like they were saying :
He's getting sharp...
Bollocks.
No.
You can do that anyway. As long as you don't lock the wheels.
Do bears poo in the woods? Is the pope catholic?
Your local garage are telling you they are incompetent. Listen to them.
Oh, and it won't pbutt an MOT with the ABS light on. Nor will it pbutt if you just disable the light.
Braking distance is limited primarily by the grip of the tyres. If the brakes are capable lock the wheels, then no amount of brake upgrading will shorten the braking distance. Only tyre upgrading can and will do that.
ABS works SOLELY by detecting a locked wheel and releasing that brake until the wheel turns again, then reapplying that brake. If you brake to the point that the wheels lock and ABS kicks in, then the braking distance lengthens due to the release-reapply of the brakes.
Unless and until ABS starts doing that, it does nothing to the braking distance. Not a sausage. If it kicks in too early, then it will lengthen braking distances beyond that which the car would be capable of without ABS.
The shortest possible braking distance for any car is with the brakes working to the point just before the wheels lock. ABS or no ABS.
