Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes improving emergency stop distance

I don't drive track events much at all. I'm looking to shorten my stopping distances in emergency situations during normal road driving. So bigger brake kits won't help, my tires are already very grippy, and I'm not willing to stiffen the suspension any more.

So I was thinking, who makes our ABS ? Is it a Ford product or somebody like Bosch? Any chance they have a direct replacement computer that has quicker reaction times? ABS is constantly evolving and an upgrade might be easy.

Brian Dors
99 SVT

You will have to his Big Jim up for this one! I don't know that you are going to get any upgraded performance out of the SVT braking system. The SVT has an excellent braking system. More than likely you would have to upgrade the master cyclinder and you would looking at more money than any upgraded braking system. You could try Stainless Steel brakes lines or Willwood caliper!

-Andy

Upgrade the brake fluid, i recommend ATE super blue AND have stainless steel lines installed front and rear, along with some nice pags (EBC, whatever). . .if you still hesitate, then consider a different caliper/rotor setup.

On the baer.com website, they are the first ones to tell you that upgrading to their big brake system doesn't affect brake performance at all. . .it's usually the brake fluid, the brake lines, and the pads. . .rotors just dissipate heat, so unless you plan on doing repeated emergency stops within 5 minutes, do the above stuff and see how you like it (plus, buying the fluid, lines, and pads won't cost more than $200 for all 4 corners, as opposed to spending nearly 1.2g's on a brake kit)

my .02
Suneil

Suneil -

For normal road usage, and the occasional hard stop during rush hour when you weren't paying attention , I doubt my fluid is boiling. Stainless steel brake lines and pads may improve bite, but I've already got enough bite to kick in ABS, so I don't see how any of these things would shorten my stopping distance.



Brian Dors
99 SVT

A good friend of mine worked for Bosch Brakes ABS division.

He says for best performance
1) ALWAYS run OEM pads
2) ALWAYS run OEM Tires
3) ALWAYS run orig. sized Rims/Tires
3) Try to never use ABS.

It seems that they do extensive testing on OEM pads and tires to get the ABS program just right. Adding sticky tires, or better pads (bigger rotors too) will just mess with the ABS programming.

I wouldn't be surprised if some enterprising aftermarket company started "Burning Chips" for ABS programs to use different sized rims, sticker tires and better pads.

Originally posted by bxd20:

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but I've already got enough bite to kick in ABS

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...which means the topic belongs to wheel/tire section because the brakes are doing their job better than the tires can handle.

The root question is whether there is a way to upgrade the ABS algorithms to match your stickier tires and other brake upgrades.

We're all crashing on the rocks, here, because I don't think anyone here has ever tried it. Even the tech articles I've read from people like StopTech say that the "good" big brake makers try to tune their systems to the factory ABS systems. (See article) Seems to me that if it were easy to do, these guys would tune the ABS to match their big brake systems, which would give them more freedom to design calipers, pistons, etc. without compensating with a smaller master cylinder.

The simple answer is, for street use, the brakes are damm good. If you want to really zoop up your brake system without screwing up the ABS, the only answer may be to disconnect the ABS.

Thanks Roger, that's kind of where I was hoping this thread would go. Point being, I KNOW I've read C&D reviews that say stuff like "... and the '98 Corvette's Bosch ABS system now features <blah blah blah> that can measure and adjust braking pressure "x" times faster than last year's model."

When I read stuff like that, I can't help but think that the owner of the 97 could just replace his ABS module with a 98 version if nothing else on the car changed.

This might be what it boils down to: Do the part #'s for our ABS modules match across all years? What about the Cougar's?

If Bill did some hunting, and found out that say the part number for a 99 SVT is different than an 00 SVT, I could see this being a potential improvement to our braking systems.

Long shot, but I'm curious.


Brian Dors
99 SVT

A good set of pads will be your best bet.

My 99 ATX uses the ABS for front/rear brake balancing. Disconnecting the ABS causes my rears to lock up prematurely. I know some models use a mechanical proportioning valve (There was a recall on it) but some are EDS (Electronic Distribution System, IIRC) and I wouldn't recommend disconnecting ABS on them.

FWIW, the new Mini Coopers uses the same system (Bosch ABS w/EDS). My sister has a Mini (Not the S model) and it annoyed her to no end when I pointed this out.