Where Is My Abs Unit?

[75coupe]

I have a S2 R33 GTST my friend has a S2 R33 GTST

He has an what we think is the abs unit passenger side rear of engine bay just behind front strut top. He has 4 hydraulic lines going to/from it across back of engine bay.

I have 2 hydraulic lines going across back of engine bay and no abs unit there is a space and two holes where it should bolt.

Does this mean I don't have an abs unit or does anyone know if the abs unit was placed elsewhere on some.

Should I get one is it worthwhile, do some people remove it for drifting...

A bit of topic but my carcoal cannister is just behind front spoiler way down low. My friends is beside the fuse box in engine bay. It's slight differences that make skylines very interesting and damn annoying..

[JimX]

Someone's removed your ABS (most likely to sell) because I can't see why anyone would want to relocate it. Especially if as you say there is now a space where the ABS used to be. Why remove it if you don't need the space?

I personally don't care for ABS. It's usually better to get really good grippy tyres and learn how to brake properly, unless you're driving on a lot of slippery roads all the time. My new car has ABS which I didn't really want, but I'm not going to remove it because it would just devalue the car since it had them from the factory. I drive as if it didn't have them (ie, if wheel locks I back off a bit and squeeze brakes again) but when the ABS kicks in it makes it harder to do this. Probably for the same reason why HICAS can make it harder to steer the car when on the edge of traction.

[Primordial]

Interesting... I didnt think it was possible to 'beat' abs considering the high frequency it pulses at. I heard somewhere that a VERY experienced driver can beat the stopping distance in the dry, but when it comes to cornering under brakes it's very difficult to beat. I could be totally wrong though!

I know I would prefer to have ABS than not, simply for the fact that in a REAL emergency situation, the last thing you should be worrying about is brake pedal pressure and controlling skid. Best left to the ABS in my opinion. It's always going to have a better chance at stopping you in an emergency situation, especially if you're taken by surprise! In the time it takes you to ease off the brake (losing valuable braking time when skid is reached) and press it again (losing valuable time where non-optimal brake force is used), the ABS would have pulsed 20 times, and maintained traction the whole time!

Just my 2c

[Ronin 09]

depends also on the generation of ABS.

the ABS on my 32GTR is old, slow acting, and pulse intervals are long between hits.

good for its time, but far from good now, with current technology beating it by a fair bit.

a good driver might have been able to stop in a comparable or better time than older ABS, but may struggle today.

[JimX]

Interesting... I didnt think it was possible to 'beat' abs considering the high frequency it pulses at. I heard somewhere that a VERY experienced driver can beat the stopping distance in the dry, but when it comes to cornering under brakes it's very difficult to beat. I could be totally wrong though!

I know I would prefer to have ABS than not, simply for the fact that in a REAL emergency situation, the last thing you should be worrying about is brake pedal pressure and controlling skid. Best left to the ABS in my opinion. It's always going to have a better chance at stopping you in an emergency situation, especially if you're taken by surprise! In the time it takes you to ease off the brake (losing valuable braking time when skid is reached) and press it again (losing valuable time where non-optimal brake force is used), the ABS would have pulsed 20 times, and maintained traction the whole time!

Just my 2c

What are you doing cornering under brakes?!

It's not about "beating" ABS, it's moreso that ABS promotes sloppy braking and "takes over" a proper brake and you end up with a mish-mash of stopping power with your foot and the ABS fighting for control. People generally tend to stand on the brakes and let the ABS do its work. I drove my Commodore with ABS like this, and I found that it would kick in and out several times a second, and it was really not a very smooth brake.

The Commodore's ABS was quite easy to "beat" by braking properly, as in holding it just before the point of losing traction and where the ABS kicks in. I don't know if the GTR's ABS is any better, it's probably the same since I think all the units were made by Bosch back then (mid 90's). But the harshness could have also been due to the shitty small calipers on the Commodore, and maybe an inferior processor. Perhaps I should stand on the GTR's brakes and see what happens But as it is I just feel like I'm fighting it when I want to come to a quick stop (for fun, not emergencies). I can't tell if it's me or the ABS that's unlocking the skid.

I've been driving for about 18 years now, and I can count on one hand the amount of times that ABS would have been helpful in an emergency, in a car. And all of those were within my first few years of driving, when I didn't have the road craft to foresee hazards as well as I do now. If the roads are slippery and I can't see far enough ahead, I slow down. I guess it can be good to have ABS when the road gets unexpectedly slippery, but I can't remember the last time that happened. On the most part it just seems unnecessary, like having a parachute for in case I ever accidentally drive off a cliff.

Motorcycles are a different story. I have dumped the bike about 5 times (most of them while learning) and all but one were due to locking up the front wheel from too-sudden front wheel braking. This was mostly due to the bad habits I picked up in the car from "slamming" the brakes on and letting the ABS do its work in the Commodore. If I had ABS on the bike I wouldn't have crashed most of those times, but I'd still probably be slamming the brakes on all over the place. After practicing the proper technique on the bike, I do the same thing in the car now.

I wish the bike had ABS though, because by the time you lock the front wheel, the last thing on your mind is worrying about whether or not you can stop any quicker. I just want to stay upright! If you're in a real emergency on a bike, maintaining the brake pressure to as to not cause a lock is probably the MAIN concern, otherwise down you go!

