Brembos saved me from an idiot in a C7 Vette

[Burgo]

Interestingly I read an article based on road fatalities in the USA and what lead to some of today's technology around braking, particularly Emergency Brake Assist and Electronic Brake Force Distribution and ABS. It essentially stated that 3500 lives would have been saved if only the person had pushed the brake pedal harder in an emergency. They tested the cars and concluded that the cars had the ability to stop satisfactorily and in time except the driver just didn't push the brake pedal hard enough. My Australian Ford Performance Vehicle F6 (4L Turbo) owners manual states that in an emergency to push the pedal hard and fast and let the computer and the EBD/ABS/EBA do the rest.

Sponsored

 

[Lime1GT]

I'd have to agree with that article. ABS is designed to give you maximum braking with steering control. In order to have good steering control the brakes can't be locked or skidding just occurs. On icy or slippery roads the ABS will engage with far less pedal pressure than on dry roads since it's easier to lock the brakes. So on dry roads you may have to use extreme pedal pressure to first slow the wheel speed to near zero rpm for the sensor to tell the ABS system to release that brake slightly to help steering control. The system applies and releases in milliseconds so just holding your foot hard on the pedal will let the system do the best braking with steering control for you. The buzzing or pedal vibration you're feeling with abs activated is just the system electrically adding and releasing brake fluid pressure.
Some people will claim they can brake better on icy roads pumping the brake pedal than abs can and i believe them. However, most people on the roads today have no clue how vehicles work and have no interest learning. They just want to know where the gas filler is, how to sync their cell phone and rely on the safety features they don't know they have.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I had Pilot SS and now I have 4S's, the 4S is a much better tire but it will have a shorter lifespan due to less tread depth from the factory.

Tread depths for various sizes in both of those tire lines vary a bit. IOW, depending on the MPSS size you're going from and the PS4S size that you're going to, there might not be any difference in tread depth or it could be a full 1/32". There's even one size where the MPSS has the deeper tread, at least according to the specs pages at TireRack.

I think I'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference that 1/32" deeper tread might make in tire life as measured by tread wear and be able to lay the entire blame on the difference in original tread depth.


Norm

 

[Norm Peterson]

Interestingly I read an article based on road fatalities in the USA and what lead to some of today's technology around braking, particularly Emergency Brake Assist and Electronic Brake Force Distribution and ABS. It essentially stated that 3500 lives would have been saved if only the person had pushed the brake pedal harder in an emergency.

Or if the person had been running brake pads with better bite instead of less dust. For most OE pads, initial bite is nothing to write home about, and for lack of a better description just feel 'soft'. Mass-market ceramic replacements are worse still. Even my nontechnically oriented wife has commented about this regarding our new WRX, after getting used to G-loc GS-1's in the Legacy that preceded it. The brakes even in the sportier car just don't feel as confidence-inspiring as what she'd become accustomed to because the 'bite' just isn't there.

Ultimately what you're looking for is as much total braking torque as possible as soon as possible (in most cases without locking up the wheels). It doesn't matter if this happens because the driver jumps on the brakes harder/faster, if some brake-assist nanny does it for him, or if the pads have a higher coefficient of friction and bite harder/sooner with less pedal force, as long as braking torque increases rapidly from the get-go.

My beef with articles like that is that they don't mention options that don't fit the established "just do it with more technology" agenda.


Norm

Sponsored