Brake Bias
Author
Discussion

nigelw

Original Poster:

706 posts

230 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
I have a 3R and find that the front brakes lock well before the rears which can cause some serious moments if you have to brake hard and unexpectedly . I fitted new OEM Noble pads to the front when I got the car but wonder what your experience is ? Cheers

NobleGuy

7,133 posts

244 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
I've never experienced a lock up at all, although I don't drive it massively hard TBH and I don't take it on track.

nigelw

Original Poster:

706 posts

230 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
This was actually on the road as I met a car coming the other way approaching a single track bridge and was surprised how easily the fronts locked up and how much it took to unlock them .... anyone ???

DanH

12,287 posts

289 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
nigelw said:
I have a 3R and find that the front brakes lock well before the rears which can cause some serious moments if you have to brake hard and unexpectedly . I fitted new OEM Noble pads to the front when I got the car but wonder what your experience is ? Cheers
It is far safer for the fronts to lock before the rears, so I'm puzzled by your comment. Bear in mind the roads are cold and your tyres are probably underperforming as a result. Especially if they are fairly old. How does it compare to other cars you own on the same patch of road in the same conditions?

nigelw

Original Poster:

706 posts

230 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
this dates from a bit back when the roads were dryer but I let my brother , who is very experienced in these things , borrow it and he feels the same so i am tring to find out if this is normal for the car . I agree that it is better that the fronts lock just before the backs but with the current set up they seem to lock quite a bit too early . Because I dont know for sure what pads were fitted when i bought the car I am suspecting that the rear pads may be harder than standard but , before buying some new ones I was trying to get a "feel" for what all you guys thought about the standard bias ...cheers smile

V6GTO

11,579 posts

271 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
I've locked the fronts of mine a fair few times on the road, but I think it's been down to the road surface/crap on road/cold. On the track I cannot remember locking up warm tyres...the car stands on it's nose and just stops.

Martin.

kjhbigv

25 posts

229 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
Hi,

I must admit I have had a few moments where the fronts have locked up (in my opinion, too easily) which did take me a bit by surprise. Obviously, you need to take into account everything, cold tyres, damp slippery road etc etc....any car's front brakes in those conditions would probably lock up quite easily.

Also, there is the fact I have had the luxury of ABS up until now with the 3R, so probably a bit of driver inexperience and relied to much on ABS in the past!

So, the Noble is in fact making me a better driver! smokin

Edited by kjhbigv on Friday 4th January 13:35

nigelw

Original Poster:

706 posts

230 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
Thanks ! .... maybe that's the solution ..I should trackday it ! driving Seriously though , thanks everyone for your advice ...thinking about it , it's a very subjective thing that i am asking so I suppose the solution is either to get someone else who has a similar car to drive it or , if i dont like the bias , I suppose I should sort it out to my preferences , but thanks everyone , as always for your helpful input ...cheers

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

288 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
The factory did a modification to move the bias further back - I had it fitted to mine, then promptly removed when I locked the rears in the wet at over a ton. Would much rather the front locked first!

nigelw

Original Poster:

706 posts

230 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
Yeh ! I'll bet that was scary ! yikes I'm a bit surprised that car wasnt built with adjustable bias but I suppose it could open them up to all sorts of problems if used unwisely frown

V6GTO

11,579 posts

271 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
nigelw said:
I'm a bit surprised that car wasnt built with adjustable bias
Would have a cost implication so no chance. smile

M.

DanH

12,287 posts

289 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
m12_nathan said:
The factory did a modification to move the bias further back - I had it fitted to mine, then promptly removed when I locked the rears in the wet at over a ton. Would much rather the front locked first!
Nah, they did an adjustment to move it forwards! It was near optimal, but in certain conditions especially cold/wet it had too much rear and that puts people into hedges so they went way more conservative. This was after the car span on the autocar 0-100-0 tests IIRC.

One can manage these things a lot though by controlling the weight transfer to the front under braking so it was workable even with the mod and at least it wouldn't bite you in the arse quite so bad.

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

288 months

Saturday 5th January 2008
quotequote all
Whatever the mod I paid for it, didn't like it and had it removed again. Think it was just a restrictor valve put on a brake pipe? Fitted at factory and removed by the vegantune.

DanH

12,287 posts

289 months

Saturday 5th January 2008
quotequote all
m12_nathan said:
Whatever the mod I paid for it, didn't like it and had it removed again. Think it was just a restrictor valve put on a brake pipe? Fitted at factory and removed by the vegantune.
yep a different bias valve.