Yeah I do that too. That’s what the State Patrol suggests. Sometimes it is really hard to know how slick the surface is. I don’t try to replicate 20,000 pulses of ABS but I do like to have the control to take evasive action that sometimes ABS does not provide. I always have an alternate maneuver in mind if braking fails.
We have a hill with a stop sign at the bottom. The portion by the stop sign is usually highly polished ice. ABS seldom works as well as creeping down the hill, and if you can’t stop, you simply put the car into a sideways skid to avoid traffic on the cross road. Just sitting there with you foot on the brake with the ABS going nuts as you continue to move to and through the stop sign is really not a fantastic option for collision avoidance. Lots of situations are different though.
As far as new tires on front or rear, like I said I gave up and just get four at a time. But sometimes in snow, it is more important to go than to stop. If you don’t keep going you will be stuck in the road. Stopping or sliding is not an issue especially with FWD.