Ah, I dunno. I'm just basing my opinions on my memories of my old shitty Commodore ABS. A modern ABS system in a BMW would probably be transparent to me and I'd love to have it for those ultra rare emergencies. Maybe the GTR's is somewhere in between so I'll come to appreciate it in time.

[JimX]

Bloody hell, way to get off topic, me! Sorry about that guys

[lingeringsoul]

mine has no abs either,

weight reduction

and forces you to actually learn how to break properly so I got no complaints.

[Primordial]

What are you doing cornering under brakes?!

Trying to avoid the kid that just ran out onto the road!! Would you suggest hitting the gas and drifting around him?

People generally tend to stand on the brakes and let the ABS do its work.

Thats the whole point of ABS... As I said before - the last thing you should be worrying about when a kid steps out in front of you is brake pressure! I assure you that you'd be better of with ABS in an emergency!

I drove my Commodore with ABS like this, and I found that it would kick in and out several times a second, and it was really not a very smooth brake.

Of course... Its a commodore! But this is the point of ABS - to stop the car -! not to provide you with a smooth comforting stop when you mash the brake pedal for 'fun'

The Commodore's ABS was quite easy to "beat" by braking properly, as in holding it just before the point of losing traction and where the ABS kicks in.

What's your chances of holding the brake at the exact brake pressure to prevent skid in an emergency? very slim to none IMO

Anyway.. I think we are talking about different situations. I agree, general road driving and racing don't require ABS at all, it is even borderline annoying! But i'm talking about the time in a car when somthing happens, the "Woooaahh SH*T!" moments. You haven't got the time to manage your brake pressure in these situations.. 99.5 people out of 100 are going to mash the brake pedal! In which case, ABS is by FAR more beneficial for EVERY CAR. The good far, far outweighs the bad!

Back on topic:

Removing ABS for weight reasons is pretty weird.. The unit would only weigh 1-2kg max. I would more likely say that they sold it! I bought a 2nd hand ABS unit when mine died. The OEM ones were horrendously expensive from nissan (as most stuff is!), but I picked one up for $80 that works perfectly!

Are you sure that ABS was standard on the S2? I have a feeling that it may have still been an option, as in 1996 ABS was still fairly expensive..

Having only 2 brake lines running over the firewall would lead you to believe that it never had ABS from the start, so therefore it would have been optional.

[JimX]

What's your chances of holding the brake at the exact brake pressure to prevent skid in an emergency? very slim to none IMO

I want to avoid responding to everything to save an argument, but I will respond to the above. I do it all the time in both my car and motorcycle. If I didn't, I would have dropped the bike a lot more than I have in the last 2 years (none). I've never hit anything other than the road on my bike. I've also never hit a pedestrian or had an accident in my car, ABS or not. Unless you count accidents with footpaths and gutter rash on wheels. But then I think ABS would only help me there if I was trying to park the car Blues Brothers style

The fact that I have dropped the bike several times in the past prior to around 2 years ago, and ABS has never saved me from hitting anything in the car, makes me think it'd be more important to have on a bike than in a car. (knock on wood for all the above!)

Even if ABS saved me from having an accident tomorrow, I still wouldn't regret not having it in some of my previous cars. If it helped on a weekly basis, then I might have a re-think.

[Primordial]

I do it all the time in both my car and motorcycle.

You do it all the time?

I think you're mis-understanding my definition of 'emergency'... Emergency is not having to brake hard because someone indicated late when turning into a side-street! Anyway, this is a pointless debate. My point is simply that 99.5 out of 100 drivers are much better off WITH ABS. You must be that 0.5 of 100

[godzl1975]

Good to have ABS on normal street driving and not so good on the track. think thats what your both trying to say??? lol

[75coupe]

Thanks for everyones comments...

I've decided based on those comments, I will not be requiring abs as I've never had it before, don't want to get lazy now...

[skylinecouple]

Just my own two cents,I really don`t think you had ABS in the first place as it was an option and almost every new owner asked for it or the dealer ordered the car with it as it was like a couple of hundred bucks from the factory so the dealer like australian dealers just assume everybody wants it.In your case the owner ordered the car without,prbably thought he or she could save some bucks.By the way,I believe every car should have them.After thirty years of track and road I know I won`t have time to think about brake control in an emergency.

[siksII]

as far as i know (and makes sense too) abs is not really to reduce stopping distance but more to allow steering while its doing its thing.

when u lock up the wheels u have very little chance of steering but if u have abs it is a lot easier to steer the car while the brakes are pulsing.

in your case u probably did not have it from factory, and personally i prefer r33 gts-ts, 300zxs, and 200sx's without abs as they all have much less feel than the same model without abs. r33gtrs in my experience still have good brake feel, they use different calipers etc which would explain the difference if not the ABS unit/software itself being much different. anothing thing that annoys me on the other nissans is that the abs kicks in too early, this is once again different on gtr's.

[r33_racer]

I have a 96 S2 33 and it has no abs...my mates s14 s2 96 has abs..my bros 96 s2 r33 also has no abs...but our s2 33 97 model came with abs.

[Primordial]

I have a 96 S2 33 and it has no abs...my mates s14 s2 96 has abs..my bros 96 s2 r33 also has no abs...but our s2 33 97 model came with abs.

My R33 S2 '96 came with ABS, so it was obviously an option on all GTS-T's (Except maybe 40th Anniv.)