Ditching the power brakes, but keeping ABS

[mikeinatlanta]

Power vs non power. My experience has been that inexperienced drivers often will not push manual brakes hard enough to lock in the first place. Seems they have muscle memory of their power OE car setups and will hit something rather than giving that extra pedal push. The MRS is that way. If inexperienced drivers were the driving force for my decision, I'd go power ABS. For me I prefer non power non ABS. I know it's a bit counter intuitive, but IMO the OP's first assessment of inexperienced drivers is backwards. Overly aggressive drivers will lock with less effort and hopefully have better control as a result.

[Hindsight]

Power vs non power. My experience has been that inexperienced drivers often will not push manual brakes hard enough to lock in the first place. Seems they have muscle memory of their power OE car setups and will hit something rather than giving that extra pedal push. The MRS is that way. If inexperienced drivers were the driving force for my decision, I'd go power ABS. For me I prefer non power non ABS. I know it's a bit counter intuitive, but IMO the OP's first assessment of inexperienced drivers is backwards. Overly aggressive drivers will lock with less effort and hopefully have better control as a result.

I agree with you, except in the 818, the pedal effort is just TOO high. At Road Atlanta, when braking into turn 1, and into 10a, I have to STAND on the pedal and push as hard as I can. My leg starts shaking when I do this by half way through a 20-minute track session. I could lock them up, but it's like I have to put 150lbs of pressure to get the braking I want, and 160lbs of pressure to get to full lock. You can't modulate the brakes when you are applying 150lbs of pressure on the pedal. All you can do is stand on them and let the ABS do it's thing - which isn't ideal. Plus your legs get blown out.

I do prefer the pedal feel of manual ABS brakes but only if the pedal effort is reasonable. In our 818 setup, it just isn't.

[mikeinatlanta]

I agree with you, except in the 818, the pedal effort is just TOO high. At Road Atlanta, when braking into turn 1, and into 10a, I have to STAND on the pedal and push as hard as I can. My leg starts shaking when I do this by half way through a 20-minute track session. I could lock them up, but it's like I have to put 150lbs of pressure to get the braking I want, and 160lbs of pressure to get to full lock. You can't modulate the brakes when you are applying 150lbs of pressure on the pedal. All you can do is stand on them and let the ABS do it's thing - which isn't ideal. Plus your legs get blown out.

I do prefer the pedal feel of manual ABS brakes but only if the pedal effort is reasonable. In our 818 setup, it just isn't.

I think in a way we are saying the same thing. High pedal effort reduces control. Not terrible bad for the guy experienced with it, but actually increases risk of uncontrolled lockup.

[Hindsight]

Thanks Frank!!

[frankc5r]

Thanks Frank!!

Bigger rear brakes will solve your pedal effort problem.