The Feel of ABS Braking seems wrong
About a week ago, I had a somewhat uncomfortable incident occur in my 2001 Audi TT Quattro. I was coming around a sharp corner at night only to meet two vehicles stranded in the middle of the road.
I instantly hit the brakes pretty hard, and felt them start to stop the car - then suddenly I felt a grinding, pulsating resistance from the brake peddle and lost an enormous amount of braking power. I was able to steer clear of the two vehicles, but if the other lane had been occupied I would have struck them.
I know in describing this, it sounds like the way standard ABS brakes operate, but I remember having to hit the brakes one other time like this (before I put on new brake pads two months ago) and the car stopped rapidly and without any violent grinding noise.
After inspecting the brakes myself, I took them to a mechanic who also found nothing mechanically wrong with them. It makes me wonder if there is something specifically wrong with the ABS system itself.
I no longer feel the brakes are capable of preventing a close-call accident due to this slipping, grinding problem. Has anyone had a similar problem, or know of a possible cause. Am I just being paranoid?
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