General brake question

[TDot]

What do your brakes "feel" like? How far do you push them to have good braking preasure?

I've been driving this car so long I forgot what good brakes are supposed to feel like. I'm about 1" from the wall for an "effective" stopping preasure. God forbid if I'm in an emergency. I rented a car the other day, an American standard car I don't remember which, and I would barely brush the brakes and it would lurch to a stop. I was stopping short so often you would have sworn I was learning to drive.

Before anyone says change brakes, or bleed brakes, or seized calipers, I've changed, blead, and checked multiple times since I've had this car with no noticeable difference right after. I've asked a couple of my boys to try their Ms, but they said their brakes are bad so I may not notice any difference....I wonder if them thinking their brakes are bad is actually how they feel in this car.

So what do your brakes feel like? How hard do you have to brake?

[Ilya]

You get used to it. The reason why the rental felt more willing to brake is just your muscle memory doesn't know that car.

It's the same reason when I ride my bike for a week or two straight in the summer without touching the car, everything kind of feels different. It feels stronger, etc. Once I've ridden in the car a few days, it comes 'back down to earth'. It's just mental/muscle memory.

[TDot]

I get that every car is going to have a different braking point, and age will play a role, but this just seems wrong. So I take it your m35 had the same "effective" braking point?

[Ilya]

Every car I've ever driven, IMO, had brakes that were 'normal'. I can't say I've ever driven a car for any period of time and said, "Damn, these brakes suck" or "Damn, my pedal goes far before the brakes engage". This includes my current M56. A lot of the bite also depends on the quality of the system...meaning, the Brakemotive kit is a good bang for buck but it's not made to stop you like a race car. I guarantee you that, if that isn't enough, you'd like a proper big brake kit/sport brake kit (including bigger calipers) a lot more.

I'll go back to the bike as an example. The OEM pads were 'eh'. Usable, but not fantastic. I changed the pads to 'sintered' type and man, the bike stops now. All I did was change the pads. The braking point (where my brake lever engaged) did not change, but the bite was MUCH more pronounced. Same principle applies to cars.

IMO, I don't think there is anything 'wrong' with your brakes.

[steve_c]

Generally speaking, most brake systems use an intermediate rod to connect the brake booster to the master cylinder piston. It can be a part of the booster itself, with an adjustable clevis setup, or a rod with an adjustable threaded collar & locknut. The setup varies with car manufacturers.
This rod can be adjustable in some instances, but regardless, it has a length specification built into it engineered for the brake system in use. It controls brake pedal "freeplay". To loose, you will not feel effective braking until the brake pedal is depressed more, too tight and your brakes can grab too much with little brake pedal application leading to brake overheat & lockup conditions. Generally, if all else is OK, this would be something you could check, if you were sure you felt a pedal that was not in spec. You can read up on this by searching brake booster rod adjustment.

As Iyakol pointed out, brake feel can be subjective. I have a 79 Caddy. Years ago whenever I traveled, I would rent a Lincoln Towncar. When I got back into my old Caddy, I would swear my brakes were mushy after getting out of those rental cars!
In reality, my Caddy brakes were fine, I just had to get re-acclimated to them!

I know we are speaking generally about brakes. For specifically defined issues I want to check, at times (depending on the problem/symptom) I use the pump brakes/ holdown checks to see how far my pedal travels.
Takes a bit of feel, under no conditions should the pedal sink to the floor. There is a floor to pedal spec in the service manual.

P.S to Lyakol,
I have an old 1984 HD Electra Glide with the standard "Hockey puck" front brake system. Those brakes would make you cry! You can squeeze the handlebar lever with vice grips, at best they will slow you down from 60mph to 20mph in about 10 leisurely seconds on a good day!
Plenty of time to take in the scenery, which of course it is all about!
Rubber side down my friend!

Steve_C

[Ilya]

P.S to Lyakol,
I have an old 1984 HD Electra Glide with the standard "Hockey puck" front brake system. Those brakes would make you cry! You can squeeze the handlebar lever with vice grips, at best they will slow you down from 60mph to 20mph in about 10 leisurely seconds on a good day!
Plenty of time to take in the scenery, which of course it is all about!
Rubber side down my friend!

Steve_C

I had a similar experience on my MSF bike that I used, although with the clutch. My left hand, I swear, got carpal tunnel after that class. It was a 1980's Honda 250 or something. Freakin killed me.

I have a 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, that thing will do a stoppie now (or low side, whichever comes first lol), if I gave it even 90% brake with the new sintered pads.

I do concur with your adjustment comment though, I'm not sure this car has it though. If I remember, my old 97 and 99 Nissan Maxima's you could adjust it a smidge. Or maybe it was just the pedal and not the actual rod?