052SI

Thanks for the reply.
How would tires help with normal/non panic stop braking? I just think the brakes comp'd to BMW's are not as robust and have a weaker feel. I just wish the beeper would let you know the lights were left on as even the cheapest of new cars have this...oh well.

052SI

Anyone know where the mic(s) is for the cars speaker phone? Callers have trouble hearing the passenger talking...I thought it was by the map lights but if they speak closer to those there is no change.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Brakes don't stop the car, tires do.

I'm a bit unclear on what you mean by "not as robust" when asking about non-panic stops. If the car isn't stopping strongly enough with light pedal pressure then apply more pressure. If the car isn't stopping soon enough with firm pedal pressure get better tires.


There's certainly ways you can change the "feel" of the system beyond that, but it won't change how soon the car actually stops....

052SI

The brakes on our 328 had a better/firmer pedal feel and I believe larger in diameter and/or thickness (not sure about the calipers) with the rear brakes vented. If the car is not skidding/panic stopping then how would the tires help stop the car more so or even equal to the brakes? Our car is a 250 and the brakes are unfortunately not the same as the 350's which might be more like the bmw's in size etc. BMW 3 series brakes are always recieving praise for their excellent pedal feel, fade resistance etc... haven't read much about the 250's merits. Still like the new car just making comp's.

Thanks

darkdream

Larger and vented brake rotors would only help if you were doing excessive braking or braking from high high speeds many of times to feel the fade. Driving legally on the road you would probably never encounter such a situation. Brake pedal feel can be altered by changing out the brake pads (maybe you might want to look into that). You can press the key two times in succession to turn off the light immediately.

052SI

Thanks for the reply dd


Brake rotors especially small non vented ones can get, and more importantly stay very hot even driving around town. Larger diameter upgraded brakes help slow the car down with less effort even at moderate speeds and if you need to make panic stop, an extra few feet could mean avoiding a serious accident especially at speeds above 40 mph. The fact is that a car stops by the brake system converting the kinetic energy (force of motion) of the vehicle through the brake rotor to heat. The faster the heat buildup and the faster the cooling properties of the brake pads, the more efficient the brake system.


Nevertheless the pedal feel of the 328 brakes is superior to the 250's, hadn’t tried the 350's but I'd imagine its a whole lot better the the 250's. I'd also imagine that the better calipers and lines would have a lot to do with improving pedal feel and offering more precise modulation. I haven’t been able to comp the stopping distances between a 328 and a 250 and will search through the major car mags to see if there is even that great of a distance, I just know the beemers felt so much better (firmer and with less effort to stop the car from any speed).

Its been really interesting comping our new '10 250 to the '08 328 we had, so far the Lexus has the 328 beat in 6 of the 10 categories I've used but the bmw won most the performance one's.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

I've never heard of a report of brake fade in around town driving of a properly working IS250... while the brakes aren't the size of the 350s they're hardly inadequate to their task.

Probably so... the solution is to press the pedal a bit harder and it'll stop in exactly the same amount of time.

In a panic stop you'd be slamming the brake pedal.

In which case larger rotors make absolutely zero difference whatsoever.

Once you've engaged ABS, which the 250s brakes are more than large enough to do with no problem in this situation, any more "braking force" you'd get from bigger rotors is totally wasted force.

The brakes don't stop the car, the tires do.