Well, because it's there. OK, maybe a bit of ellaboration is in order. I decided to remove the ABS from my RS for two reasons. First of all was the weight savings. By wild guesstimate I'd say that the hydraulic unit alone weighs well over 20 lbs wet. Throw in an additional 5 lbs for the control box and brackets and excessive brake piping. The second reason I even considered doing this was because I'm not satisfied with the performance of the 2 channel type ABS. For hard edge driving performance it actually becomes a hinderance and can increase stopping distances.
Better. One thing that concerned me initially was that braking balance could be affected, but so far I have not noticed any difference in the front/rear bias. Also the lack of available metric fittings forced me to purchase steel braided lines to replace the rubber ones. Just this change alone has enhanced system response immensely. It only requires a fraction of the pedal pressure required before to get significant grab at the rotors. If you do nothing else with the brake system on your RS, replace the rubber lines with steel braided lines.
Contrary to what some might suspect, the car is no more prone to lockup than any other non-ABS car. In fact, modulation of the brakes to threshold braking is much easier now and doesn't require so much effort. However, removing the ABS will do nothing for remedying brake fade.
Well first off, it may not be necessary to scrap the entire piping for the system as I did, but doing so will simplify the system considerably. My initial intent was merely to remove the hydraulic unit and controller, but to leave the stock piping and wiring in place because I knew that removing or replacing it would be a time consuming mess that would make reinstallation of the ABS even more of a pain. I had planned to just T the piping together where it connects to the hydraulic unit. Unfortunately it was next to impossible to find 10mm metric brake fittings on such short notice (and I also accidentally broke one of the ends off), so I decided to just convert the entire system to much easier to find 3/8 inverted flare connectors and AN-3 hoses. The only OEM braking equipment still on the car now is the master cylinder, calipers and rotors, and the ABS sensors and wiring. Everything in between has been replaced and is now much more easy to service and bleed.
Removing all of those excess brake pipings turned out to be more work than I anticipated. I resorted to cutting many of them into short lengths with the cutter on some pliars in order to get them out with minimal hassle, and it seemed to take much longer than I'd planned. I was able to install the new stuff in less than half the time if that's any indication. The OEM system has about twice the necessary piping needed for a standard braking system.
Removing the hydraulic unit wasn't exactly easy either, but could have gone much faster if I had just cut the OEM piping off the top instead of fussing with loosening several frozen nuts. Anyway, the hydraulic unit is located in the right front fender beneath the coolant overflow tank which had to be removed. Also removed were the washer fluid reservoir, the inner fender lining, and the lower undercover. With these removed, it seemed easiest to first remove the hydraulic unit from the mounting bracket, then remove the mounting bracket. Be sure to unplug those electrical connectors (3 of them). Once removed, I put this part of the car back together, as the new piping doesn't need to go into this area.
OK, now to the installation. I was able to use much of the original line routing locations for the replacement piping. The trick was getting it all bent correctly so that it wouldn't chaffe. One nice thing about doing the lines for the rear was that only one line is needed to the rear axles to replace the dual lines originally in place for the ABS. Since all of the piping that I was able to obtain was fitted for 3/8" - 24 TPI IF nuts, and the braided hoses were supplied with AN-3 fittings, I needed a couple of different adapters. Fortunately everything that I ordered was exactly what I wanted and it all fit together perfectly.
In order to make the connections to the master cylinder a little easier, I used two short lengths of - 3 braided lines to couple with the piping. A male AN-3 to male 10mm IF adapter was required to get each one to connect to the master cylinder, and AN-3 male to 3/8"-24 IF female adapters were required to connect with the piping. The same AN-3 to 3/8 adapters were also employed at the pipe/hose junction for each wheel. These adapters are conveniently formed so that the standard fender well anchors will work with them.
I setup the system so that the front brakes work off of the primary output of the master cylinder with a T-fitting to split to each side, and the rears work off of the secondary output with a T-fitting installed at the rear axles. Bleeding the system was a snap and took less than 15 minutes to do all four corners (with an assistant to pump the brakes) - and I didn't have to worry about unplugging any electronics!
I obtained the parts from three different sources, but could probably have limited it to two if one of the sources wasn't out of one of the adapters that I needed.
From Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies, 800-688-6946:
| Quantity | Description | Part Number |
| 2 | 3AN male - 10mm IF male adapter | 3265-16 |
| 2 | 3AN x 12" braided lines | 3-12-S-S |
| 6 | 3AN male - 3/8" IF female adapter | 3265-12 |
| 2 | 3AN - 10 mm banjo x 16" braided lines | 3-16-S-B |
| 2 | 3AN - 10 mm banjo x 21" braided lines | 3-21-S-B |
And from NAPA Auto Parts: Multiple lengths of 3/8" Inverted flare brake piping and pipe couplers including the two T-fittings. I purchased much more piping than I needed and honestly couldn't say what lengths I used where.
The Alternate source I used for one of the previously mentioned adapters was Brits - British Racing Imports and Track Services Inc., 707-935-3637. These folks have an excellent supply of nearly every fitting you could think of needing.
Removing the ABS isn't likely to be practical for most people, but with some mechanical skill and the same dissatisfaction that I felt with the OEM system, it is clearly a worthwhile conversion. Total cost was less than $200 for everything including the DOT 4 fluid, and the results are very noticeable.
I wouldn't recommend performing this conversion if the inventory of your toolbox is limited to a crescent wrench, pliars, and assorted screw drivers. It was a PITA for me and involved having my car on jack stands for 6 days in my garage. I think that with the proper planning the whole job could be done in one weekend, but I wouldn't want to do it again.
The only thing that is problem with the installation right now is that the hoses at the wheels don't have anchor fittings in place to attach them to the struts. I was able to rig them with zip-ties and some anti-chaffe tape, but I suspect that some wear will occur and I'll have to keep checking on the lines if I don't want to rocket off the edge of a curve at a most unexpected moment!
If you have any questions regarding how I did something or would like more info on ordering the parts, please drop me a line.