Thats what they used to do in the war...
They used to switch the cars engine off at the top of a hill and coast down to save petrol.

Ever been to an area of Sheffield called Crookes? Think cliff face with terraced houses. The night after a house party myself and my then housemate were the only ones up. We stepped outside for some fresh air (fags) and looked at the long long steep road, and then to my car parked at the top of this road facing down.

I pulled away and switched the engine off, speeding is even more fun without an engine. Now during the war they may have had a surplus of sagely advice and stiff upper lipped blitz spirit, but what they didn't have (and understandably so) was Japanese ABS brakes.

As beautifully made as these are they don't work without power that comes from a running engine. A fact both of us forgot until approaching a blind junction at increasing speed I put my foot down and we only went faster.

Sweatting like a rapist in a nunnery I fired up the engine and slammed on the anchors bringing us to a shuddering halt just as a much larger car shot past.

I looked at my mate, we were both shaking. lesson learned I looked both ways and pulled out of the junction... put the car into neutral and leaving the engine on continued our coast towards town.
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Sun 15 Feb 2009, 18:30, 8 replies)

Hmm...
Springvale Road perchance?

If so, that's not a junction I'd like to enter blind and without power!
(Armour Dillow, Mon 16 Feb 2009, 0:37, closed)

I'm betting
That it was the junction between Witham Road and Crookes Road.
(powervator and NONE SHALL PASS, Mon 16 Feb 2009, 9:46, closed)

conduit road and crookesmoor road

( willenium Fist bump for verification, Mon 16 Feb 2009, 21:20, closed)

Servos
Most cars these days rely on a servo, which relies on the vacuum created in the engine manifold to amplify the pressure of your foot on the brake pedal.

Turning off the engine to save petrol at the top of a hill would be a very, very, very, silly thing to do in a servo-equipped car.
( Stevedix http://www.stevedix.de/blog, Mon 16 Feb 2009, 10:05, closed)

...
Although, the vacuum booster is always additional to the mechanical linkage rather than a required component. i.e. You will still have brakes without the engine, though it may not feel like it if you are used to the booster (especially with discs).

Anyway, there's a reason why all cars have two independent braking systems; that lever between the seats is there for a reason, and it's not just parking!
(silene, Mon 16 Feb 2009, 12:34, closed)

'94 primera
too old?
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Mon 16 Feb 2009, 21:18, closed)

Unlikely....
Power assisted braking (using a vacuum booster)was first used back in the 30s. I guess that it would be technically possible to design an ABS system where the release valves 'failed' open (meaning no brakes), but nobody would design a system like that for obvious reasons.

I think the most likely explanation is that you were just used to the amount of pressure that you needed with the power assist and without it it felt like you had nothing (given that discs need a LOT more force than drums), especially given that you wouldn't have had much time for analysis!

Still, not much use after the event, and a much better story the way you wrote it!
(silene, Tue 17 Feb 2009, 10:09, closed)

Sounds about right
all the cars I have had without ABS have weighed about half that of this Primera.
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Tue 17 Feb 2009, 12:43, closed)