Braking and hitting bumps

[spyguy]

Whats the reason when I'm braking, and I go over a bump, I feel like the brakes let up a little, or feels like the ABS kicks in for a brief second. Is there a way to get rid of this?

upgrade calipers? rotors? stainless steel lines? turn the VSA off may help?

Thanks.

[nychousehero]

Whats the reason when I'm braking, and I go over a bump, I feel like the brakes let up a little, or feels like the ABS kicks in for a brief second. Is there a way to get rid of this?

upgrade calipers? rotors? stainless steel lines? turn the VSA off may help?

Thanks.

Hmmmm...for lack of a better "technical" explanation...it just sounds like the car is "hopping" a bit. Meaning that when you're going over a bump at speed it almost feels like the car "hops". Many smaller cars do this...although I'm unsure why. My Nissan Sentra SE-R did this...my VW GTi...even my Nissan Alitma. The TSX isn't as bad...but it seems to happen when I'm going over a bump at speed and turning at the same time. Hope that helps...

[spyguy]

You're absolutely right, it only seems to happen when you're at an above normal speed (whatever that means!).

A friend of mine suggested, tires with better side walls, cause the stocks ones are soft and bouncey.

Also, stiffer springs & damper. If stiffer springs are the answer, anyone installed stiffer ones, while maintaining the same ride height? did this alleviate the "problem"?

Thanks.

[Duke]

No, that probably won't eliminate the problem. Stiffness in fact will probably make it worse.

What happens is that the impact bounces the tire either momentarily off the ground or perhaps just unloads it a bit without leaving the ground. Either way, traction is reduced as the load is reduced, so the braking force is not being met by the momentum of the car and the tire begins to lock up slightly. If strong enough, the ABS will kick in. If it's not quite strong enough to summon the ABS, you're feeling the reduced traction as reduced braking force.

[spyguy]

No, that probably won't eliminate the problem. Stiffness in fact will probably make it worse.

What happens is that the impact bounces the tire either momentarily off the ground or perhaps just unloads it a bit without leaving the ground. Either way, traction is reduced as the load is reduced, so the braking force is not being met by the momentum of the car and the tire begins to lock up slightly. If strong enough, the ABS will kick in. If it's not quite strong enough to summon the ABS, you're feeling the reduced traction as reduced braking force.


so you're saying there's no way to try to elliminate that effect?

its just a characteristic of a front wheel drive car that I have to live with?

[Duke]

Any car - FWD, AWD, RWD - is going to complain about braking and turning at the same time on a rough road. My old Supra danced like it had tap shoes on on rough pavement.

[Noel]

None, the ABS configuration on the CL9 is set to a high sensitivity like most Hondas. Once it detects un-even surface or road condition under braking, it will activate. It's a safety nature of the car. You'd just need to adapt driving with it or completely disable it, which I will not recommend unless you've well experience in doing so.

[salaki]

Same thing w/ my STi too sometime.

You can always make a switch to switch ABS on and off when needed :D

(You may void Insurance coverage in an accident and may void car warranty)

[Write in]

I notice a sound as well. It sounds like something is vibrating under the floor.