WHEN exactly does the ABS setting activate?

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Hastatus

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I am trying to understand how the ABS setting actually works. In particular I am wondering for the X1 in the Vettel challenge (and I am using a DS3), but this setting impacts all cars and all driving styles I suspect. In the case of the Vettel challenge some people say that ABS 1 is better while others say ABS 10 is better (DS3 users). Obviously this MIGHT be simply a preference thing based on how you drive, but I suspect that in some cases there might actually be a ‘faster setting’ to which it would behoove the driver to adapt their driving style when trying to scrape off that last second, rather than setting it to suit the driver’s driving style.

I understand the relationship between the braking and turning grip power, but what I want to know:

WHEN exactly does the ABS setting impact your car in GT5, i.e. when is it active, when is it not active, and what is it actually doing?

This is what I know: in real life ABS prevents your brakes from locking up WHEN YOU APPLY THE BRAKES. (I am only familiar with older vehicles, so maybe newer cars or race cars have a different system.)

In GT5, however, the ABS setting seems to be doing something when you are not even touching your brakes: this seems to be the case for NASCAR (especially in the NASCAR Driving School Special Event where every guide says to turn ABS off). I have always set my ABS to OFF when driving at Daytona because back when I started that was what people were telling me: “ABS ON slows down your car in the turns even when you are not touching the brakes.” This statement seems to me to be true: it’s just a feeling rather than something I’ve properly tested.

So does ABS actually apply brakes for you when you are turning and not engaging the brakes? If so, does it only do so if you are not applying any throttle and is this where the 1-10 setting comes into play ? Does ABS 1 through 10 only affect your brakes when you are not braking (i.e. will this affect the amount of automatic braking that is done or is it simply altering the amount of grip your tires have when turning)? Does it apply brakes for you when you are off the throttle but not turning?

Is it an anti-lock braking system, an automatic braking system, or both?

I think I’m confusing myself, so I apologize. But any clarification or direction to an appropriate thread would be appreciated. (I did a search for ABS but I suspect searches only work for 4 letters or more and ‘anti-lock’ brake didn’t come up with much.)

Thanks.
 
Hastatus
I am trying to understand how the ABS setting actually works. In particular I am wondering for the X1 in the Vettel challenge (and I am using a DS3), but this setting impacts all cars and all driving styles I suspect. In the case of the Vettel challenge some people say that ABS 1 is better while others say ABS 10 is better (DS3 users). Obviously this MIGHT be simply a preference thing based on how you drive, but I suspect that in some cases there might actually be a ‘faster setting’ to which it would behoove the driver to adapt their driving style when trying to scrape off that last second, rather than setting it to suit the driver’s driving style.

I understand the relationship between the braking and turning grip power, but what I want to know:

WHEN exactly does the ABS setting impact your car in GT5, i.e. when is it active, when is it not active, and what is it actually doing?

This is what I know: in real life ABS prevents your brakes from locking up WHEN YOU APPLY THE BRAKES. (I am only familiar with older vehicles, so maybe newer cars or race cars have a different system.)

In GT5, however, the ABS setting seems to be doing something when you are not even touching your brakes: this seems to be the case for NASCAR (especially in the NASCAR Driving School Special Event where every guide says to turn ABS off). I have always set my ABS to OFF when driving at Daytona because back when I started that was what people were telling me: “ABS ON slows down your car in the turns even when you are not touching the brakes.” This statement seems to me to be true: it’s just a feeling rather than something I’ve properly tested.

So does ABS actually apply brakes for you when you are turning and not engaging the brakes? If so, does it only do so if you are not applying any throttle and is this where the 1-10 setting comes into play ? Does ABS 1 through 10 only affect your brakes when you are not braking (i.e. will this affect the amount of automatic braking that is done or is it simply altering the amount of grip your tires have when turning)? Does it apply brakes for you when you are off the throttle but not turning?

Is it an anti-lock braking system, an automatic braking system, or both?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I don't think you will get any answers that are to be considered as facts, on this board, because nobody here is actually a programmer at PD or has such detailed information about the implementation.

I don't think you should make such a hassle of the ABS setting. If you play with DS3, i suggest you just leave it to ABS=1 (default setting). The reason for this advice, is that it is very hard to play competitive with ABS = 0 in combination with a DS3 controller. It can be done to play 'properly', but i'm convinced you won't break your own records with ABS off on a DS3.

Now my experience with ABS off:
I started with ABS = 0 about a year ago, when i bought my first wheel + pedals (Logitech DFGT). I took me 2 full months to get used to braking effectively with ABS off, despite using pedals. Once i got used to it and it became second nature, i couldn't go back anymore and i still can't.
What i have experienced is that, while ABS is off, wheellock is much more aggressive and faster achieved on highly powered cars (such as a Zonda R), than normal everyday cars (citroen, peugeot, VW golf, etc.). In all aspects, this is with an untouched Brake Bias (Front/Rear = 5/5).

In other words, i noticed that in low powered cars, you have to press the brake pedal much more in order to lock the wheels, than when driving a high powered cars. This makes braking with high powered cars with ABS off a very hard thing (at first! Over time, you'll be able to handle this even without playing with the brake bias setting, but you'll still notice the difference between high en low powered cars).


All i can tell you is: it really isn't worth it that much to make a science out of this issue (whether it is a good or bad thing, i leave that discussion to others). All i can say is that you'd just set ABS to 1 if you play with a DS3 controller, and if you happen to get a wheel + peddals, you might want to switch to ABS = 0. And even though that still takes some practice to fully get used to.........................IT MAKES THE GAME A TRILLION TIMES MORE FUN DRIVING CARS :)


EDIT: as the previous poster, i too have not found ABS = on slowed me in any way while taking turners.
 
it's always on, it allows you to mash the brake pedal any time, just like in mario kart.

with ABS off you have to moderate brake pressure, like when you're on your bicycle.

ABS only activates when you hit the brakes, ASM and TCS kill your speed in corners.
 
I agree with FoxHound and I use the ABS sparingly depending on the car and track. I mostly set them to 0. I have a DFGT wheel too. I haven't noticed any slowing down of the game when the brakes are not applied.
 
Hastatus
In GT5, however, the ABS setting seems to be doing something when you are not even touching your brakes: this seems to be the case for NASCAR (especially in the NASCAR Driving School Special Event where every guide says to turn ABS off). I have always set my ABS to OFF when driving at Daytona because back when I started that was what people were telling me: “ABS ON slows down your car in the turns even when you are not touching the brakes.” This statement seems to me to be true: it’s just a feeling rather than something I’ve properly tested.
Click to expand...

The reason they say to turn it off for the NASCAR special event is that turning it off will also turn off the ASM, which is forced on for the event. Running NASCAR online I do the same laptimes with and without ABS.
 
Hmm. That makes sense, turning off ASM definitely saves time. I have seen that it says that ASM is automatically set to off if ABS is off in the menu. I've never had ASM on. I tried it a couple of times and realized how much is boggs down the car. So then the ABS losing time is really a myth based on a misunderstanding then, which clears up the picture a lot in my head. It must be like a placebo effect.

Now as for ABS1 vs ABS10: I am very sure I wouldn't have golded Nurb with the X1 using ABS1, while I did gain at least a couple seconds with ABS10.
 

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