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The brakes fitted to your car will perhaps be something you take very much for granted. After all, when
you recognise the need to lose speed quickly, you just lift off the gas, put your foot onto the brake pedal
and the car slows down. Nothing to it is there? However, why is it, when you do that, does the car slow
or stop? Whats going on underneath you?
You may not quite have thought of it like this, but when you apply your brakes, even when they are
working at maximum efficiency, they will only be able to slow your car at a rate according to the
amount of grip available from your tyres. Why? Because the tyres are the only part of your car that is in
contact with the ground, and if things were any different, we would all be able to get 100% braking
effect 100% of the time, even when driving on ice!
The problem is you cannot drive a car without there being a constant variation in the amount of
downforce applied to any of the four tyres, which of course will vary according to what the car is doing
any given time. When you apply your brake pedal, and whilst driving forward, there becomes an
increased amount of down force at the front of the car.
The car doesnt lose any of its overall weight, its just there is now a variation in the distribution of the
overall amount of downforce available. Whatever the total amount of down force, it all has to be shared
Why bigger and more powerful brakes are fitted to the front of the car
This is why bigger and more powerful brakes are fitted at the front wheels, as compared to those at the
rear. Under braking the front tyres will give you better road adhesion, when compared to those at the
rear, so it makes sense to create the most braking force where there is the most tyre grip. With less
down force at the rear, any substantial braking going on at that end of the vehicle would easily result in
a wheel lockup situation.
Braking systems fitted to cars, and light to medium weight goods vehicles, are operated by hydraulics
via a series of smallbore tubes (brake pipes) filled with fluid connecting the action of the brake pedal
to the brake units fitted to each wheel.
To overcome the problem of increased downforce at the front, and decreased down force at the rear,
under braking, there is a pressure limiting valve built into the system that will detect the difference
between the front and rear loading, and will compensate by adjusting the balance in braking power
accordingly to prevent rear wheel lockup.
travelling in a straight line. Straight line braking ensures the most satisfactory distribution of
downforce. Whilst is if not possible under these conditions to give each tyre a whole 25% of what is
available, if you can apply the loading over matched pairs of tyres in an equal manner, that is the best
compromise you can wish for.
Under braking, you will need to match loading between the front tyres, which means by default you
will have matched loading between the rear tyres. By applying the brakes with empathy, you will create
maximum vehicle stability under braking and realise the maximum level braking performance for the
conditions.
Braking whilst cornering will immediately put the car offbalance, as the front tyres of the vehicle will
become more heavily loaded, and because you are steering, the extra loading becomes biased to one
front corner. This is one heck of a load for one suspension unit to cope with, and it creates a great deal
of extra work for one tyre to have to cope with too.
with
front
wheel
drive
in a straight line. Having settled the car to the speed required, now directly select the most suitable
gear to provide the necessary response relative to the speed at which you are travelling again before
you start to turn into the bend.
By these means, at the time you begin steering into the bend, you will are travelling at the right speed
and with the right gear engaged (we wont go into the topic of positioning here, as that would over
complicate matters for now).
When you actually take the car around a bend, apply just enough throttle to keep the engine pulling,
but without the car accelerating. By these means you will achieve the best situation in terms of vehicle
stability, particularly as the loading of down force will be matched between the two tyres along the
outside of the curve, and between the two tyres on the inside.
When descending a winding hill, apply firm braking when the car is travelling straight, even
exaggerating the amount of speed loss required before the bend is reached, and then apply lighter
brake pressure around the curves as required. Also, try to use only one brake application per task, as
not only does this form one of the key elements of The System of Car Control, a subject to be dealt with
in a later chapter, but it also helps a driver to become more disciplined in searching out actual or
potential danger.
Julian Smith Ride Drive Limited
WARNING This series of driving tips articles has been made available to you to read, and if you
wish, to print or save, and you may do so completely free of charge. However, this permission is given
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You Are Here Home Advanced Driving Tips Menu Part1 Effective Braking
What do you know about ABS? How do you use ABS properly? Have you ever experienced ABS when
its been working? What do the letters ABS actually stand for?
Okay, lets start with that name, ABS. It stands for Antilock Braking System, and what that means is
that no matter how hard a driver may stamp on the brake pedal, the road wheels are never supposed
lock into a skid, which for most driving conditions is true.
Threshold Braking
This is a term that some readers may well be aware of, and describes the technique where a driver
finely calibrates the amount of brake pedal pressure to apply, so as to maintain a degree of braking
effect at the wheels that is but a hairs breadth inside the point of wheel lockup. Thhis is finding the
threshold between a rotating wheel under braking and a locked wheel under braking.
It is well reported that Lewis Hamilton, current Formula One world champion, has a particular skill for
knowing where the braking threshold of his car will be at any time and in any conditions, and this has
been one of the elements leading to his success. He is well in tune with his car and is able to work with
it well.
However, the availability of the ABS of a vehicle should not deter drivers from learning to master
threshold braking, as driver will tune to machine more accurately this way. As already noted above, the
maximum braking effect is achieved when the tyres are at the limit of friction. ABS works by releasing
the brakes as the tyres break traction, so a skilled driver, who is in tune with their car, should be able to
exceed the braking performance of an ABS system under most circumstances.
Target Fixation
Target fixation is where a driver, fearing he or she will hit something, actually ends up locked on to it,
and as a consequence, WILL hit it! Its an old brain function. I remember Julian of Ride Drive, during
a discussion on this topic, told me how he, when in his previous role as a traffic patrol police officer,
had actually seen this happen for real on the public roads and how he had investigated collisions
leading up to which a driver had chased the victim across the road to the point of impact.
Firstly, be aware of Target Fixation, as the only way you will overcome this is through training. I
experienced this myself with a group of others during a training exercise. Initially there was a 100%
failure rate, and I had excellent skid control experience already!
Secondly, ABS should have significantly reduced the chances of a skid and subsequent loss of control
and yet all of us crashed into what we were trying to avoid. However, to master the extra steering input
required to turn the vehicle under ABS, again there was 100% failure rate within the group.
So there you have it. ABS is great for many situations, but not the answer to all. And, to get the best
from it you need some training. Otherwise it just remains a Marketing Point in a glossy sales brochure.
WARNING This series of driving tips articles has been made available to you to read, and if you
wish, to print or save, and you may do so completely free of charge. However, this permission is given
where the material is for personal use only. Any reproduction, copying or publishing for any form of
personal gain, financial or otherwise, or for any form of distribution, without prior permission, will not
be tolerated and will be considered as a breach of copyright. Please do not abuse the good faith that has
been extended to our site visitors in producing this material. If you are unsure as to whether your
intended use of this, or any other written article that you find published on this website, will be
offensive, please ask for guidance.
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You Are Here Home Advanced Driving Tips Menu Effective Braking Part4 ABS Pros &
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