T-bone

iTrader: (1)

I was driving on the GW Parkway (DC) this morning and as I was coming over a hill, for some unknown reason, there were two cop cars stopped in my lane a short distance in front of me. Long story short, I had to dodge them by ducking off onto the grass partition to the RIGHT. Today was probably the hardest that I have ever pushed my car in terms of braking and I was not pleased. Honestly, no car could have stopped in time to avoid an accident, but I feel like the brakes could be better on my car. Does anyone have a semi-metallic pad recommendation?

BTW, my car is now covered in mud after spinning out on the soggy grass for several minutes

Thanks,

T

orgasmicNYC

Get Porterfield R4S pads, some brembo cross drilled/slotted rotors, some SS brake lines and take advantage of the handbrake. Your car will stop on the dot.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Forget those semimetallic pads and get some carbon metallic pads by Performance Friction. I haven't had a pad that beats the stopping power of these pads and this is the truth.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Using the handbrake would be dangerous.

It manually applies pressure to the rear brakes which will cause them to lock. At that point the ABS system cannot release your back brakes if your handbrake has them locked. You'll lose control quickly.

Pads are what cause the fraction that stops your car, rotors really don't give you better brakes per say, they do indeed help.

Some hi-performance pads require more warm up time then others. Be sure to shop wisely. The Axxis Metal Masters which I run stop very nicely, but the initial bit isn't as strong as OEM. I've heard good feedback on Porterfields as well as a Carbon Metalic pad which I think is sold at Autozone.

Dave B

I doubt even fully upgraded brakes would make that much difference. The advantage of bigger brakes it to reduce fade and to shorten higher speed braking distances. Big brakes and race pads are usually worse at braking on the street (60mph to 0mph). Your braking would improve if you were to run sticky tires and a good high performance street pad, but don't expect to improve stopping distances by no more than 10' or so.

When you get grass, no type of brakes will slow you down. Grass is like ice.


Dave

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

How are your pads? If they are nearly worn out, there's not much material to absorb the heat. What that is the case, they will fade like mad. Deezy how much were those carbon metallics? $75 for the fronts or so??

Handbrake + emergency situation = 180 + crash + totalled car

orgasmicNYC

While using the handbrake on anything but a straight away will cause the car to go into a spin it will work perfectly fine on a straight road. Last week when driving an Echo a guy stopped extremely fast in front of me and the Echo did not have enough distance to stop (I was doing 50 mph) I put the car in neutral, slammed the brakes, and pulled the hand brake. I ended up stopping within 5 feet of him with the front of my car still straight. Don't disqualify the use of the handbrake just because you might lose control, also if you pull the hand brake and turn your steering wheel to one direction your car will spin that way thus using all four wheels to break which is also very good.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Heavens forbid you actually have to turn or something.

thanpto

I just bought Raybestos QS (PGD653QS) for my fronts from Pepboys for $46. Have not installed them yet. I hope they are good and quiet. I have heard good reviews about them though. I'll give a review next week.

pocketrocket

iTrader: (1)

Why drop it in neutral? Engine braking & brake combo for the best stopping power.

What if the handbrake doesn't grip equally on both rear wheels? (this is a question, not a criticism)

JeffesonM

iTrader: (5)

how many wheels does your car usually brake with?

Slickismax

iTrader: (4)

The hand brake will help IF you don't lock up the rears. I am pretty sure this is what he is saying. On my old car, I could apply the hand brake enough to keep the car almost flat while braking, and you could still turn without locking the rear up. I still wouldn't reccomend it in emergency situations.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You know how hard it would be to apply the handbrake hard enough to do anything and not lock them up? All this while trying to keep one hand on the steering wheel?

I know guys use the handbrake to rotate the car around turns but not when you are trying to hunker down and stop before hitting something(like you mentioned)

nadir_s

so u almost hit the cops on the road... then spun out on the grass near them?? damn, what did the cops say? hope u didn't get a ticket for goin to fast or somethin.

clee130

The handbrake will not help you slow down faster in an emergancy situation.

