I want to upgrade my pads/rotors, but one thing has been on my mind that I can quite wrap around. If I increase the braking power and the car is not equipped with ABS, won't I just be more prone to lock up? I'm not overly concerned with fade, just with panic stops as you would encounter on a daily driver.
I know w/o abs it will not be a top performer, but what is my best way to reduce 60-0mph braking distance? Better tires? Less tire pressure? or will better brakes work?
Educate me! lol
None of my cars had ABS(including my 03) and all of them have had upgraded pads and rotors. After upgrading the brakes i noticed that it actually took more effort to try to get the brakes to lock up than with the stock stuff on it.
Thats my $.02 for now.
I see. I believe you it just seems counter-intuitive you know? I guess good performance brakes that do their job would be less prone to lock-up...
Well, there reaches a certain point in pads where you're pushing so hard that you're just forcing it to jam, than actually to brake. And i think that's what tinkles was experiencing. So yea, just try diff pads and see what you get, you should get better performance.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
better tires should help too... as with anything, the system will only be as strong as it's weakest link. stickier tires SHOULD be less prone to locking up.
It's definitely not a simple-answer thing. I know my ABS-equipped cavy with off-brand slotted rotors and ceramic pads tends to lock in the rear first, even with grippy tires. The braking is smooth, but the balance was thrown off.
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Hmm.
I would go ahead and upgrade your brakes. Strat81 is right on the weakest link thing.
The biggest deal with upgraded brakes isn't so much as the actual improved stopping power (although most have that), it's the consistency under high-performance driving situations. Like Autocross. Upgraded brakes will resist fading MUCH better than OEM style, even if they don't actually stop any better for the *first* stomp of the pedal.
Get better brakes and better tires and enjoy the performance
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Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.
Thanks guys. My old cav had ABS, and i ran hawk hps pads on OEM resurfaced rotors, and the difference from the OEM pads was very noticeable. As I recall, i did not find the ABS triggering more frequently after the upgrade, so its worth a try.
install some satinless lines and some decent pads and you should be set. The brake lines were one of the best mods I have ever done to my car, they make a huge difference.
Geeky wrote:It's definitely not a simple-answer thing. I know my ABS-equipped cavy with off-brand slotted rotors and ceramic pads tends to lock in the rear first, even with grippy tires. The braking is smooth, but the balance was thrown off.
were you on stock suspension at the time?
i'd guess that the increased stopping power in the front was probably unweighting the rear more (aka more weight transfer to the front) and causing the rears to lock.
personally, i've never had any issues with my car (which is abs equipped but i pull the fuse when i autox) locking the brakes more with upgraded rotors/pads.
strat81 wrote:Geeky wrote:It's definitely not a simple-answer thing. I know my ABS-equipped cavy with off-brand slotted rotors and ceramic pads tends to lock in the rear first, even with grippy tires. The braking is smooth, but the balance was thrown off.
were you on stock suspension at the time?
i'd guess that the increased stopping power in the front was probably unweighting the rear more (aka more weight transfer to the front) and causing the rears to lock.
personally, i've never had any issues with my car (which is abs equipped but i pull the fuse when i autox) locking the brakes more with upgraded rotors/pads.
The situation I describe has been ongoing, to different degrees, throughout my changes from stock brake and suspension to the setup currently in my profile. I agree that the weight transfer in an emergency stop may unweight the rear, but I can observe this in smooth application hard stops as well. The only time I ever had "perfect" balance was the first high-speed stop after installing fresh rotors and pads. I was "seating" the pads as per manufacturer instruction, and performed a 100kph (55mph) emergency stop. All four corners squealed in mild complaint, and the ABS never activated. The car never stopped as quickly before, and never has again. I get predictable and consistent ABS lockup of the rear wheels during hard braking. All I can figure is that the front ceramic pads just aren't grippy enough.
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