USAF feels Oleg's pain

[julian265]

Originally Posted by swiss

Well, actually ABS decreases braking distance - on any surface other than on dry tarmac.

I remember following experiment, which involved braking in snow, with and without ABS, with and without winter tires.

ABS vs conventional, winter tires:
ABS<conventional

ABS vs conventional, summer tires:
Conventional<ABS

The latter is explained by the conventional wheel locking up, building a wedge of snow in front of the tires which increases friction.
The ABS however is confused, because then summer tires can't get any grip on the snow - and the ABS doesn't want to let them slip, as result the brake stays open...

Is it possible your camry had shitty tires?

It wasn't mine, I was driving next to it. It was ~3 years old at the time.

I don't claim to know about ABS and snow... I don't drive through any - but my mate's cars with ABS have each become (a little dangerously) confused on loose dirt roads, which we frequent. Hence as Azimech mentioned, they take out the ABS fuse, and regain predictable brakes.