I know from first hand experience.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

I think they cost me about $35 for the set (they only come for the front end) Me and Ben run the same setup, Carbon-Metallic in the front and OEM in the rear.
The only thing is that you have to keep your distance until they warm up but that should take about 5 minutes of driving.

orgasmicNYC

I meant when the car is facing foward the wheels are still spinning in the straight direction but if your car is sideways the tires brake as well since they can't spin foward. Engine braking is also very good and I don't usually drive 5speed so at that time I threw it in neutral. All I can say is that people knock on hand braking but they swerve into other lanes not to hit the oncoming car and a lot of time ending up hitting someone else (Thats what happened to RedMaxPA) I believe. You don't have to pull it all the way up to lock your tires completely but it does help and I've used it in an emergency situation and once in a while its fun to park the rentals with the hand brake.

T-bone

iTrader: (1)

the cops looked at me like my situation had already happened earlier that morning (which would explain the tire tracks on the grass). The cops asked if I was stuck; with some help from one of the officers and some strangers, I was able to get back on the road. The cop said, "That's why you need to keep you speed down on the parkway."

"That's why you need to not PARK on the parkway", I thought.



BTW, my question about braking had nothing to do with being able to stop on grass. Pulling into the grass was a last resort. There was traffic in the left lane and 2 cop cars directly in front of me


My pads are worn more than half way. I will replace them soon.

T-bone

iTrader: (1)

I have yokohama avs db's; what pads do you recommend? I do not plan on buying larger rotors or calipers.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

where did you buy those Carbon-Metallic pads from?

MacGyver265

My problem with braking is the tires locking up, not the brakes.

I've noticed that if I slip the car in neutral, I get better braking, but then again, I have an auto and that should be expected.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

How does the tires lock up but not the brakes?

MacGyver265

If the tires lock up, it means they're not getting enough grip. Obviously the brakes lock the tires up. When brakes don't provide enough force, they simply fade and you lose braking power. If the tires lock up, you also lose braking power. I'd rather know my tires lock up so I know I need to get better ones than know my brakes just don't provide enough force beore they fade out.

2k2kev

So much ignorance in one thread... I'm surprised most of these people are still alive.

T-bone, glad you're safe, and you probably should have said your "don't park on the parkway" comment rather than just think it. You did the right thing turning into the grass... anything that saves an accident is the right thing.

Anyone who pulls the handbrake... YOU ARE GOING TO DIE SOMEDAY DOING THAT! The amount of time it takes to reach for the handbrake and manually pull it, feel for the right tension so the tires don't lock up, not to mention now you're steering with one hand while you're potentially avoiding a skid. DUMB DUMB DUMB! This is even more stupid than those people who think they can pulsate brakes faster than ABS .

If you have ABS the best thing to do is mash the brake as hard as possible and steer around the obstacle. If you don't have ABS, mash the brake until the tires lock then let off a little and try to modulate enough so the tires are always on the verge of locking but not locked.

I won't argue this topic because you're not coming from a rational position but you really need to learn to drive your cars... The car stops faster if it's sliding sideways? Slip the car in neutral for better braking?? WTF are you people thinking???

drewm

Also, nobody seems to have mentioned tires. Upgraded brake pads are great and all, but if your stock pads can still make your tires squeel, then it's better Tires you need, not brakes. Good tires are the best investment anyone can make for their car. It keeps your car from loosing grip from the road.

I could never understand those people would would buy the cheapest tires that money can buy. It's your life on the line here. Being able to stop 20ft less could just possibly save your life someday.

drewm

All 4, that's why cars have front and rear rotors, calipers and brake pads. I don't believe pitching your car sideways will actually help stop you any faster, ABS is a lot more effective than that.

Also, there is a technique to performance braking, ask any pro auto-X or road race pro. The key is not to initially slam your brakes as fast as you can, but to quickly apply braking pressure, to shift the weight of your car forward first before the front tires lock up.

