Stopping Power

[moonoi]

In another topic I mentioned that I had noticed the following on my cars in Thailand:

On a side note I have noticed that the ABS on cars here seems to activate earlier and the braking force is not as strong than cars I've driven in europe and the US. Anyone know if this is due to the road surface or are the brakes just not as good? In both my madza 3 and my old civic rx I can push the brake pedal to the floor quite easily, something that wasn't so easy in my european model cars

Looking deeper into this, I noticed that I get huge brake dust deposits on the rear wheels but not on the front. My cars in europe the opposite was true.

To me this suggests that the braking systems here are setup with nore of a bias to the rear......it would also explain why I feel the braking force is not as strong. Also the ABS seems to come in early too.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to change the brake bias more towards the front? Or to improve the performance without uprating calipers etc etc. I'm not sure of the benefits of cross drilled discs and sports pads (I made this modifcation once to an old E36 BMW back in the UK and didn't notice much of an improvement).

FYI My car isn't modified at all, everything manufacturer standard

Oh and before this car I had a Honda Civic RX and that was exactly the same, so I don't think its a problem with the braking system.

[Rigger]

I don’t Know about up grades but I Know you can test your ABS by going out onto a dirt road and hit the brakes doing about 40km/h and turn the steering wheel hard at the same time if your car turns I guess your ABS is working fine This is a good practice so you get use to the way ABS works in the a real situation

I think the roads are a lot more slippery here in Thailand than Australia so the moment the computer senses the wheel slipping the ABS will cut in giving you maxim braking with out locking up so I think thats why it cuts in a lot earlier in Thailand and giving you the sense of less braking power

Or I could just be full of shit

Edited January 17, 2006 by Rigger

[sierra01]

I thought drilled/slotted disks help to dissipate heat and water, increasing the performance of the brakes?

As a side note, the other day I saw a Yamaha m/c with huge, and I mean huge, sections of the disk cut out, I reckon the rider had to squeeze the leaver really hard just to get a slight bit of braking. He might have thought it looked the dog's whatsits but he'd have no chance if he had to stop in a hurry....crazy.

[Rigger]

I thought drilled/slotted disks help to dissipate heat and water, increasing the performance of the brakes?

As a side note, the other day I saw a Yamaha m/c with huge, and I mean huge, sections of the disk cut out, I reckon the rider had to squeeze the leaver really hard just to get a slight bit of braking. He might have thought it looked the dog's whatsits but he'd have no chance if he had to stop in a hurry....crazy.

I think you are right drilling holes in you brake disc for a road vehicle would do nothing but stuff up you brakes but on a racing type vehicle you probably would get some performance benefit from heat dissipation

[Thetyim]

I think the roads are a lot more slippery here in Thailand than Australia so the moment the computer senses the wheel slipping the ABS will cut in giving you maxim braking with out locking up so I think thats why it cuts in a lot earlier in Thailand and giving you the sense of less braking power

Or I could just be full of shit

No you are not full of shit, the road surfaces here feel as thou they are covered in sand compared to the UK ones.

My tyres last at least twice the mileage I used to get back home which would support your idea.

[Tingnongnoi]

In another topic I mentioned that I had noticed the following on my cars in Thailand:

On a side note I have noticed that the ABS on cars here seems to activate earlier and the braking force is not as strong than cars I've driven in europe and the US. Anyone know if this is due to the road surface or are the brakes just not as good? In both my madza 3 and my old civic rx I can push the brake pedal to the floor quite easily, something that wasn't so easy in my european model cars

Looking deeper into this, I noticed that I get huge brake dust deposits on the rear wheels but not on the front. My cars in europe the opposite was true.

To me this suggests that the braking systems here are setup with nore of a bias to the rear......it would also explain why I feel the braking force is not as strong. Also the ABS seems to come in early too.

I noticed this too on my Mazda

[moonoi]

I think the roads are a lot more slippery here in Thailand than Australia so the moment the computer senses the wheel slipping the ABS will cut in giving you maxim braking with out locking up so I think thats why it cuts in a lot earlier in Thailand and giving you the sense of less braking power

Or I could just be full of shit

No you are not full of shit, the road surfaces here feel as thou they are covered in sand compared to the UK ones.

