Pulsating/shaking during very hard braking

Ive gotten a pulsation/shaking at the brake pedal when I slammed on the brakes at highway speeds. Does that mean I have warped rotors or is that just abs or something normal?

I have no issues during normal braking or Hard braking from like 30 to 0 but if I'm going at highway speeds and slam on the brakes hard in an emergency situation, I get the shaking/pulsation and the pedal. The steering wheel does not shake. This is on dry pavement.

Any pulsing in mild braking? I have had warped rotors before and that was what it felt like. Shake with hard braking too.

Micah said:

Any pulsing in mild braking? I have had warped rotors before and that was what it felt like. Shake with hard braking too.

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No, just hard braking at highway speeds. So basically nothing when I brake normally or even when I brake hard driving local speeds.

It's only happened maybe 2 or three times. Only when I had to slam on the brakes on the highway.

I'm at 5500 miles.

Brake fade and warped rotors are often associated with repeated heavy (high speed) braking. Emergency braking could be the antilock brakes activating, which you'll feel at the pedal.

However, if you have Honda Sensing, it could also be some of the braking control system trying to mitigate the situation for you.

Take it to a safe parking lot or freeway exit and activate the ABS to see what they feel like kicking in.

Glad it stopped in time!

Sounds like it is just the ABS kicking in. Nothing to worry about. Is this your first car with ABS?

TimberWolf said:

Sounds like it is just the ABS kicking in. Nothing to worry about. Is this your first car with ABS?

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Had ABS in my beater Celica but the braking system sucked on it anyways, so I don't know if it even worked

sounds normal. its just the ABS pulsing the brakes so you dont slide. if you had warped rotors, you would feel the pedal shake even at low speeds

ABS only engages to keep the wheel from locking up to you can retain steering function. You would feel a gentle pulse while your foot is on the brake pedal when the ABS engages

Warped rotors can cause a whole car to shake. Sometimes the warping can only be felt during "hard" stops from speed since the rotor is moving faster. It could be there during your slow low speed stops, but its harder to feel etc. Going back to the high speed, hard stop scenario, warped rotors also lead to feedback through the steering wheel (vibrations, shaking) that ABS does not do when it is engaged.

Warped rotors are a function of Driving style and brake rotor/pad materials.

As @racer mentioned if rotor is warped you will fell the pulsations/vibrations at steering wheel.

Don't worry! it's just your ABS Kickin yo!!!!

When my ABS kicks in there’s a loud ‘buzzing’ sound and the pedal vibrates like it wants to shake my teeth out! Nothing like a warped rotor pulsation. If it is a warped rotor, you should feel it under mid-speed ‘normal’ braking as well. Do some tests. But emergency braking at highway speeds, the only thing I noticed test driving CivicX and the last-gen Accord was a tendency to ‘corkscrew’ to the left slightly.

I have felt my brake pedal feel shaky at high speeds while driving in the canyons , no abs pops up