Front brake caliper pressure

[DanEC]

Excellent write up. Manual brakes take leg pressure. I have an old C2 Corvette and it has good disc brakes but you really have to stand on them to haul it down and the old Corvette design engineers on the Corvette Forum says that was the way they were designed - for lots of leg pressure if you really need to stop. I have the pretty much run of the mill brakes on my ERA and they are a bit easier on leg pressure for normal stopping than my 66 Corvette so Bob obviously put some good effort into the set up and pedal ratio/master cylinder sizing.

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Excellent write up. Manual brakes take leg pressure. I have an old C2 Corvette and it has good disc brakes but you really have to stand on them to haul it down and the old Corvette design engineers on the Corvette Forum says that was the way they were designed - for lots of leg pressure if you really need to stop. I have the pretty much run of the mill brakes on my ERA and they are a bit easier on leg pressure for normal stopping than my 66 Corvette so Bob obviously put some good effort into the set up and pedal ratio/master cylinder sizing.

Totally agree with this. The Cobra brakes definitely need to be learned and appreciated. You have to drive it like an old race car I guess, power assisted nothing! I takes effort to steer and stop and I have learned to actually like it that way. Thank goodness the clutch is not the same way as all of my old muscle cars way back when. I find the Cobra clutch system to be almost effortless....unlike the brakes. Like Dan said, if I have to really stand on the brakes, the cars stops great. It is just a little unnerving to have to put that much effort into it because that is not what we are used to in our everyday modern cars

[patrickt]

I just came back from a ride and I thought I would test the brakes out as I have no idea what the PSI is on the brakes when you're standing on them. The test I've always used is that, after everything is nicely warmed, say after a half hour or more of spirited driving, you should be able to lock the brakes up so you hear and feel a little tire noise, and you should be able to do that without a mountain of muscle in your leg and while still retaining reasonable leg modulation. That means I can take the braking up to the skid point, by pushing harder, and then back off when I just begin to hear or feel a little skidding noise, and then hold it there or below. If you lock everything up and just skid completely you're not going to stop as quickly as if you do it properly. I have 12.2" rotors, Sierra dual piston calipers up front, with Hawk #HB101F.800 pads on them, and on the back I have the ERA outboard braked rear, which uses the old PBR calipers that were on the 1993-97 Camaro, Firebird, and some Corvettes. The pads are nothing special, just Bendix #SBM413. Fresh DOT 4 ATE Super Blue fluid (and it's really blue, not amber). This is how I would test your car's brakes if I was behind the wheel.