Vines
Active Member
Thanks for the feedback. Based on the noise comments and watching youtube videos I am now leaning against HP+ pads. I do want something with more cold bite and preferably a little more heat resistance (although this is a much lower priority).
Again I am mostly focused on emergency braking in LA freeway traffic. Currently switching from Autopilot to manual braking incurs a delay as your response time typically goes up when taking over control vs operating oneself. In addition to this, I feel as though the mechanical brakes take much more pressure than on other cars (owned a BMW 335i, Nissan Leaf, VW Golf, Mazda MX-6 and a few others before) for full application. I am not sure how much of this is due to not using the brakes often and being less familiar or due to the change over from autopilot but I want immediate bite with less pressure because. I am applying the mechanical brakes is because I need a lot of stopping power immediately (otherwise I use regen). I am not concerned with rotor abrasion or dust. Noise does matter though.
This has become an issue for me as I was recently in a fender bender. I was in autopilot and the car did not emergency brake (I will increase my following distance when in autopilot from now on as maybe the frame rate is not quick enough for close following emergency braking). I had to take control of the car which added about half a second to a full second delay in braking as I made this decision and moved my foot to the brake. Then when I did brake the brakes required much much more pressure to lock them up. So much I am not sure they did lock up.
I am looking for a solution to prevent this from being an issue in the future. First step is going to 255 or 265 Pilot Sport 4s and dropping the OEM all seasons. Second is lines and third is pads. Currently leaning toward Unplugged performance pads or MPP pads. Really I just want data on their cold braking response but I have not seen anything on them yet.
Curious what you set your follow distance to since you say the car was not able to stop in time, what speed were you driving? Sounds like a combination of close follow distance, delay in actual braking, and all season tires all contributed to this. Honestly I am not sure looking for New pads will really make you safer, but if it makes you feel better that's probably just as good.
As stated above, if you cannot lock up the brakes take it in for service. However I didn't get that as the issue when reading your thread.
TM3 brakes definetely have a low boost feeling that may not be nice for some people, but I really like it. When I need full braking its there with a nice hard press, however its not overboosted like some cars are. This actually reduces braking performance for me, as the sudden lock up isn't as good as gradual weight transfer.
Using high performance and very wide wires will certainly help, and honestly the stock width P4S is a very good tire and decent balance between range and grip. If range isn't a big deal for you, then the 265 will be even better.