ABS

No no, not those kind of Abs, but A.B.S which stands for anti lock braking system. ABS was first developed for airplanes in 1929. This is important because when the plane lands, the last thing we want is the wheel to lock up and the plain skids to its doom. We all learned threshold braking in driving school, which basically not to press the brake pedals too hard that it will lock up the wheels. Somehow during panic and emergency situation, all you want to do is step on the pedal and pray for dear life. Chrysler and Bendix cooperation introduced a rear ABS (works only on the rear wheel, since rear wheel usually lock up first than the front wheels) on 1971 Imperial. Bosch and Mercedes Benz fitted 4 wheel (front and rear wheel) multi channel ABS for its 1978 Mercedes S Class.

ABS basically works by rapidly pulsating (applying brake and then release it) up to 20 times per second, so the wheel never locks up but will slow down. It will do this until the vehicle reaches 5km/h before it performs like a normal brake.

This is particulary important on wet road where tires will lock up easily thus looses it ability to grip the road which in turn causes us to loose control of our cars, which can be deadly. However on loose soil, gravel or sand, ABS increases the distance. The reason for is that normal braking system will lock the wheel, and accumulation of soil, gravel and sand will form in front of the tires which will help stop the vehicle. Modern cars that actually go off road (SUV, Trucks, etc) have sensors that can lock the wheel up to allow build up of dirt in front of the tires to shorted stopping distance.

Many modern cars now offer ABS as an option or standard equipment. The Viva, Myvi, Kembara, Nautica, Persona, Gen2, Waja, Satria Neo, Satria Gti, Perdana and Exora offers this on their higher end models. Kancil, Kelisa, Kenari, Rusa, Saga Iswara, Saga, Satria, Arena, and Wira does not. Most of the imported car in Malaysia have this as a standard feature.