I was driving around "spiritedly". I wuld stop at a light (with a group of other cars), at the green, get it up to about 90, and then have to brake for the next light. About a minute of driving in between lights. After doing this five or six times, the sixth time I tried stopping from 70 it got down to 45 and just kept rolling at 45. I pressed the brake to the floor and nothing. Sort of panicking (with the red light and cross traffic approaching quickly), I began pumping and doing light left and right steering. It stopped about two feet short of the intersection.
It literally felt like my brakes were gone. After that I drove home taking it easy, and the brakes felt like they were coming back by the time I got home.
These are stock RS brake setup, new rotors and pads about 2000 miles. New master cylinder 5000 miles ago. Would 1LE setup or similar brake upgrade prevent the brakes from 'dissapearing'?

 

brake fade?

 

this happens to me too when i drive spiritedly and brake from 80 for turns...i think part of the problem is the dinky 10'' rotors get completely heatsoaked and then proceed to not respond. Even if you get the upgrade and the 10'' rotors weren't the cause, you'll probably inadvertently fix the problem in replacing all the things with upgraded parts.

 

braided lines and dot 4 fluid help maybe prevent that. pehaps some better pads like kevlar or ceramic ones that like higher temps?

 

Will going to kevlar or ceramic pads change daily driving? Cus the car is used as daily driver for half the year.

 

i have kevlar pads on my car, the only change i noticed is that my wheels stay clean as they are dust free

 

<CENTER><B>
Ceramic is an excellent all around pad.
They do not have to heat up to work like
full metallic circle track pads,
and ceramic are excellent for performance driving
on the street.
There is an exit ramp on my commute into the shop.
It’s off of the highway.
Driving normally only about 65 I accelerate into the ramp to
110 into a decreasing radius turn so I need to brake hard.
From 110 to 90 the brakes act normally, then when they get hot
it’s as if there is someone else sitting beside
you also with a foot on the brakes.
In other words the brakes start grabbing more
as they get hot.
It feels like I could melt the rotors before getting fade. </FONT>
</B><FONT COLOR=F3399><H5>
“If people drove any slower they’d be going backwards.”</FONT>
<FONT COLOR=FF66FF></H5><H3>NINÅ</H3></FONT>
<P>
<TABLE BORDER=9 CELLPADDING=8>
<TD BGCOLOR=black>
<B><H3><CENTER>REFUSE
TO
LOSE<p></TABLE></CENTER>

 

That is sweet. What are the name of the pads you use?

 

yes ceramics hold up to higher temps...but that does not solve the problem of a lack of heat dissipation with tiny rotors. i had ceramics on mine and after a few autocrosses and about 6 months of street driving, they were cracked in 4 places on the pad. but, on the cheap, i suppose ceramics are an ok way to solve the problem.

 

I'm not looking to autocross so I'll try ceramic pads before I go to bigger brake conversions (wallet reasons).

 

You may have boiled your brake fluid. Brake fluid absorbs water, water boils at 212....... Try changing the fluid and see if that helps.

 

next time you replace rotors try using drilled and/or slotted ones, supposed to help a lot with brake fade.

 

next time i put new rotors in this car, im hoping it will b 4 a 1LE setup. possibly slotted.

 

slotted is ok but beware of accelerated pad wear from the shaving effect. do not get cross-drilled unless the rotors came OEM cross-drilled. A solid rotor will do the trick just fine in terms of performance and heat dissipation.