What you really need to ask yourself is the juice of any ABS system really worth the squeeze?
And is the juice of going to the trouble of adapting an OEM ABS system into a standlone system really worth the squeeze especially if you can't configure and adjust the system to work properly?
I do believe ABS is worth the squeeze. Absolutely, and I don't mean just for competition.
I used to argue that ABS was an advantage only when it was slick, but I have changed my tune. I've seen too many tests of recent where people tried to out brake ABS and failed. I've also seen a test where a police department tested ABS using an impounded Corvette and wrecked it because they lost control during braking after disabling the ABS and trying to emergency brake at increasingly higher speeds. So I now feel that on the street even, a well designed ABS system will be an advantage. Certainly not perfect, there are plenty of Hellcats stuffed into the trees and ditches because people weren't used to 707 HP and ABS couldn't save them, but still an advantage.
I also remember standing next to a vintage competitor at the first Optima event I was able to attend when they had an off on the road course and the guy said it was the big difference between the late model and vintage cars; "They have ABS". And I know for certain the top competitors in the vintage class at the Optima events are running ABS, some even the BMW system.
And I think the reason the LM cars at stuff like Moparty are faster is because of ABS. Not the only reason, but a big one. It's just my opinion, but it's one I feel pretty strongly about even if I can't give concrete evidence to support it. So yes, I think ABS is an advantage in AutoX. Not every system, but a good system (I think) can cut time off the course. I could very well be wrong and have no doubt that a poll of multiple drives will find that at best only some use it. But I would bet that some have learned to used it and are faster than before.
There are junk ABS systems, but I think a good one like the BMW or S197 ones will be a big advantage compared to a car without ABS, in all situations. And both those systems have available options for units with Motorsport logic, but the ones the plebs get aren't far off. I suspect even a mediocre ABS system will be an advantage on the street, while it may not be a good competition fit due to ice mode or overly sensitive logic and such. That said, I think there are also ones that would be a waste to spend the time and money to install.
Traction control is more of a gray area. I have had it save me twice in my Challenger, once on an on ramp with concrete on both sides and the other time coming out of a round about with a car next to me. Maybe I could have saved it if I didn't have TC, but it grabbed both times before I was even aware it was starting to come around. And if I hadn't been able to save it, one would have cost me the car the other other potentially wrecking someone else. At the same time, I see people talking about turning it off for things like AutoX and the 3S challenge. So while I like the idea, I can't speak to whether or not TC would be better in a competition environment.
I don't argue that the aftermarket system is certainly better due to being able to tweak it. But I would bet it is a case of the last 10% costing 100x more and an S197 system will be good enough for someone like me, at a cost I can handle. And if Terry Fair retrofitted his S550 car Trigger with an S197 ABS system and feels like it is a benefit, I bet it is way more than I need. Note that he couldn't make the S550 ABS work standalone so that isn't saying the S197 ABS is better than the S550 system. But it does say it is pretty good.
Why do you feel that you'd want to go to the trouble of getting an ABS system installed and working on your car if you aren't going to use the car to it's potential anyways?
Who says I never will? I don't know what the future holds. My ultimate dream would be to drive a car down to Moparty or something similar and compete. As an addendum to that, going down to the Tail of the Dragon from there would just be over the top.
And as I have argued above, I think that even if the car never sees an autox or road course, it will be a better car with ABS.
But you are helping to reinforce (to me) that an S197 is the easy button as it doesn't require installing ABS. And quite frankly, the idea of driving a late model Mustang 31 hours and 2200 miles one way makes a lot more sense than my '73. Maybe after I get AC, CC and better seats in the '73 it will be more of a wash, but for next summer, I can virtually guarantee that I could do it in a S197 and that the '73 will not be ready.
And just to reinforce the history once again, I didn't start by saying "I want ABS", I started by saying "I want cruise control". The factory PCM runs CC and it seems like a big benefit to setup my swap to take advantage of that. I am sure it has all kinds of OEM safeties and way more logic than an aftermarket setup, and it is clean since it has no additional boxes and wiring beyond the buttons. But it does require a speed message on the CAN bus. It seemed like the easy path was to add the ABS module, even if it was just the circuit board and didn't include the pump, and then to feed a speed signal to the ABS module using a wheel speed sensor on an 8.8. Almost zero fabrication, and no programming. I even found an axle end for the 8.8 that uses a 9" press on bearing (zero leak c-clip eliminator) but allows for the tone ring and sensor to be kept. Then the guy at the Optima event pointed out that the vintage cars are at a disadvantage to the LM cars due to no ABS and I decided that full ABS was only a little more work to implement.
I have since learned that at least the early PCM's can accept the wheel speed sensor input directly since not all of the Chargers and such came with ABS. That would be the easiest path. But I haven't looked hard at it so there might be issues still, and I figured that out after I decided I wanted ABS. So, it's not a path I plan to go down.
One last wrinkle. Since I am working with a G3 Hemi PCM, I am planning to use an SRT8 Challenger ABS module. I can't say for sure yet that it will work standalone like the other ones but I do have the PCM so the only other big thing missing would be the IP. If I can't get it to work, I will make an S197 system work and run an aftermarket CC setup.
In the end, I fully expect to have ABS. Even if it is housed in a Mustang shell.
