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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