- From: RandalPark@xxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 10:11:58 -0400
Well, I am glad to see that you said that you "look WAY ahead and try to
anticipate a possible hard stop".
I hate to say this but the majority of drivers on the road today don't even
know what that means. How can they when they are all wrapped up in a
conversation over their cell phone? Even though their modern cars have great
brakes, by not "looking ahead", they are losing as much as they have gained.
Driving Imperials over the last 30 years, and as my primary cars during the
'70s and '80s, I learned how to do that very well. That skill has helped (and
saved) me a lot even in my driving of more modern cars today.
I think that this hobby has the ability to teach us some valuable lessons if we
want to learn them. These are some of the lessons that our hobby has taught me:
1) If you are going to do something, do it right.
2) Driving an older car makes us very aware of how we must remember the
limitations of our own vehicle when SHARING the road.
3) Driving is a privilege, not a "right".
4) Patience pays, impatience costs.
This thread also brings to mind something that I learned in Drivers Education
back in 1968. That is that the brakes should only be necessary as a last resort
to stop the car. That means that if we plan our driving ahead, literally, we
should already have slowed down enough to nearly have stopped before we need to
apply the brakes. Practicing this can save brake pads, gasoline, and possibly
our own lives.
Paul
In a message dated 4/29/2004 9:29:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>
>
> Quoting RandalPark@xxxxxxx:
>
> > As far as our Imperials go, the brakes that came with the cars were never
> > particularly unsafe to begin with. No brakes are perfect, and ours are far
> > from that. But they are relatively good, and work quite well when properly
> > maintained. That is when we drive the cars sensibly. No matter how good our
> > brakes are, nobody can stop very well when they are rolling at 80 - 100
>miles
> > per hour.>
>
> Paul, this is a debatable issue. I can only speak for the 67-68 Imperials,
>that
> I know well. The brakes are adequate for normal traffic situations. However,
> these cars are also very powerful machines that can keep up in terms of
> acceleration with many modern performance cars, and often beat them at higher
> speeds. Unfortunately, its the performance of the brakes that sets the limit
> to how much you can enjoy this performance. You always have to respect the
> inadequacy of the brakes (and I am talking about disk brakes here). Any time
>I
> drive at over 75-80 (fairly modest speed by the performane potential of these
> cars), I have look WAY ahead and try to anticipate a possible hard stop,
> especially in hilly roads with traffic, because that can bring the brakes
>close
> to their heat limit very fast. The other day I was in a "contest" with one of
> these Lexus SUV yuppy things on one of our hilly winding roads here in Austin,
> but after a brief blast of speed, I had to back off due to miss trust on the
> brakes. If I had a bit better brakes, I would have no trouble outruning the
> modern, as I have confidence in both handling and acceleration of the
>Imperial.
> In contrast, with my 67 Volvo, brake fade, stability and control is never an
> issue, even at speeds much higher than the above (too bad the volvo does not
> have the acceleration potential of the Imperials). So, for me, a brake
> "upgrade" with better fade resistance will certainly make the car far more
> enjoyable.
>
> However, I have to admit. Recently I replaced one rotor in the LeBaron. I
> could have taken the Supra route and improve the fading performance, but I was
> too cheap and used an old/used semi thin rotor that I had. But one of these
> days, I will have more cash in my hands than I do now.
> Then, a rotor upgrade,
> possibly for both cars, is in order.
>
> D^2, 2x68
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