The science behind this, is that when you slam your brakes, the fronts will lock up immediately due to the weight not being transferred forward over your front wheels. And since everyone knows that static friction is greater than sliding friction (meaning a tire can grip better when it maintains grip with the road instead of sliding against it) it's benificial to not lock up the tires.

Frank Fontaine

I think the bottom-line is that you need to know what the Maxima's capabilities are. If you try to make great improvements in braking ability by merely replacing pads, rotors, or calipers, you are determining the capability by trial and error.

Drive an Oldsmobile Alero--it stops shorter, handles more g's on the skidpad, and is faster through the slalom than a Maxima. What would it take aftermarket-wise to make a Maxima handle like an Alero? That's really a moving target and unknown, because there are 3 elements of performance right there. Sorry to hear about your car, be careful out there.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

You serious? I've rented several Alero's they don't stop/handle much if any better.

Just for giggles I looked it up in Road&Track:
Alero GLS Coupe:
60-0=136ft
80-0=238ft
Skidpad=0.83g
Slalom=62.3mph

Maxima SE:
60-0=133ft
80-0=239ft
Skidpad=0.81g
Slalom=60.4mph

So on that.

mrb23

get bigger brakes and better tires together!

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Autozone.

Street Reeper

Check out the group deal on Brembo's

Get better tires

orgasmicNYC

In FBI training they teach you to pull the hand brake to make the car go sideways. Your tires stop spinning because they can't spin if the car is moving foward sideways and the air friction its hitting is powerful. All that will slow you down faster then any other method. I don't care if it might be hard for you to do 2k2 then don't try it but some of us practice this. Don't tell me it doesn't work because I can tell you have never done it or seen someone do it.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

won't your car's chance of rolling over increase if you do that? that method may work in some situations but i can't imagine someone doing that on the freeway if a fast stop is required. my 02 cents.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

BWWWWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH!

orgasmicNYC

These are all quotes from the popular mechanics article.


"Ore aims the Ford Focus directly at her at 50 mph, pulls the handbrake to lock the rear wheels, pivots the car to the right and careens toward her sideways. We brace ourselves for the impact of her body crunching into the driver's door. Again, we see no escape. But the Focus just lightly taps a cone broadside as the car slides to a halt. The cone gets airborne and glances off the student's stomach. She never even flinches."

Link

While this is a stunt driving school this is the same guy that teacher the FBI driving techniques for pulling handbrake to do fast stops etc... Whatever guys I'm not argueing no more laugh and press your silly little pedals.

Also, please do not use it on the freeway unless your car is perfectly straight. If you use the handbrake you will slide in a straight line. And don't do it at high speeds. It is a technique combined with braking, control and power.

2k2kev

You are a moron. He's doing that for stunt purposes, NOT for emergency stop purposes. Emergency stop means stop as fast as you can. He's looking for precision and I'd be willing to bet he's using the handbrake so he has an extra buffer in his stops... if he's coming in too fast he can always use the floor brakes to stop quicker.

You said "please don't use it on the freeway" and I say "please don't ever use it or you'll die."

orgasmicNYC... soon to be "dead mean posting"

orgasmicNYC

You stoop down to name calling etc... why don't you go do some research on the guy and the FBI training first. You sir are a simpleton and you are right if I met someone as smart as you there would be a post "2k2wannabe murdered"

Frank Fontaine

Which X Files episode was he watching??

I'm sure glad I didn't go to the same law school as that dude with the handbrake idea. Somehow we've gone from how to improve braking to evasive driving manuevers.

Frank Fontaine

You've rented several and you couldn't tell if it handled better than a Maxima? You're kidding, right? Both the Alero and Grand Am have tight steering--they have less HP yet are 2 mph faster through the slalom. Any idea why? The Chevy Cavalier also has tight steering when compared to the Maxima. Better car? No, but the 4th and 5th gens could have used some steering and suspension improvements from the factory. That's water under the bridge doh.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Keep pulling the emergency brake and you may have more than brake problems. E-brakes are not used for stopping moving cars.