i was having a play with a lad that was 4 up in a Mk6 Escort 1.8 SI, a car pulled out infront of him and he slammed on the brakes, i braked behind him and ended up locking up at 70mph.

my car has rear disks, and he had more weight yet he still braked quicker.

one of the things Ford mentioned when the car went in for its 30,000 mile service was that the brake fluid should be changed because its an 11 year old car.

just wondering what happens when brake fluid is old?

 

guess you just found out

 

what actaully happens to the brake fluid though? i can't work out how it degrades?


the pedal isn't spongey or anything.

 

shit tyres, and no skill if your locking up.
when your tyres skid you have less friction with the road hence you dont stop as quickly as cadence braking.

 

did the front lock??? back??? both????

 

TYRES

if you can lock the wheels at 70 then you either have superdooper 8 pot titanium WRC brakes, or youve got kwikfit remoulds on there

SOOOO many people overlook tyres when thinking of brakes etc. rememebr that theyre the things that are in contact with the road, so if they have no grip, you'll easily lock em up...

old brake fluid will simply give you spongy pedal syndrome...

 

more weight will have been a help to him...

Rear disks will give you no more braking force than drums.. sorry!!!


Alex

 

Brake fluid is hydroscopic. It absorbs moisture. Thats why you are supposed to change it.
I wouldn't expect the brake fluid to cause a lock up - quite the opposite as the more water in the fluid, the lower the boiling point and then you get brake fade on heavy braking.
Also stops cylinders/calipers corroding if you change it regularly.

I'd agree with the tyre theory - but change your fluid anyway!!

 

when i first had it it had the original Perelli (sp) tyres on it. these were alright for 11 year old tyres. i then changed them for budget Ł25 a corner shite, these scared me silly so i decided to buy some new alloys and get better tyres. its now running on Falken ZE512 205/40x17 tyres - i know they are hardly drag slicks, but they surely can't be described as shite.

i wouldn't put it down to shite driving. its not like i just slam on the brakes. i brake till i'm right on the limit of the tyres (till i get a slight squeel), then if i need to i cadience brake.

its only the fronts that lock.

how would more weight help him brake quicker? when i'm in my old mans Daewoo Matiz and i'm 4 up, i flip a coin to see if i'll drop it down a gear or brake when i see a traffic light ahead.

 

JIM, ive got the standard 1.6 caliper on mine, 285mm discs and greenstuff V4's

i had a slight, err, run in earlier, basically i locked up at 95! got off and back on tho and stopped ok.....

cabbys weigh 200kg more than a standard escort too!

 

the extra weight of mine should have been offset by the fact that he was 4 up.

 

could be the fact that he has abs and you dont?