My wife was driving, going about 55mph, a light turned yellow and we had to stop suddenly, the road was SLIGHTLY wet, when she stopped, the car just locked up and skidded and we safely came to a stop to the right side turning lane.

I now dont feel safe driving on wet roads. I have NEVER slid like that before in this car.... Anybody else have the issue?

I guess it was a dumb question. I finally found my answer, it comes standard on the 2010....

When I bought my 2008 SES traction control and ABS were options that were additional to the price of the car. I paid for and got both options. I don't know if they came standard in your model, but I would assume since the SES Was the top priced model of the 08 series and I had to pay extra to get both Traction Control and ABS you also would have had to. I might add that both these systems in my 08 work flawlessly, and were worth the extra bucks I paid for them. (I know as I live in Wisconsin and have used my car in the heavy snow and ice we have here. I have NEVER had the wheels lock up under heavy breaking on ether.) And the traction control has done its job well and has kept me out of the ditches on turns!

I have no abs or traction control lol

Guy at ford said it comes standard on the 2010, I know I have TC, but when we skid so far, I was freaked out big time. Never had that happen before, and I have stopped suddenly before in the rain.

Just lucky there wasnt anybody in front of us, it would have been it for the focus.....

If all 4 wheels lock, ABS might not be able to detect a skid.

If all 4 wheels lock, ABS might not be able to detect a skid.

So its a sensor type? it has to sense the wheels are going to lock up? Im an idiot to the actual inner workings of TC and ABS

How are you going sideways from stopping at a yellow light in the rain? Driving too fast?

I think the key here is to not need ABS in the first place...if you were going fast enough to require that much braking on a yellow light, you were clearly not going slow enough for the road conditions.

So its a sensor type? it has to sense the wheels are going to lock up? Im an idiot to the actual inner workings of TC and ABS

Each of the 4 wheels have a sensor. This sensor uses a toothed wheel, called the reluctor wheel, as each tooth of the wheel passes the sensor, a small AC voltage is produced. The faster the car is driven the higher the voltage.

When ABS is working correctly, it is looking for differences between these 4 voltages. If all 4 readings are the same, there is no slip detected.

Now, there are more a few more pieces to the system, and software. Which should have detected the full lock. But, i don't know enough to provide a brief description. sorry[dunno]

How are you going sideways from stopping at a yellow light in the rain? Driving too fast?

I think the key here is to not need ABS in the first place...if you were going fast enough to require that much braking on a yellow light, you were clearly not going slow enough for the road conditions.

speed limit posted was 65, we were doing well below since it was a little damp....it was a sudden in the middle of nowhere light.. wife didnt see it until was closer to the light.

I didnt ask to get a damn lecture about driving the posted limit. It was barely even wet and have had worse stops on wet roads before.

Got it on my 2010, but that came standard that year. I have had some close calls with braking on slick roads but I blame the crap tires that came on my (S) level car. driving in Vegas after rain is like driving on ice, 2-3 months of oil buildup on the streets, then released all at once! How are your tires doing, the Hankook H725 tires given to us stock are crap in the rain. The specs are a 620 B B, the first B is the tires ability to maintain traction in wet, and a B is not good. I would look for a better tire when the time comes.

alright there's no lecture, it's simply trying to figure out how the ABS managed to be defeated.

It's a 2010 model, but could it still have 2009 features? I'm aware of that happening. Otherwise, how did it happen? a slightly wet road is still a wet road. Check under the hood or even take a picture if you have no idea what the ABS module is.

I know that ABS and TC came standard on my 2011. Both have kicked in for me, and were pretty nifty.

I dont have abs or tc on my 08 but I have the base S coupe model. Prefer it that way.

I dont have abs or tc on my 08 but I have the base S coupe model. Prefer it that way.

