Ok, help me out here...
I've had a debate with a friend a few times about brakes and upgrading brakes and the effect it would have on stopping distance. Now I'm not talking extended track use where heat dissapation becomes the most important factor I'm talking 70-0 stops.
My theory is that once you reach the point of having brakes on a vehicle that can lockup the tires it doesn't matter if they are drums or 6 piston BAER calipers it wouldn't affect your 70-0 stopping distance. The limiting factor in the braking distance has become the tires NOT the brakes. Would the super-duper track ready 6 piston calipers and cross-drilled and slotted rotors be easier to get consistent braking and better pedal feel out of? YES! But I don't see how that affects straight line stopping distance.
In order to stop in the shortest amount of distance you want to be RIGHT on the edge of locking up the tires and so long as the braking setup you have can reach that point it'll stop you the same right up until the tires break loose.
I think my buddy is confusing pedal pressure and travel with braking ability. When I drive my fiance's solara I always freak out cause it feels like there are NO brakes, the pedal feels like it travels forever until I actually feel something happen. On the G you need only to touch the pedal and the brakes are right there. Are the brakes on the G better? Well, hell yeah [
] but if there were a way to improve the pedal feel on the solara without changing anything else on the braking system I would probably be fooled into thinking "wow the brakes are much better on this car now" when in reality they would not perform any differently in how fast or slow they could stop the car.
If I actually went and got a high end braking system for the solara but changed nothing else in the suspension, wheels or tires it might also give a much better pedal feel, and I might also think that the brakes were "better" but I say all I am doing is giving myself the ability to lockup the tires with less pedal travel and pressure, I won't be able to stop the vehicle in a shorter distance than I could before - assuming an "ideal" pass for both braking systems. If I wanted to actually take advantadge of the improved braking I'd need to (at the least) slap wider rims and tires on to provide more traction before lockup.
Am I totally wrong?
-Chuck
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