I autocrossed my S2000 once with the ABS disabled (wheel speed sensor went bad). I was surprised by how often I locked the inside front wheel trail braking into corners.

Two conclusions from this experience:

1. You may be using your ABS more than you think -- I was never conscious of the fact that my ABS was modulating the brakes until it stopped doing so.

2. The S2000's brake bias is far enough forward to be drivable without ABS, at least on an early AP1.

 

P.S. - Your engine bay will also look cleaner if you remove your intake and exhaust manifolds.

 

Spinning off on the inside of a turn has nothing to do with ABS.

 

It'll look even cleaner if you connect the two manifolds together... DEI FTW!

I think we've gone way above and beyond the OP's initial question.

I think the answer to the original question and many future questions by josh is:

1. Honda engineers don't suck.
2. No home garage or ebay mod is going to make a slow driver fast.
3. As for minor weight reduction mods... see #2.

 

I agree ckit. ABS is staying lol thanks for putting up with my random thoughts and questions.

 

best way to get rid of abs is to eat lots of mc donalds, drink lots of beer and don't leave the couch.

 

Again, I havn't pulled the fuse to see what the static bias is, but like I said, a lot of cars do rely on modern ABS systems and are undriveable without them.

FWIW all Koni Challenge ST and GS racecars utilize OEM ABS systems. Racecars without ABS systems have dual master cylinders and a lot of engineering and testing behind them to find the right balance.


Modern ABS systems (including the S2000) are VERY good. Don't disable it.

 

and I can confirm we have VERY rear bias stock. I've lost my abs on track before.

 

always depends on your car too which axle locks up first.

Tires/geometrie/weight balance etc

i do lockup front first when the s no ABS

 

Transformation into a legit conversation FTW

Here's a potentially interesting tidbit for you guys:

In a position I used to hold at a car manufacturer, we did some testing on ABS efficiency. Myself and a co-worker instrumented a car with GPS equipment and a box of accelerometers and measured deceleration from 85 to 0 mph. We did several stops with ABS on and then did several "best effort" stops with ABS off. With ABS on, braking for this particular vehicle was a little under 1G. With ABS off, I was able to get a peak decel of 1.1G's, but couldn't sustain it. It was really tough to hold a peak decel without locking a wheel, even for just a blip of time. That to me - for myself at least - means I'm better off with ABS on since I don't have the pedal control to achieve a higher consistent decel, especially in a performance driving situation. I'm sure some of you guys can do it and trail brake into a corner without any fuss ...but I'm keeping my stuff in since I'm more likely to lock and slide. I've also got an '04 AP2 so ESC/brake assist doesn't step in and mess things up. ABS actually seems to come in smoothly and it's a little easier to identify the threshold on the S2K than it is on other cars.

To the OP: dude, keep ABS on. The likelihood of you being able to stop better than ABS is pretty low. On the street in an emergency reaction, you'd probably do what most people would do - jam the pedal. ABS will keep you in check. In most modern systems you can even steer a little too, at least to avoid something.