brake modulation...

[NSXDreamer2]

When I'm driving on the street, I usually kind of letting off the gas, slowing down with the minimal brake efforts. However, I picked up the skill that I can brake much harder and in short time on the track, for a faster lap time (less time spending on decelerating) and also more time for cooling the brakes...

now get back to the street, everyday I'm wondering which kind of the skill would help the brake pads last longer, or less rotor wear too...
my reasoning is that on street driving, the rotor is stone cold, so say, when I'm slowing down from 70mph to 25mph, (like getting off highway) if I

A. go easy on the pedals, (as if my grandma is in the car), I'll have to brake a lot sooner, but then the cold pads and rotors will drag for a long time to slow down.

B. do firm and hard braking, in that kind of speed, I might just need couple seconds to bring it down to 25, and I'm sure in that way, the rotor will be hot but then again, I'm probably only used it for couple seconds... but then seems like the rotor and pad would have a lot more stress from the sudden change in temp. I heard this is not good for the rotor.

I know it really doesn't matter since we are only talking about obeying-law street driving (not even hi performance drivings). I'm asking just for the sake of curiosity and hoping picking up more knowledge on the brakes from some experienced people...

 

[hlweyl]

You made no mention of downshifting to aid in slowing down.... highly recommeded

 

[digimanoc]

You made no mention of downshifting to aid in slowing down.... highly recommeded

ahhhh...but then you wear the clutch down faster, which costs more to replace.....

 

[MiamieNeSeX]

You made no mention of downshifting to aid in slowing down.... highly recommeded

I disagree, both pads and rotors are much cheaper to replace than a transmission or a clutch.

Armando

 

[nsxtasy]

According to everything I've read, as a general rule, you are much better off using the brakes to slow down the car than the engine compression of lower gears. However, there are times when downshifting can be beneficial - such as on downgrades when you can do so instead of riding the brakes, and when you are limping your car home after cracking your rotors at the track (ask me how I know this)...

 

[docjohn]

I would say brake normaly on the street.The stock pads are designed with cold stopping in mind and won't grind down the rotor.If you use aftermarket pads and or rotors then you must talk to others with your settup for a concensus on wear patterns.I have used track only pads on the street and no matter how I used them the rotors wore out very fast.I never noticed a lick of rotor wear when I was all stock,and before I started hitting the track.fwiw.

 

[NSXDreamer2]

thanks docjohn for your answer, this is what I'm really looking for... My whole situation did not actually happen on the nsx, but my wilwood brake kit equipped accord. Yes, it used a more aggressive compound...

Ken, I totally agreed the downshifting not being beneficial for braking purpose... but on the wear out question, if one heel and toe properly and slowing down with brake modulation. It should not wear out the transmission / clutch much. and it also sounds cool, and it's attractive to opposite gender..(ask me how I know )

 

[2slow2speed]

Hmm.. People on the street are not expecting you to use *maximum* braking in a short distance as such you probably don't want to use that particular technique on the street. You might end up causing accidents or end up startling others. Even on an accident avoidance maneuver be wary of the people behind you and try to avoid using the technique if possible.

Just my 2 cents..

Ken

 

[docjohn]

Funny I was thinking the same way,but also I would pity your poor passengers having to endure track worthy braking on the drive to the movies,,,would be,rather unsettling!lol

 

[NSXDreamer2]

but also I would pity your poor passengers having to endure track worthy braking on the drive to the movies,,,would be,rather unsettling!lol

Try that after Friday dinner... LOL. Thanks for the replies, so I guessed everyone agrees that on street driving, the pad selection is much more important than the driving habbit??

 

[hlweyl]

Am I the only one that downshifts when coming to a stop? I feel so alone.

I do usually go down to third. I always rev match when going down to minimize clutch wear. I drove my Civic like that for 10 years and 194,000 miles and it's still on the original clutch so it can't be all that bad. But to each their own.

I used to drive a truck for Coke and when you get your class A license, they teach you to always downshift and never to "freewheel". I know, I know, the NSX is not a tractor trailer, it's just the way I learned.

 

[jeff_L]

"I used to drive a truck for Coke and when you get your class A license, they teach you to always downshift and never to "freewheel". I know, I know, the NSX is not a tractor trailer, it's just the way I learned"

Why is that, by the way? Never made much sense to me, but then I've never driven a big rig!

Back to the original question, I figure that the job of the brakes is to convert kinetic energy (your car moving along at 75) to heat energy (rotors getting hot) by causing friction (pads wearing against the rotors). I really know nothing about physics, but would it really matter if this conversion of energy took 2 seconds or 10? You're still converting the same amount of energy. I guess at some point, it comes down to how the pads were designed, and I would assume that it would cause them less stress to be heated up slowly over a period of 10 seconds, than rapidly over 2.

Someone who understands this stuff tell me if I'm on the right track! =)

In the end, though, as others pointed out, it's always going to be safer to drive smoothly on public roads!

Jeff