1986 Solo 2 Corvette
09-21-2014, 10:07 AM
#21
Melting Slicks
)... Our story at the time was that we used the ABS so hard it blew the fuse, and I'm still sticking too that.....Not long after that the SCCA came up with a ruling that basically said you can't disable a feature that isn't supposed to be turned off by removing or "blowing" a fuse. We also used to get ice mode regularly at the fairgrounds in Ionia where there was often crap on the braking zone for one or two corners. I tried to pull all the fuses for the ABS on my 94 there, and still couldn't turn it off. Don't know where the darn thing was getting power from, but pulling the fuses still didn't shut it down like I could in the earlier cars.
The ABS in the C4 isn't as sophisticated as the C5, but it has the same problem that if you get a wheel in the air or hit on a sandy surface you can still get ice mode. On just about any typical autocross it was never an issue, but probably 3 or 4 times in my 14 years of running C4's I had situations where I would get it in one particular place and it would happen on every lap. Earlier cars could be disabled by just blowing one fuse, but later C4's had a different system that wasn't easily disabled. I think the problem is worse with lighter stickier tires (Hoosiers) and very light wheels (I used to have a set of Corvette Challenge magnesium wheels and they were worse because with Hoosiers they were really light).
09-21-2014, 10:21 AM
#22
Burning Brakes
You can get into "Ice Mode" on C4's, been there, done that, plenty of times. There was one Pro Solo in Cincinnati in 1990 or 91 where all of the C4's had a blown fuse in the ABS system or we would have all been hitting a curb. There was a hump in the lot and you had to start braking before that, but when you went over the hump you got a wheel in the air and everybody was getting into ice mode. Somehow all of the C4's blew their ABS fuse (I blew a couple of them )... Our story at the time was that we used the ABS so hard it blew the fuse, and I'm still sticking too that.....Not long after that the SCCA came up with a ruling that basically said you can't disable a feature that isn't supposed to be turned off by removing or "blowing" a fuse.
We also used to get ice mode regularly at the fairgrounds in Ionia where there was often crap on the braking zone for one or two corners. I tried to pull all the fuses for the ABS on my 94 there, and still couldn't turn it off. Don't know where the darn thing was getting power from, but pulling the fuses still didn't shut it down like I could in the earlier cars.
The ABS in the C4 isn't as sophisticated as the C5, but it has the same problem that if you get a wheel in the air or hit on a sandy surface you can still get ice mode. On just about any typical autocross it was never an issue, but probably 3 or 4 times in my 14 years of running C4's I had situations where I would get it in one particular place and it would happen on every lap. Earlier cars could be disabled by just blowing one fuse, but later C4's had a different system that wasn't easily disabled. I think the problem is worse with lighter stickier tires (Hoosiers) and very light wheels (I used to have a set of Corvette Challenge magnesium wheels and they were worse because with Hoosiers they were really light).
)... Our story at the time was that we used the ABS so hard it blew the fuse, and I'm still sticking too that.....Not long after that the SCCA came up with a ruling that basically said you can't disable a feature that isn't supposed to be turned off by removing or "blowing" a fuse. We also used to get ice mode regularly at the fairgrounds in Ionia where there was often crap on the braking zone for one or two corners. I tried to pull all the fuses for the ABS on my 94 there, and still couldn't turn it off. Don't know where the darn thing was getting power from, but pulling the fuses still didn't shut it down like I could in the earlier cars.
The ABS in the C4 isn't as sophisticated as the C5, but it has the same problem that if you get a wheel in the air or hit on a sandy surface you can still get ice mode. On just about any typical autocross it was never an issue, but probably 3 or 4 times in my 14 years of running C4's I had situations where I would get it in one particular place and it would happen on every lap. Earlier cars could be disabled by just blowing one fuse, but later C4's had a different system that wasn't easily disabled. I think the problem is worse with lighter stickier tires (Hoosiers) and very light wheels (I used to have a set of Corvette Challenge magnesium wheels and they were worse because with Hoosiers they were really light).
I agree with this ,Got up on a curb -pedal went hard . That was a big off . I looked for a fuse on my 86 , none that I can find .
09-21-2014, 02:57 PM
#23
Melting Slicks
I'm a believer in ABS and even if I was doing track work I wouldn't disable it. But sometimes there are going to be situations where it'll get into ice mode (usually because of some roughness of the track right where you are hitting the pedal) and it will happen with consistency. In those cases I'd disable the system.
The good thing about the ABS in a C4 is that disabling it doesn't mess up the brake bias (as it does on later cars) so you can get away with disabling it on a C4 and not screw up the bias.
09-21-2014, 07:11 PM
#24
Safety Car
Well then. You learn something everyday. I've never even heard of C4 into ice mode or experienced it until today. I stand corrected. I hear and see it with C5 and newer all the time. Then again how many crazy guys like ourselves are still running C4's?
09-21-2014, 08:28 PM
#25
Burning Brakes
The 86 in question and a much modded 8585 never goes into ice mode
The 94 we had had real problems with ice mode, our 89 rarely as well as the 86. Not sure if solofast ever replaced that blown fuse
Maybe I should look.
Last edited by greendot; 09-21-2014 at 08:29 PM. Reason: spelling
09-22-2014, 08:19 AM
#26
Burning Brakes
Im not sure I understand the post . Am I wrong ???
09-22-2014, 08:32 AM
#29
Burning Brakes
Several times that day I had a weird pedal . Blackhawk farms road course on well worn A6s . I would get into ABS at certain parts of the track . Its hard to judge braking distance with the abs pump . I could not actually hear the pump . but the car didn't slow as expected or lock up a tire .I just backed off a bit .