Could you please explain why you don't like these enhanced SAFTY and control features?. You do know there is a off and on switch for the traction control system its not like you are forced to use it or anything. And the anti lock comes in handy when someone stops in front of you unexpectedly. When the anti lock is in operation you can concentrate on driving around the problem and not on your breaking. Not that I am dogging your decision but I am trying to understand your statement.

It does have ABS there is a light on the dash.

Yea, slightly wet is still wet, but it rained briefly 20 mintues prior. I had stopped like that in my 94 olds with abs, it stopped and didnt skid, but thats a different car too, 4 wheel disc as well, would that be an issue?

Are you sure ABS didn't engage? Give it a go again when it's wet in a parking lot at night.

What kind of tires do you have? Still the OEM Hankooks?
I don't have ABS or TC in my 09 and I used to skid when braking when it was wet, now that I got some Continental Extremecontact DW summer tires on I have serious difficulty locking up the brakes even when I do a full out mash from 60mph+

Are you sure ABS didn't engage? Give it a go again when it's wet in a parking lot at night.

What kind of tires do you have? Still the OEM Hankooks?
I don't have ABS or TC in my 09 and I used to skid when braking when it was wet, now that I got some Continental Extremecontact DW summer tires on I have serious difficulty locking up the brakes even when I do a full out mash from 60mph+

Those are GREAT tires on a Focus! I too have a set of Continental Extreme contacts mine are the Z rated Snow Wet ones. They ride nice, stop nice handle like a dream and best of all they wear great! MUCH better tire then those Pirelli's my SES came with!. The OEM tire set wore out in about 20,000 miles they were all cupped and road like I was driving on the train tracks!.

That could be it, the tires, I think they are the hankooks....I do know any sort of harder turning they have no grip whatsoever.

I seem to recall that ABS became standard equipment once again in 2009. Mine came standard with ABS and TSC, anyway. I think Ford tried keeping the price increase down a bit on the '08 model year introduction by deleting the previously standard ABS and a few other things.

ABS can't rewrite the laws of physics. It just helps you get the most braking and steering control out of the available traction. If the road is too slippery for a controlled stop within the constraints of momentum divided by traction, you will have a longer stop. If you're making steering inputs while that's taking place, you will have some skidding, even while the ABS is keeping your tires from fully locking up.

I ditched my Hankooks on my 15s for Toyo Versado LXs at 18000 miles. They still had more than half their life left but they were just bad. The Toyos were awesome and I knew it the second I rolled out of the tire shop's parking lot.
That was when I started to stop locking up. Now I just can't do it. lol (unless I was going really fast over a dip and hit the brakes hard when the car lifts from the dip)
It's amazing how just a set of tires can change how the car feels and actually performs. I guess it's sort of like comparing wearing running shoes to run and wearing heels or boots to run

I have an 2009 SE Coupe and it has no assists whatsoever. In the time I've been driving I've only accidentally locked up my brakes twice, once cause some dumbwit in a $100k Merc pulled out in front of me while I was doing 30MPH and another time when a light turned red but I had a little excess speed as I had passed a guy and needed to get into the left lane, the road was wet and my brakes locked up although I kinda expected they would. Still not a nice feeling but I kept control of the car.

If the road is wet you just have to maintain a safe speed and anticipate braking ahead of time, always brake more than you think you need to but try not to lock them up.

ABS is good because it prevents your wheels from locking up so you maintain directional control of that and it can help you brake sooner in adverse pavement conditions such as rain, snow or ice. However, on dry pavement, ABS can actually lengthen stopping distance...This is why you find most race cars do not have ABS.

ABS or not, ABS is not going to stop you like magic, it's just going to keep you from sliding and losing control side:side.

In fact, one of the most horrible feelings is hitting that brake pedal and feeling it go to the floor (since abs keeps the brakes from locking, on something as slick as ice, it basically comes close to disabling the brakes).

Yes, in fact, sometimes locking up your brakes will get you stopped faster than if ABS were to engage. Although, you do lose some directional control and can flatspot your tires...