Accent brake pedal feel
03-08-2010, 11:25 AM
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Vehicle: 2005 Accent GSI
Accent brake pedal feel
The brake pedal on my 05 Accent gives no feedback until the wheels lock.
For the first inch of travel it feels like mush (although they are working) and then it suddenly firms up and, depending on the road surface and current speed, I'm sliding. Obviously I don't have ABS. I've bled the system and adjusted the pedal but that didn't help any. Is it possible to remove the brake booster in an LC Accent? Might that help? Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'd really like to have a much more linear feel from the brakes for when AutoX starts in the summer.
For the first inch of travel it feels like mush (although they are working) and then it suddenly firms up and, depending on the road surface and current speed, I'm sliding. Obviously I don't have ABS. I've bled the system and adjusted the pedal but that didn't help any. Is it possible to remove the brake booster in an LC Accent? Might that help? Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'd really like to have a much more linear feel from the brakes for when AutoX starts in the summer.
03-08-2010, 12:05 PM
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Sounds like you need a set of better brake pads which deliver more of a progressive bite. If your tires are narrow and/or cheap your tires may lock before you apply much braking pressure also.
The Accent does not let you modulate the brakes as well as some (maybe even most) cars do, but the feel isn't too much worse than most cars IMO.
The Accent does not let you modulate the brakes as well as some (maybe even most) cars do, but the feel isn't too much worse than most cars IMO.
03-08-2010, 12:39 PM
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I'd heard that manual brakes were like manual steering, as in provides more feedback but requires more force to apply.
I currently have snow tires on, but I'll be switching to performance summers as soon as possible. I'll probably look into brake pads while I'm at it. Any recommendations? And is there such a thing as performance drum pads? What I really want to do is get rid of that initial mushy feel.
I currently have snow tires on, but I'll be switching to performance summers as soon as possible. I'll probably look into brake pads while I'm at it. Any recommendations? And is there such a thing as performance drum pads? What I really want to do is get rid of that initial mushy feel.
03-08-2010, 01:20 PM
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It should start off a bit soft. If it doesn't you'll have trouble stopping smoothly in daily driving. Yours may have an issue with being too soft, but it should start off fairly soft.
I can recommend pads, but it'll matter a lot what you want to do with them. For daily driving and occasional autocross use you would probably be very happy with the Carbotech Bobcat 1521 brake pads. If you want to do any track days or regular autocrossing then you might want to step up to a different pad like the Carbotech AX6, but with cold brakes they have less bite than the Bobcats.
Also consider replacing your fluid with a good synthetic brake fluid if the pads don't help. Something like ATE Super Blue.
I can recommend pads, but it'll matter a lot what you want to do with them. For daily driving and occasional autocross use you would probably be very happy with the Carbotech Bobcat 1521 brake pads. If you want to do any track days or regular autocrossing then you might want to step up to a different pad like the Carbotech AX6, but with cold brakes they have less bite than the Bobcats.
Also consider replacing your fluid with a good synthetic brake fluid if the pads don't help. Something like ATE Super Blue.
03-08-2010, 01:58 PM
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It's not really that they're too soft, it's that there's no linearity. There's just mush and lock. I'll spec out those pads and fluid. Thanks. The less extreme one sound good, as I'll only be autoxing once a week for the summer, with the occasional navigational rally.
03-08-2010, 02:56 PM
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When I bled the system, the fluid was between anywhere grey and black and there was black flakes in it, so I'm sure that didn't help. I didn't flush the system completely (it was taking a really long time and I was in a rush) so I'm going to finish that this week, hopefully with better fluid (been using cheapest DOT3). I really want to order SpeedBleeders, but they need to know the exact thread size. Any idea how I measure that? (http://www.speedbleeder.com/size.htm)