MadaboutKitcars

Having learnt to drive in pre-ABS days, and rallied in a Mk1 Escort I still find ABS disconcerting when it deploys

I rather have full control and decide if I want to let a wheel skid or cadence brake.

I'm not too keen on over-sensitive brakes either, I rather they require a bit of a push rather then being lightly pressed, it seems easier to judge the amount of braking required when there is a wide range of pressures required.

Hi Mike,



Sadly it's so long ago that my Cabrio was last on the road (almost 14 years... :sad that I really don't recall its braking characteristics. I do remember other problems though (some of which, like the lack of width with the standard pedal arrangement, you've addressed and I plan to address) but I'll save those for other threads.

My donor was a 1983 1.6 Sierra so 240mm solid discs on the front and drums (8", I think) on the back. However, I'm replacing those with front calipers that'll take 260mm vented discs and a rear disc setup that'll take solid discs (253mm, I think).



I think there are lots of factors that affect the braking performance you need - and IMO some have more influence than engine power (how late you leave it before braking, for instance - not advocating a leave-it-to-the-last-second braking style on the public highway of course, just saying!).



No question that's true. And while we can be guided by what others have done (which certainly contributed to my decision to replace the drums at the back) and be more than reasonably confident of ending up with something safe and performant, ultimately calculation and comparison against some personal benchmark seems the only way of being sure? But I haven't made any calculations myself so am certainly not preaching!

Mark.

My cabrio has 240.0mm vented discs at front, and 9 inch drums at the rear with std Ford servo
The braking is OK. Its possible to lock up the fronts on a dry road at a fairly high speed, and even after repeated use on a windy road there is no sign of fade. Not too sure how it would behave on the track.

I have managed to warp the discs as I do seem to be one of the leave-it-to-the-last-second brigade. Still new ones are relatively cheap and dead easy to fit.

Chris

That was exactly my reaction to the Audi's brakes. There was so little variation between soft and hard that it was hard to judge.

Having said that, the kids had an old Peugot 205 to learn to drive in the field and it had rock hard brakes that frightened you because they required huge pressure.........................I guess the trick is to find something in between.

I have found that the "(Dual 7")" is actually the same maximum size as the Metro, ie. 6.25" externally. I would also guess there are two different sized diaphrams, as the front chamber is 1" smaller. Although I have not found out what the internals look like, this assumption will reduce my calculations above to: pye x (6.25"/2 squared) + pye x (5.25"/2 squared)
This is then only 66% of the BMW at 10" and is very similar to the standard Sierra.


As the maximum diameter is the same as the Metro unit this will fit more easily in the limited space that I have in the cabrio than I initially thought, and with a similar theoretical boost to the original Sierra, this appeals even more. Watch this space.......................