Brake Adaptations
How much is “bro science” placebo effect and how many of these adaptations actually have documentation that might support what they do (or don’t do)?
Running SavvyCAN to sniff the Powertrain Bus directly to obtain some data that is not typically available
For starters: Everything in this document is for information and experimental purposes only. Screwing with the ABS module especially can come with bad consequences. I am not responsible for anything you do to your car. This is a living document that will be referencing other technical documents which may or may not be directly applicable to the Continental MK100 ABS module or these cars specifically. Additional info/research is based on my own experiences of fiddling with this stuff on my 2019 GTI, or scouring scans of many cars on the forums. Earlier cars have some slight differences which may or may not have the same effects.
Everything will be laid out per-adaptation. There is a LOT of bad information out there and up to now, it seems nobody messes with a few of the adaptations that actually can make a real difference, and I’ve yet to see anyone dig up any form of documentation on what some of these things do. I was pointed towards some of these resources from a friend/former Bosch ABS engineer. Much of the documentation comes from other systems (Bosch instead of Continental), some from patents, some from old VW tech training documents. While not direct documentation for the Continental MK100, many of the industry terms and functions are relatively universal and can be used to make more educated guesses. There is also a fair amount of information in the Advance Measure Values which frankly surprises me that nobody has connected those dots yet.
This will be a VERY long article, and the intent is to update it periodically as new stuff is tried out/verified/etc. There are a LOT of ABS and ESP intervention strategies that very few people are aware of. Things like how quickly you let off the accelerator, or get onto the brakes, or if you lift off the brakes as soon as ABS begins intervening, etc all have a lot of action going on without you knowing. Keeping the ABS module active and working is beneficial in the interest of:
Not flat-spotting tires
Retaining EBD (electronic brake force distribution) - which is essentially a constantly adjusting proportioning valve based on G forces and rates of acceleration
For street driven vehicles: The airbag module relies on data from the ABS. Keeping functioning airbags in a non-caged car is strongly advised.
So, with all of that out of the way, here is a link to the document itself:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ituwUxAf7676mMw06GSneVTrfapKjTXSKKoxa933cPY/edit?usp=sharing
Also for future reference the document link will be placed in the newly added Resources section in the menu of the website for quick access. There is also some other stuff like links to the on-track cooling reports, a suspension hardware part number spreadsheet, a gear ratio calculator, etc.
