CV8 Brakes (well sort of)
Discussion
2004 CV8 with the VXR upgrade, The car has been away and had some brake work done (Stainless Lines) the garage have reported that the peddle is a bit sponge. Now I don't remember the peddle being that hard a peddle and it was quite a progressive peddle, but I don't drive the car that much so I cant remember so can someone confirm on the Ro that the brake peddle does travel a bit on the car?
If not what is the secret to the bleeding of the brakes.
Ps just had ATE racing blue put into the system.
If not what is the secret to the bleeding of the brakes.
Ps just had ATE racing blue put into the system.
I drove a new peugeot 208 for a few days recently and when I got back in the Monaro for the first time I thought the brakes, power steering, and clutch had all failed. They hadn't, of course, but just seemed very heavy after the super-lightweight inputs and sharp initial brake response of a modern hatchback. So yes, compared to some modern stuff the brakes can seem a bit lacking initially.
Monaro5.7 said:
MyM8V8 said:
Monaro5.7 said:
Ps just had ATE racing blue put into the system.
What for? Is this synthetic Dot 5 or 5.1? I put some in some time ago and have had problems ever since. Silicone fluids dont mix with glycol.
;)PS I put silicone stuff in not ATE.
V88Dicky said:
I'd second that.
I thought that's why they're called Muscle Cars. You need big muscles for the steering, brakes, clutch and gearchange!
I third that. The steering and brakes feel very light on my Nissan Leaf electric car. My brother's BMW 3 series has heaver steering but lighter brakes than the Monaro. The Leaf doesn't have clutch and gears of course but the Monaro's don't feel that bad, even a pleasure, at least when not in stop start traffic.I thought that's why they're called Muscle Cars. You need big muscles for the steering, brakes, clutch and gearchange!
The brake feel is largely down to the hydraulic gain of the master, slave cylinders and servo. There is nothing wrong with the brakes basic size! So people spend silly money on VXR or AP brakes for actually a fairly modest increase in size, limited by the wheels of course. The performance tuning industry should be selling master cylinder and servo up grades not disks and callipers but there is less money to made and less bragging rights in the pub so they don't.
I transformed the brakes on my 72 Mustang by fitting a MK2 Granada master cylinder and servo. A gauge in the hydraulic line and a load sell on the pedal showed a 2.5 increase in braking for a given pedal pressure. Couldn't see anything wrong with the old parts per say, maybe the servo was faulty but every indication was that it wasn't, and the Granada parts were not very expensive.
granada203028 said:
Couldn't see anything wrong with the old parts per say, maybe the servo was faulty but every indication was that it wasn't, and the Granada parts were not very expensive.
Generally, the more servo assistance, the less feel you have for what the brakes are doing (also goes for steering for that matter). Shopping cars just need to stop. A driver wants to feel when his tyres are about to lock up on a performance car on track, so the less assistance, the better.granada203028 said:
The brake feel is largely down to the hydraulic gain of the master, slave cylinders and servo.
.. and the size of the discs, the ability to dissipate heat, the brake pad swept area, and method used to push the pads against the disc (sliding calliper v opposing pistons).granada203028 said:
There is nothing wrong with the brakes basic size! So people spend silly money on VXR or AP brakes for actually a fairly modest increase in size, limited by the wheels of course. The performance tuning industry should be selling master cylinder and servo up grades not disks and callipers but there is less money to made and less bragging rights in the pub so they don't.
May be you should tell some of the racing teams to ditch their race brakes and go back to standard discs and use re-calibrated servos Seriously, have you ever driven an AP equipped car? They are way better than the standard offering. It was one of the first things I replaced on my car after a scary brake fade incident where I ended up clipping a kerb and damaged the wheel.
'Racing' brakes may be considered as overkill on a road car, but they offer a huge increase in brake pedal feel. They give you much more confidence in driving the car enthusiastically, even on track days, as they seem almost fade resistant with infinite reserve.
I much prefer APs to an over-servo'd system.
I have to agree with the above. The limiting factors with VXR brakes are the contact area and the heat generation. Fudging more pad pressure (if that's possible) would only make the heat issue far worse, far quicker.
Aftermarket brakes have addressed these issues rather well and I think they offer good value.
But, to answer Si's original question- yes the pedal does travel further than other people might expect. An MOT inspector will be applying brakes in lots of different cars every day, VXR brakes will not insprire the same confidence that many other cars do in relation to pedal feel.
Aftermarket brakes have addressed these issues rather well and I think they offer good value.
But, to answer Si's original question- yes the pedal does travel further than other people might expect. An MOT inspector will be applying brakes in lots of different cars every day, VXR brakes will not insprire the same confidence that many other cars do in relation to pedal feel.
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