Do your brakes on your st suck?, Almost slammed into my GTZ Options

[zero07]

I was following behind my wife yesterday when we came over a hill, and there was a huge line of cars stopped at a light. Of course i saw her hit her brakes hard and so did i, fortunately ABS and four wheel disc brakes on my Galant GTZ stopped her and my little girl from slamming into the car in front of them. Unfortunately i locked up and started sliding right for the back of them, i steered hard to the left so that i wouldnt hit them, instead was gonna hit the curb dead on. Right as i was about to hit it, tires screeching, smoke and all i cut it back to the right a little and hit hard, luckily just curbed the rim pretty good and left with a small vibration. Time to upgrade my brakes

[95CelicaST]

I have no problem with my brakes. They do a great job.

[j0e_p3t]

i converted my drums to disc brakes. that helped out a lot. and good tires too.

[phonex98]

wouldn't than an upgrade of driver (pump non abs breaks) and tires be in order ? Seems like your brakes had no problem doing their job...

[zero07]

Pump? Guess you've never been in this situation before, no time for that, would have hit her for sure. Tires are good

[94CelicaDragon]

My break's are alright. My rotor's are warped though, and my driverside front brake Is makeing this 'cckkk' noise, like the pad Is worn down and It's metal on metal. Time for me to upgrade.

[zero07]

Yeah ill probably do what joe p3t did.

[GriffGirl]

Maybe your brakes just need to be inspected, make sure they're not out of adjustment. I can't say I don't have any problems with my ST, I'm in need of new rotors, pads, drums and shoes all around. But I also haven't had a time where I've had to slam on my brakes like that.

[zero07]

I hear its not too hard to do the gt conversion on an st

[j0e_p3t]

yeah, you're suppose to pump on the brakes when you feel them about to lock up. but i've been in a similar situation and that would've made things worse. i had to pull my e-brake and downshift to 2nd so the engine brake helped out. it might not good for your tranny and what-not but its a lot better than rear ending your wife and daughter. st brakes do suck. upgrade your rotors and pads and even a rear disc brake conversion if you want. pretty simple to do.

[playr158]

a) you should always PUMP non-abs brakes......thats like in driving 101 back in highschool....this is a BASIC driving technique.
when you lock up wheels you LOSE control...pumping (or active abs) allows you to control your car and put it where it needs to go.

b) brakes are only as good as your tires

c) ST brakes are sufficient....good pads, quality rotors (brembo blanks), fluid flush within the last 2 years.

d) increase following distance

This post has been edited by playr158: Nov 13, 2007 - 8:10 PM

[zero07]

Im really gonna look into that, what parts would i need from the gt joe p3t/ no offense player158 but like i said before no time for that (pumping)

This post has been edited by zero07: Nov 13, 2007 - 8:10 PM

[GriffGirl]

ABS isn't always the best either... there are times like in extreme snow or ice or bad mud that you might actually NOT want the ABS to be active and you want to have the control over your brakes yourself (i.e. pumping). You probably don't get much of that in San Antonio though, huh And no, there isn't always time to pump, but in cases where there isn't time to pump the brakes your brakes wouldn't lock up anyway.

4 wheel disk brakes will be better brakes, but will still lock up w/out ABS if I'm not mistaken.

[phonex98]

People are suggesting better tires/pumping zero because your brakes did their job... they stopped the tires....

[K-ESD]

down shifting aggressively + pumping is my emergency stop technique. (in my Paseo with drum brakes, I got 4disk ABS in the Celi)

down shifting helps big big time since you get resistance at the wheels + as a bonus more vacuum for the brake booster (more braking power). If you're automatic, well you wouldn't be going fast in the first place

You do not lack braking power, you locked up all wheel. To stop faster, first you need better tires and a better braking technique (no disrespect). Then after, if it isn't enough, do a RW disk conversion.

[playr158]

oh did i mention the main reason.....don't follow so close...
there is always time for pumping if you lock up your brakes, you just aren't used to the situation/at that level of response yet.

This post has been edited by playr158: Nov 13, 2007 - 11:31 PM

[xs94st]

i slid today..i got no abs n had no time to pump anything. i duno why the guy stopped..it was a green light and nothing going on n no traffic.

[Helix]

I believe that st brakes are quite sufficient, given that my st had standard rear disks and ABS.

[celicamike]

Your brakes worked perfectly, actually, a little too good since they locked up. There is no lack of clamping power from your stock brakes, but ABS would be better.

[LewFX]

i converted my drums to disc brakes. that helped out a lot. and good tires too.

you mean I converted! hehe