldn't be locking up wheels. If I could lock up the wheels, you will at least start plowing into the gravel some, more so if you cut the wheels hard. Sure, the stopping distance would be longer than a comparable non-skid stop on a paved road, but on this loose gravel ABS basically means no stopping! There are times like that, and I've driven in it many times, that ABS is just a downright nuisance at a minimum and unsafe at best.

 

You probably observed this slow rate of 'pumping' because you were braking on a high friction surface. ABS computers can react to changing conditions much faster than a human, although as you suggest in some situations locking wheels is better. Here's a description from Ford:

"
Four-wheel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
Standard on all Ford trucks and SUVs except Escape (optional on XL/standard on XLT), the four-wheel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) used by Ford helps provide straight, more controlled stops, while helping the driver maintain steering control under most road conditions, including slippery road surfaces. Here's how the system works:

• ABS computer-controlled sensors prevent wheels from locking up, even when the driver presses hard on the brake pedal
• Sensors continuously monitor the speed of each wheel. When impending wheel lockup is detected, the computer signals the hydraulic control unit to apply and release (automatically pumping) the brakes several times per second with split-second timing, providing a level of braking efficiency that even professional race car drivers cannot duplicate, and resulting in shorter stopping distances and greater braking and steering control

"

 

But is that description really applicable to our hybrids? We have a very, very different braking system than that found on any other production Ford vehicle.

That is why we need an "ABS Active" indicator light when no other Ford vehicles does, because we get no ABS pulse feedback coming back into our brake pedal. Well, until the '09 comes out, and preliminary info indicates that feedback will (finally) be felt in the brake pedal (possibly some sort of "force feedback" servo like that found in game controllers?).

 

The ABS system does give some feedback on hybrids, that's why the previous poster was able to count the pulsations he felt.
I don't see why a hybrid's ABS would work relatively much more slowly than any other ABS-maybe some engineer here can explain?

 

When the computer in the FEH applies the "foundation" regular hydraulic brakes, the hydraulic fluid in the lines and at the wheel cylinder(s) should be no different than in a non-hybrid (this is the pressure that has to be pulsed to prevent loss of traction at the tire).

The feedback felt through the master cylinder in a non-hybrid vehicle would perhaps be different in the hybrid...but the program that senses wheel deceleration and "pulses" the pressure in the hydraulic lines could easily (?) be the same as that in a vehicle with a driver whose foot is pressing the brake pedal firmly to the floor (the way ABS is supposed to be used). The ABS should be programmed to pulse at different rates - whatever is appropriate for each hard braking condition - three times every 2 sec. sounds rather slow. That would not be sufficient to prevent some skids.

I've seen some "ABS" indicator lights on some other (non-hybrid) vehicles.

 

But what happens when the FEH isn't using the "foundation" (what I call friction) brakes? IMHO, that is indeed much different than on a non-hybrid.

 

You are right about that. I forgot that the rear brakes aren't part of the regenerative braking system (and why we have discs back there). If the rear brakes are being pumped by the ABS system, then I can see the driver feeling that, though it would be less of a feeling than if all four wheels were being pumped on a non-hybrid.