How close have you come to takin' it in the butt?

[uflnuceng]

Hopefully that passes Josh's title censorship...

So yeah... I discovered today that when I have to get on the brakes I spend more time looking in my rear view mirror than being concerned about what is in front of me. I had like a good 4-5 car lengths between the car in front of me and the one behind me, new construction forced everyone into one lane and i had a sudden slow down from 45 to about 15mph. I look in my rear view mirror and the dumb bitch is panicing, smoking her tires for about 3 car lengths.

Why are american brakes such crap?

A few weeks ago I had to actually run a red light because a tractor trailer with about 6 car lengths at 45 mph would have creamed me if I hadn't moved. The light turned yellow, I proceeded to slow down, it turned red and I stopped I look in my rear view mirror and the trailers tires were bellowing smoke to the point I couldn't see the cars behind it. If I hadn't gunned it through a freaking red light my car would be about half its normal size...

I would hate to think what would happen if I really got on the brakes...

cliff notes: american cars suck and can't stop in a respectable amount of time in my opinion. discuss.

[Febi Guibo]

Jared, national coming out day is October 11th...
...don't miss it, like last year.

[Ryan Stewart]

Its not the cars to blame, its the drivers. Ive driven a lot of american cars and, except for the vehicles with a GVW of over 8000 they all stop just fine. The problem is the waffleswaffleswaffleswaffles on the phone behind you. She isnt paying attention and doesnt brake until the last second.

Both times I got rearened the bitch didnt even hit the brakes and plowed into me at 30-35mph. The catch, both times I had been sitting at a light that had been red for a couple minutes.

And yes, I do look in my rearview when stopping in traffic, as if I am going to be able to do anything about it. The worst thing you could do is try to avoid it and hit someone, then its your fault.

[uflnuceng]

And yes, I do look in my rearview when stopping in traffic, as if I am going to be able to do anything about it. The worst thing you could do is try to avoid it and hit someone, then its your fault.

That's the real ass part... you almost can't do anything about it because in most cases the only place I can swerve to is into on coming traffic and then the blame comes immediately back to my side of the field. Fucking sucks...

Jared, national coming out day is October 11th...
...don't miss it, like last year.

hahahaha... i'm laughing so hard my lungs hurt. :up:

[StereoInstaller1]

I was in an auto parts store a couple of years back...this dude was arguing about $21 brake pads. He told the clerk he wanted something cheaper...then the scary part...he said "it's an old car". Apparently, that means it doesn't need to stop well!

American cars stop fine. E30's stop better. Figure you are a target, nothing more. Be careful out there! Watch for Mom yakking on her cell...

Luke

[AdironRider]

Its the drivers not the car. Sucks but theres nothing you can really do to change that.

[uflnuceng]

True... but I still think I can outstop most American crap by atleast 15ft from 60mph.

[1991 318is]

My brakes failed

to stop me in a distance that violates several of Isaac Newton's laws. Like someone else said - it's not the cars, it's the driver's. Get on any freeway and try to put out of your mind the reaction time of the driver versus distance traveled.
The traffic laws cover this by requiring an "assured clear distance" and then citing you "failure to stop in the assured clear distance" Think about it the next time you close up the gap to keep that yuppie asshole from pulling over in front of you.
And what's this about coming out day - I gotta be there!

[DEV0 E30]

Its not the cars to blame, its the drivers.

I agree. When you don't give a shit about your car, and you continually slam on the brakes instead of somewhat coasting eventually the pads will wear and they'll be pushing harder to stop, even harder than before which wasn't needed. Atleast this is how I see Arizona drivers, they get on them just way too late.

[Erick]

Its not the cars to blame, its the drivers. Ive driven a lot of american cars and, except for the vehicles with a GVW of over 8000 they all stop just fine. The problem is the waffleswaffleswaffleswaffles on the phone behind you. She isnt paying attention and doesnt brake until the last second.

Very true. I was driving a Ford Focus and I had to come to a quick stop from 50mph. The new model Toyota Corolla behind me locked the brakes and came within inches of my rear bumper.

[Brew]

Shitty, inexperienced drivers. I was rearended on the highway a couple years ago by an Explorer. My '89 325is was pretty slammed at the time, tucking rear tires and the suspension on the shitbox Explorer was so soft that his front bumper hit mine. No damage done, though.

American, Japanese, German... doesn't matter what kind of car it is- you should always have a feel for how well your car can stop in the current conditions and you should give yourself enough room to be able to avoid almost any conceivable collision. [/lecture]

[fretburnr]

i've been there, but its not necessarily the brakes that were the problem. if they were locking up tires and smoking, the brakes did their job of stopping the wheels from turning, but their tires were too crappy to slow the car effectively. (we all know that tires do a better job stopping when just-not-quite-sliding, but you get the point)

A few years back i was a parts driver for a bmw dealer. I had a chevy 1500 van i was using at the time, and it was pretty solid. i was stopped at a light behind traffic for a good 2-3 minutes, and i saw a red car HAULING towards me from behind, not slowing at all. I looked ahead and saw that i couldn't move, and i didn't want to get the car in front of me involved, so i STOOD on those brakes while stopped.

bitch hit me square on at 35-ish mph (45mph road, she only got on her brakes literally right as she hit me) and my van didnt move more than an inch or two... the cherry broke off my cig though :p

turns out she was talking on the phone and messing with papers in her car, a dodge stealth... her hood got torn open and the valve covers ripped off by my rear bumper, which was just kinda folded under.

the brakes and tires on that van kept me from getting plowed into the car in front of me. I'd say they are pretty good. My favorite part though is that she worked for an auto insurance company - someone who should "know better"

[Victell]

My e30 has taken it right up the tailpipe. An ambulance crossing traffic against the light forced me to do a full abs stop. I guess my e30 with 225 BFG rubber stopped way better than the slammed Accord on stockers that was behind me.

Most of the times its 'the drivers'. I cant stand when yahoos tailgate me on the freeway. Especially suvs and big trucks. If its two car lengths, I'll get on the brakes while staring out my back window. Get the fuck out of here.

Fun Game to play with Tailgaters: Watch them in the mirror. When they look down at the radio or look away for whatever, let off the gas to close the gap even more. They get really startled, thinking they almost ran into the back of you. After about 2 or 3 of those, they start thinkin that maybe they should just back up a little.

[ptownTSI]

ford trucks actually have really good brakes for how heavy they are. my ranger feels very in control with braking, and it doesnt have discs in the back. theres still enough power to lock up my 31x10.5's though. the new f250/350 superduty's have something like 14" rotors with 4 pistons calipers...not bad at all. and they feel like it too. i've driven one towing and you hardly notice the extra weight w/ braking.

what kind of car almost hit you?

[uofom3]

drivers suck, but these cars do stop much better than the american cars.

Less to do with equipment and more with other drivers - i was in Reno NV a few years ago and driving the e36 m3. Traffic was flying in general, so we were doing like 80 in the slow lane. All of a sudden traffic starts hammering on the brakes (i still do not know why to this day). I lay the pedal on HARD - i had never used the e36 brakes that hard - and it dropped anchor, so much so the car behind me wasVERY close. I got off the brakes for a second and pulled over to the shoulder lane and got the car stopped. When i had gotten stopped, the car that was behind me was next to me and less than a few feet from the car that was infront of me (with tires smoking) and the car behind them was within inches of their bumper.

I am certain that these cars stop better from a mechanical standpoint, but ultimately it is the drivers. Even though there are a lot of shitty drivers of bmw's. i generally see a lot better driving out of them. could be a lot of explanations why, but i'll leave it as a blanket statement.