[Ryno]

I haven't done any official testing but my brakes don't seem to stop very well when cold or even after slight warming. I’m hoping this is attributed to the temperature not being much over freezing here lately. Any thoughts on the subject? If this is due to the brake pad compound how are we ever going to get full use of our brakes when autocrossing?

 

[Patricko]

Mine are great

Could be cold tires...

 

[LotusLust]

Mine are great

Could be cold tires...

ha been near freezing ehre...no such observation

 

[acw]

I have no direct experience with Elise S2 brakes, however, what you experience is maybe related to how your brakes have been bedded in.

Try this.

Go on some highway and use the brakes smoothly bit firmly to slow down from say 80mph to 50mph. Obviously make sure there is no traffic behind you but also, wait a few minutes between each to let the rotor/pads cool down.

After 2 or 3 iterations, brake a little more (say 90 to 40) a few times then park the car and let it cool down.

The idea is to evenly transfer some pad material on your rotors.

I hope this helps.

Arnaud

 

[adamant]

Hi Ryan,
My brakes are extremly effective, the pedal is too light. If you apply a lot of pressure does the ABS cut in ? Maybe a problem with the servo?

 

[James A]

Ryno, my brakes are terrific in the cold, well as cold as Atlanta gets and it was low 30s late last week in the morning when I drove the car. Can you see if you can get the ABS to actuate on a cold day, LOOK out for cars behind you! If the ABS actuates that's about as good as the tires will do. If you can't I would have the brakes checked out by the dealer.

 

[wstrohm]

Any possibility Cosmoline was sprayed on the brakes? I had this problem in 1983 with a new Mazda GLC. Symptoms roughly the same, with the addition that light application of brakes at very low speed (5 mph or so) would cause a slight squeal.

 

[Patricko]

Any possibility Cosmoline was sprayed on the brakes?

Since they don't use that on the Elise (they are shipped in a sealed container) I don't think so.

 

[Ryno]

I haven’t tried getting on them really hard when cold but after slight warming I have and yes I have engaged the antilock.

I'm not saying the brakes don't work when cold I've just never noticed this big of difference before in other cars. I was just curious if it was the brake compound, I know of some race pads that need to be heated up to work effectively.

 

[acw]

Clearly, if ABS triggers, the limit is tire traction, not brake friction.

Assuming that you use the brakes smoothly, this is most likely your tires which are cold. This said, street tires are not very sensitive to heat compared to competition tires.

Also, you could experience something like this if your car is out of alignment.

If you have too much negative camber in the front, the contact patch reduces with all the weight transferred in front and will reduce the traction limit under braking.

AW