[satakal]

How hard do you have to push the brakes before you get fade?

Driving around the other day, I made about 5 or 6 hard stops then after that, the car didn't have enough to trigger the ABS. Is this typical for the stock brakes?

 

[illinipo]

yep, sounds about right

the 2005+ came with bigger vented rotors to help combat this

 

[satakal]

bogus!

how are guys fixing this "problem"? Is throwing high performanc pads at the fronts sufficient? Or, will that just over heat the rotor then get me back to the same place?

 

[Geezer]

There are a number of things that are attributed to brake fade. The two major factors that contribute to the feeling of "no brakes" are glazed shoes/pads as a result of overheating the friction material causing it to more or less melt (the pedal actually feels normal but very little or no stopping occurs). The other is contaminated brake fluid wherein the water in the fluid boils, turns to vapor, and results in a very mushy pedal. Stopping distances are greatly increased because the vapor is being compressed rather than the fluid. The fixes are logical, better pads with higher/broader operating temps and/or a complete brake bleed with fresh brake fluid. Some other things that can cause similar braking problems include a bad master cylinder, caliper piston seals, and to a lessor degree the rubber brake lines.

My guess is that since the car is fairly new you glazed the brakes. Were you playing around (doing excessively hard braking maneuverer's in a parking lot) or something similar? My other question is whether the car stopped even though you did not hear or feel the ABS activate. The ABS only activates if it senses one or more wheels locking up. Where you intentionally trying to lock them up or releasing the brake just before that happened, in which case the ABS would not need to activate.

 

[illinipo]

try bleeding the brakes, if youre running brake fluid from year 2000 then that is probably the main problem right now

otherwise people dont usually track these cars, but if they do then yeah upgraded pads usually do the trick

 

[satakal]

My guess is that since the car is fairly new you glazed the brakes. Were you playing around (doing excessively hard braking maneuverer's in a parking lot) or something similar? My other question is whether the car stopped even though you did not hear or feel the ABS activate. The ABS only activates if it senses one or more wheels locking up. Where you intentionally trying to lock them up or releasing the brake just before that happened, in which case the ABS would not need to activate.

Yesterday I changed the rear shoes. Also, full brake fluid flush with DOT 3/4. Front pads are unknown age and quality and appear to be 1/2 used up. Front rotors look ok.

Yeah, I was intentionally leaning on the brakes to see how they would respond. By no means was I driving in a normal fashion. My first stops, I would feel the ABS kick in. Finding that limit on a new to me car is a challenge. Especially with the low quality tires. For 5 or so hard stops, the car slowed nicely with the ABS kicking in as needed. Subsequent stops, I would stand on the pedal with less braking force and no hint of ABS. The car would slow down, but at a decrease rate.

 

[satakal]

try bleeding the brakes, if youre running brake fluid from year 2000 then that is probably the main problem right now

otherwise people dont usually track these cars, but if they do then yeah upgraded pads usually do the trick

haha, that is my intent. Obviously, I'd like to spend as little money on the way to having something autox / HPDE worthy.

 

[jetrinka]

Yesterday I changed the rear shoes. Also, full brake fluid flush with DOT 3/4. Front pads are unknown age and quality and appear to be 1/2 used up. Front rotors look ok.

Yeah, I was intentionally leaning on the brakes to see how they would respond. By no means was I driving in a normal fashion. My first stops, I would feel the ABS kick in. Finding that limit on a new to me car is a challenge. Especially with the low quality tires. For 5 or so hard stops, the car slowed nicely with the ABS kicking in as needed. Subsequent stops, I would stand on the pedal with less braking force and no hint of ABS. The car would slow down, but at a decrease rate.

Boy man. You might have glazed those new shoes. Your supposed to break them in a bit before using them hard.