Brakes unless at high speed - what to tackle?

[empower-auto]

The condition was a 0-until I need to start braking (around 90 mph) on a straight stretch of road. I saw the road about to run out so I was on the brakes first step was light and they did almost nothing. Second was hard braking. No lock-up / ABS .. it felt really greasy. I had to engine brake hard like I said to grease off the speed.

Car has 5k miles and has otherwise performed well.

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Originally Posted by liquidsky44

Which brake fluid did you guys use?

We swapped in the Motul 5.1 for now.

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

Well, I found out luckily without any loss that the brakes on the FR-S are no good at highspeeds. At ~130kph and higher they feel non-existent if you need to stop the car and anyone who doesn't engine brake hard is in trouble.

Pads felt greased! Haha. So - what's the first couple steps that will improve this particular sort of braking?

For increased heat capacity, upgrade brake pads and brake fluid.

[liquidsky44]

Originally Posted by FT-86 SpeedFactory

Brakes are so easily and cheaply upgraded. A good pad choice and fluid change alone will make a night and day difference.

You can go even above that and do rotors and lines, remove backing plates for extra cooling. So many options on the stock system to get improvement.

Start with pads and fluid. We noticed a huge increase there. We recently added our stage 2 package to our car for this weekends time trial.

Originally Posted by FT-86 SpeedFactory

We swapped in the Motul 5.1 for now.

But on the cap it say use a dot3 brake fluid only.

[cnk]

Originally Posted by liquidsky44

But on the cap it say use a dot3 brake fluid only.

Motul 5.1 is certified for DOT 3, 4, and 5.1 systems.

[empower-auto]

how does 5.1 act in severe cold?

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

how does 5.1 act in severe cold?

Like most fluid. -40F is the point in which to worry about it. Honestly if it is -40 outside, I'd be staying inside. :happy0180:

[TheRipler]

Originally Posted by FT-86 SpeedFactory

Like most fluid. -40F is the point in which to worry about it. Honestly if it is -40 outside, I'd be staying inside. :happy0180:

If it's -40, just use the snow drifts to slow down.

[Bristecom]

At least it wasn't like this:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UkXvXsFO50"]How to ALMOST crash your Subaru in style!! - YouTube[/ame]


But anyway, if you're going to be braking hard like that, you need better performance brake pads which are properly bedded in, better brake fluid (DOT 5.1), and better tires.

[empower-auto]

Originally Posted by FT-86 SpeedFactory

Like most fluid. -40F is the point in which to worry about it. Honestly if it is -40 outside, I'd be staying inside. :happy0180:

It'll happen, and I'll be driving

[SkAsphalt]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

It'll happen, and I'll be driving

haha me too

[SkullWorks]

The OP seems to have the exact opposite issue of the rest of the sporting world, his brakes were BELOW their minimum operating temp if you are to believe his scenario played out as described...

I for one have had ZERO issues off track with this car and even on track this weekend i had no problems with repeated stops from 100 mph with or without engine braking, I could engage ABS anytime I would have liked and I had a fresh set of Hankook Ventus RS-3's mounted in 225 flavor just for this weekend....

blame canada

[mike2100]

I don't see the point in "upgrading" brake fluid for street use. Same with lines and rotors. The OP was driving on the street, people. He doesn't need upgraded heat capacity, just more friction.The stock pads are a little silly. I changed them to Hawk HPS for street use - much better. Good bite, good modulation, don't need any time to warm up. Beware of vendor posts encouraging you to "upgrade" systems that don't need upgrading.

[sierra]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

The condition was a 0-until I need to start braking (around 90 mph) on a straight stretch of road. I saw the road about to run out so I was on the brakes first step was light and they did almost nothing. Second was hard braking. No lock-up / ABS .. it felt really greasy. I had to engine brake hard like I said to grease off the speed.

Car has 5k miles and has otherwise performed well.

Maybe the problem is in the master cylinder?