I still have one Volvo left - an 88 240. If I were to buy a newer one with ABS, I was wondering if it would be safe for my wife and I to go back and forth between two cars, one with ABS and one without, since they behave differently. Any wisdom on this?

Are ABS systems harder to maintain?

Thanks!

Sure. Why not? It is just a matter of using each system properly. I prefer ABS because you can just plant your foot and let it do the work, but you don't lose the sense of having to pump the brakes when you actually go into a proper skid. Plus the absence of brake pedal hammering is something that clues you into a bad situation about to happen, once you feel traction break.

The system (on 240s) isn't bad to maintain. I change the fluid once in a while but not that often. I bleed the system when I change the brake pads. Other than that, the 240 system is simple. The only other common problem area is the rear axle sensor wire, which has been known to break because of axle travel.

It wont be a problem as long as she knows how to use both at the limit. I think it's a good idea to practice a emergency stop now and then in an open road, in different conditions to keep up the correct technique. My 83' 242 Turbo can outbrake many cars (stock brakes), beacuse the tires have such good traction (AA traction rated, Dunlop D60A2) and i can hold it at threshold before locking up. ABS is nice beacuse the car can be steered much easier during a stop, but in some conditions like gravel and snow, regualr brakes are sometimes better. As long as she is a confident driver, it should be ok. Learn threshold braking, and regular brakes will work just fine (don't just pump the brakes, keep em down firm until its about to skid, or skids shortly, then just let up a touch, and re apply.)

You might like your 88 brakes more. First off they are world class stoppers. They are quieter and easier to maintain. I guess ABS is superior under some conditions but the difference when comparing to a qauality set up like the Volvo 240 is nil. It is much more dangerous to switch from an autoimatic from your M47, IMHO. I hate punching the brakes thinking they are clutch.

Victor,

My 240 doesn't have ABS, my 850 does. ABS through the aid of sensors at each wheel will activate when very hard braking is applied. It simply prevents the wheels from locking-up by responding very quickly and in-turn pumping the calipers till a complete stop. The logic is that without wheel lock-up inturn preventing a skid, a driver can continue to steer the car out of a potential problem, always giving the driver as much control as possible. This feature will go largly ignored with day to day driving, but will come to life the first time you slam on the brakes. If you have replaced your pads in the past or any other maintenance work on your '92 brakes, there is no reason why you can't continue doing the same on a car with ABS. Bleeding the system however is a little more work as the master cylinder (with attached control module) requires more care in fluid replacement. Are they harder to maintain? Generally no, but you do have additional parts that can fault and it's not uncommon to hear of sensors being replaced. Our '94 850 has never had a fault with the system and continues to operate trouble-free. You may be interested to know that the "Tracs" feature on newer Volvos uses the ABS hardware to eliminate wheel spin from a dead start...

Brakes should behave the same. ABS will only come into action when things go wrong. If you are relying on ABS frequently your drive style is such you will end up in an accident regardsless of ABS. I say a good driver benefits from ABS mabye once a year and only becouse he did something supid which could have been avoided (drive slower, keep distance etc)

I have been driving cars without ABS for 15 years (including ice and snow), never had an accident, never had a need for ABS. Personally I wouldn't buy a car with ABS, only more to go wrong/maintain. Just drive carefully.

One of the main safety features of the 240 is that you can't really drive it hard, best safety feature there is.

Happy drivin'

Reg,

Oh my god. My ABS goes off almost every time it rains and ALL THE TIME when it snows! Or when there are wet leaves on the ground, etc.

Actually, I use it sometimes to judge the condition of the roads (oil, ice, etc.) It is a good indicator without getting into trouble first.

...I mean Jorn! (I should have known Reg. was short for regards!)

Quite all right, most people pronounce my name as 'yawn', I like Reg better!

Regards,

Reg,

Thanks for the info. I actually would prefer no ABS (and no airbag), but if I see a nice '92 or '93 240 wagon, I don't want to rule it out.

The airbag sounds bad to some people. I know a guy who hit a bear at 70mph with his car. The seatbelt malfunctioned and didn't lock, but the airbag kept him from extremely serious injury, as the car was totally demolished.

Lots of people hate airbags in less serious collisions, but are very happy to have them in big wrecks where the chance of injury is much greater. Ditto ABS, which can be a headache but is a nice feature. I was recently driving through the Porcupine mountains during a snowstorm, on some little, curvy, icy, unplowed roads, and ABS was really nice. More than I've ever realized.

How tall is your wife? I would not want someone I cared about who was less than 5'3" sitting in front of on of those things.

She's taller than that, but that's a good point. What do really small people do if they need a new car. Can they get the air bag disconnected?

If someone is really short and is buying a new car, they can get pedal extentions, which are adjustable. One would think that these are much safer than sitting right in front of the steering wheel and airbag.