My tyres last at least twice the mileage I used to get back home which would support your idea.

Perhaps made worse by all that diesel, cooking oil and other crap that gets baked into the surface of the roads here

Although I still feel the ABS comes in too early.....I'm sure I could brake harder without locking up. Or could it be the braking system is setup differantly on autos from manuals? This is only the second car with an auto box I've driven (the other being a Land Rover Discovery back in the UK/France).

[Plus]

I usually am trully scared when ABS kicks in - in stop and go traffic it's not about avoiding the vehicle in front of you, it's about stopping in time.

[Rigger]

I usually am trully scared when ABS kicks in - in stop and go traffic it's not about avoiding the vehicle in front of you, it's about stopping in time.

I dont really understand this as ABS should be stopping you in less distance as you will aviod wheels locking totaly up and slidding. I can still get my brakes on my toyota prerunner to lock up for a second if I hit them hard enough. I drive in Australia ,Oman, Thailand and have never really noticed anything really different and I drive faster than I really should

[chanchao]

I once drove a Kia Sportage that had ABS and brake power was completely appalling. It seriously would not do any kind of emergency stop. Terrible.

An Isuzu truck I drive occasionally doesn't have ABS but brakes noticably worse than other vehicles (also pickups) I drive. It has done so from the start (bought new) and through loads of services and brake-pad changes. Wonder if anything could be done about that?

[moonoi]

I once drove a Kia Sportage that had ABS and brake power was completely appalling. It seriously would not do any kind of emergency stop. Terrible.

An Isuzu truck I drive occasionally doesn't have ABS but brakes noticably worse than other vehicles (also pickups) I drive. It has done so from the start (bought new) and through loads of services and brake-pad changes. Wonder if anything could be done about that?

My Toyota Corolla T-Sport in the uk had great ABS. My Mazda here is terrible when the ABS kicks in I seriously wonder if it is going to stop in time!!!! But this doesn't seem any differant to the Honda Civic I owned previously here or my friends Altis. I'm coming to the conclusion that even though they claim the equipment used in the SE models is the same standard as those used in models exported to the US and Europe that in fact this isn't true.

In fact I'd love to disable the ABS in my car as I think its more dangerous with it active in its current setup.

Now where Emilio to advise on what Brembo setup can be fitted to uprate the system

[PeaceBlondie]

I'll never forget the first time the ABS kicked in on my late model Chevrolet. I was running a yellow light (as everybody in Houston does, or you'll get rear-ended by the next guy behind you). But that put me up to 40 miles per hour in urban traffic, flying through the intersection. Then, the guy in front of me stops dead to go into a store! I just panicked and put my foot down real hard and left it there. I was sure my trunk was going to be inside his trunk and I'd be his hood ornament. But the ABS started cycling several times per second, and I stopped with a foot to spare.

Great stuff, ABS. Even top of the line motorcycles have them now, if you're already spending over US$11,000. And the new Honda Gold Wing 1800 is available with an airbag!

[moonoi]

Great stuff, ABS. Even top of the line motorcycles have them now, if you're already spending over US$11,000. And the new Honda Gold Wing 1800 is available with an airbag!

Yeah but the Gold Wing is just a car with two wheels innit

I've no problem with ABS when it works properly, its just here the braking force when applying them hard does feel as strong as with the cars I owned in Europe and the ABS feels like it kicks in way to early.The Mazda3 and Civic when the ABS engaged didn't feel like it was cycling several times a second more like several times a minute.

Anyway I'm getting used to it now still prefer the setup in my old european cars

[Rigger]

Great stuff, ABS. Even top of the line motorcycles have them now, if you're already spending over US$11,000. And the new Honda Gold Wing 1800 is available with an airbag!

Yeah but the Gold Wing is just a car with two wheels innit

I've no problem with ABS when it works properly, its just here the braking force when applying them hard does feel as strong as with the cars I owned in Europe and the ABS feels like it kicks in way to early.The Mazda3 and Civic when the ABS engaged didn't feel like it was cycling several times a second more like several times a minute.

Anyway I'm getting used to it now still prefer the setup in my old european cars

My shadow has ABS because when I hit the breaks really hard it leaves a A Big Skid