2006 Saab 9-5 Owner's Manual - Page 163

Starting and driving ABS brakes WARNING WARNING • It is prudent to try your brakes from time to time, especially when driving in heavy rain, through water collected on the road, in snow, on a wet road surface or in salty slush. In such conditions, the brakes may take longer than normal to take effect. To rectify this, touch the brake pedal periodically to dry the brakes out. • The same applies after the car has been washed or when the weather is very humid. • Avoid parking the car with wet brakes. Before parking, and if the traffic conditions allow, brake quite heavily so that the brake discs and pads warm up and dry. • The brakes are power assisted and it should be kept in mind that the servo unit only provides the power assistance when the engine is running. • The brake pressure required when the engine is off,(e.g. when the car is being towed) is roughly four times the normal pedal force required. The pedal also feels hard and unresponsive. • The additional safety afforded by the ABS system is not designed to allow drivers to drive faster but to make normal driving safer. • To stop as quickly as possible, without loss of directional stability, whether the road surface is dry, wet or slippery, press the brake pedal down hardwithout letting up (do not pump the pedal), declutching simultaneously, and steer the car to safety. 163 ABS (antilock braking system) modulates the brake pressure to the respective wheels. Wheel sensors detect if a wheel is about to lock, and the control module reduces the pressure to that wheel and then increases it once more until the tendency is detected again. The brake system is equipped with an Electronic Brake-force Distribution device (EBD), which distributes the brake pressure between the front and rear wheels, in such a way as to achieve optimum braking performance irrespective of the car's speed and load.