Cadence braking

[poptosis]

Had a bit of a heart stopping moment on Friday employing heavy braking at speed to avoid a rear end situation with a plank in a Punto

Fronts locked up and I began to slide. Felt like I wasnt slowing down fast enough so lifted off and reapplied, locked up just a little, lifted off and reapplied until the hazard was avoided (just).

I am certain that had I left my foot on the brake I would have had an impacted with the car in front.

Having only ever read about cadence braking I was very releived that it actually works but was also suprised that I was able to asses the situation in a fraction of a second and go against my intial instict to keep my foot planted on the brake peddal. Talk about learning on the job

This is not something I would like to have use in anger that often and I clearly need a lot more practice to maxamise cadence braking potential. Please take note crazy lane changing Punto drivers.

Just thought I'd share...
Be safe all...

Regards,

pop

[Hollywood Wheels]

poptosis said:

Fronts locked up and I began to slide. Felt like I wasnt slowing down fast enough so lifted off and reapplied, locked up just a little, lifted off and reapplied until the hazard was avoided (just).

You did really well mate, cadence braking is relatively easy to learn but very difficult to put into practice, purely and simply because of the 'panic' factor. To have presence of mind in a situation like that isn't easy, nice one...

[GTWayne]

Funilly enough,I had a bit of a bang up recently and I am embaressed to say I was driving,yes you've guessed it,a PUNTO!It was the wifes car and I was to lazy and could not be bothered to get my motor out of the garage and hers was on the drive yada,yada,yada.Anyhoo,a tt in a golf decided to signal and turn just as he nearly passed the turning he was looking for.Fair do's,I was behind and should have been paying more attention but the point I wanted to make was that I am fully aware of the cadence braking practice but ,as our freind above stated may happen,I panicked,skided and hit him.I have since practiced my emergancy stops and perfected them as much as I can,but you did very well to impliment such technique in such a high stress situation.

[TIPPER]

Well done Poptosis. Having learnt to drive well before the invention of ABS
I learnt cadence braking fairly early in my driving career. Funnily I still find myself lifting off when I feel the ABS pumping the brake pedal.(Obviously not on my Elise!)
You deserve an extra pat on the back for having the presence of mind/courage to lift off in an emergency situation - goes against the grain doesn't it.

>> Edited by TIPPER on Saturday 27th May 23:12

[egomeister]

I was quite pleased with myself to find that the only time I've been in such a situation I cadence braked without hesitation (blind twunt decided to turn across in front of me in an nsl )

In fact, I still can't get out of the habit of doing it despite having a car with ABS now....

[Tupolev]

On the stopping front, walshy tried to move me away from cadence to threshold braking. His logic was that even while locked, you are still dumping speed and each 'cadence' pressure release increases the stopping distance.

Admittedly this was in good weather and i guess the resistance of a tyre locked in the wet is much less than the dry -must practice in the wet when next at north weald.

tup

[TIPPER]

Tupolev, by 'threshold braking' do you mean not lifting completely but lifting until grip re-established and then applying further pressure?

[Tupolev]

ie quickly building up the force at the start, and then gradually releasing pressure as you slow.
Initially the weight shifts to the front and you can apply more force. As the car starts to slow down and the forces achieve equilibrium, you gradually reduce the pressure always trying to keep it just behind the point of lock-up.

This is more to do with mechanics than aerodymanics. Needs to be practiced somewhere safe though*.

tup


*if you kill yourself on the road through your own stupidity don't blame me.

[philygumbo]

Cadence braking is easy to get the hang of and worked for me for years, until I met Walshy. Threshold braking is much harder to get right, and in the wet I would naturally revert to cadence, until I get better. Practice on dry roads or car parks is best. Even better North Weald activity day.
Phil.

[GreenV8S]

Cadence braking surely is something you fall back to if you get the threshold braking wrong and lock up. You wouldn't deliberately set out to apply cadence braking, would you?

[philygumbo]

Good point, you don't try to lock the brakes but it happens sometimes if you are in a tight stiuation, thats when you clench your buttocks and ease off and reapply. Braking hard and not locking up the brakes, and keeping the pressure just below the locking threshold is the hard thing to master.