Standard 111s Brakes

[sja]

Whats the thoughts on the standard brake pads in the wet. Just drove home in pi$$ing rain and brakes are terrible, thought I wasn't gong to stop. In the dry they are great..

[enjybenjy]

Yup

Me too. Panic set in as I put my foot on the anchors...and...nothing much happened, until I pushed quite hard. What's that all about?

[ChristianM]

I experienced the same for the first time last week. It will happen in most cars if its raining a film of water develops on the disks if you havent used the brakes for a while. Just dab them occasionally to stop this.

[Gruffy]

A light dose of periodic left foot braking while on the motorway helps keep them sweet and also spooks the numpties who tailgate.

Gruffy

[24sol67]

Have had same problem with S2 and 111R

Agree with Christian and Gruffy ie only way is to keep dabbing brakes with left foot and keep good distance between you and guy in front. In emergencies welly them hard as you can.
Cheers

[PB9]

Just leave lots of space on the mway, but then people pull into it....

I dont think many people think about brakes on the wet road, its all about track performance on the forums.

I'm going to need new brakes soon, and pagid are on my list, but thats because of track time. I'm sure they will be just as bad or worse on wet road and that is something to think about.

Time to start to be the slowest car on the mway again I think...

[PB9]

A quick how to brake, ( In the wet or dry.. )


1. Spend ~£500 and go on a lotus training day. ( The under/over steer/brake one... )

2. Dont "Jump" onto the brakes in a panic, because all the weight of the car is on the back, the front locks up very quickly and you dont slow down at all.

3. Press brakes wait for the weight to transfer to the front. ( The car angle changes, or front drops, what ever you wish to call it. ) In the wet it will take a couple of wheel revolutions to skim off the water on the discs, thats about 1->2 car lengths before this will start to happen.

4. Now you have weight on the front the tires will start to clear the water and make more grip, add more brake pressure in a smooth firm progression. This transfers further weight to the front and gives more grip to brake against.

5. At some point you may get some feedback into your hands, this is not the car sliding its the suspension bump response as it tracks the surface. ( Or it could be a slide if you were not in a straight line when you started to brake. )

6. Add more brakes to the "hiss" point. Thats when the tire is slipping, now lift off a bit. Thats the brake limit of the surface you are on.

I would suggest that you try this on an empty wide road just to get to understand the feel of the car as the weight moves forward and grips to the surface and then slips.

Now a little bit extra,

How to change position while braking,

1. Lift off the brakes. ( Never change position while braking hard. )

2. Make position change.

3. Get car in a straight line. ( This is important for safe braking. )

4. Re-apply brakes as above.


If you dont lift of when you turn the steering wheel the change in direction of the tires and of the forces on the tire change the grip level and you just slide in the direction you were going, thats not good.


This is the sort of thing lotus will tell you on the training day, but I still suggest you do the day with lotus. You get to do this in a very safe location with the best instructors you can get for an elise.


Remember it may be the most valuable £500 you spend and could save you from a very bad accident on the road.


In the wet take care with the elise, slow down and respect the car and conditions. This is the time when a lot of elises get broken, and test just how strong they are. So try not to test that out.

Take care, drive safe and enjoy this great car,
Pete