KEY POINTS:
Many car owners modify engines to increase power output, but omit to beef up the car's brakes. The manufacturers designed the brake system to cope with the power output as set by factory engineers. Therefore it's only common sense to improve brake performance.
By far the cheapest way of getting better braking it is to modify the system already fitted to the car. The factory spent good money setting up a system with the right front/rear brake bias with durable and strong components. If the engine power output has increased by around 30 per cent, then you can get the standard set-up to work even better with out spending huge dollars on a something new.
Start with the pads. The difference between the standard pads (or discount store pads) and high-performance pads is immense. High-performance pads bite hard, even harder when hot, and stopping distances are much shorter than standard pads. If you drive a relatively common car, look for pads advertised as suitable for towing. A pad designed to slow down 3 tonnes of boat and car works pretty well when stopping just a car.
They'll probably be described as 'metal' or 'heavy duty' and be made by a recognisable manufacturer.
If your model of car is raced, find out who makes race pads for it and talk to them. If you do decide to fit race pads, they'll wear out faster than standard pads and wear out the disc rotors. or drums, due to their abrasive nature. Make sure you mention to the person you're buying the competition pads from that you're using them on a road car, as braking when they're cold can be marginal. Good after-market pads are often cheaper than factory-supplied replacement items.
Brakes get very hot - as a test go for a drive and brake heavily a few times. Pull over and feel the wheels and brakes. They'll be damn hot. The hotter they get the less effective brakes become. Short of fitting drilled or ventilated discs, fitting an open-design alloy wheel will let a lot more cool air circulate past the disc or drum, while the alloy material will better conduct the heat away.
Good quality DOT 4 brake fluid has a boiling point of about 290C. Brake fluid only works when it stays as a fluid; when it boils because the brakes are hot, it turns the fluid into gas. And gas compresses, the pedal becomes spongy and nothing happens. You should change the brake fluid every year as moisture can get into the fluid and reduce the temperature it will boil at.
Most factory cars have plastic or rubber flexible hoses in the braking system. These can get brittle, or go soft, which can lead to both leaking fluid and/or excessive ingress of moisture into the lines. Another problem is that they expand and bulge when brake pressure is applied, which gives an even spongier pedal feel. To solve the problem, fit braided steel hoses. But check out the legalities of braided hoses before you stick 'em on. Both of these types of hose reduce or virtually eliminate the bulging that occurs with the stock hoses and you get a much firmer pedal.
The extra force you can now put on the pedal may cause the firewall, or the brake cylinder mounting bracket, to move. By keeping the master cylinder stable, the pedal effort in high braking applications is reduced and there is also better pedal feedback.
By making these cost-efficient modifications, the braking performance of your car is greatly improved.
