I will be attending a NASA track day at Sears Point(Infineon) Oct. 25th. My '04 350Z is the first car I've ever driven with Anti-lock brakes, and I am a little unsure of thier stopping power and what to expect, performance wise, from them. When braking hard for an approaching corner, can I just mash the brake pedal to the floor and let the brakes take care of themselves? Any advice? I've tried some hard braking on the street and they feel kind of strange. Can someone describe the sense of feeling I should look for? And no wise cracks. Thanks, Ken

 

Ken- you'll feel a pulsing (vibration). The brakes are grippng and releasing extremely quick. Some people think that this feeling means that there is something wrong with the breaks but it's completely normal. You will likely engage the ABS under some hard cornering at the track. Good luck at the track and let us know how it goes.
-Jason

 

Thanks Jason, I did feel that pulsing at the brake pedal. I wasn't sure if that was normal. On a dry surface, is it possible to lock up the wheels? What happens when braking hard while iniating a turn? Correct me if I am wrong, but in my mind, with ABS I should be able to brake much later when entering a turn.

 

Ken,

I'll see you there.

 

Ken- on a dry sureface you should not be able to lock up the brakes. The ABS system senses when the brakes are about to lock and this is when the ABS engages. I've never driven a car w/o ABS (at least not hard) so I can't comment on whether you can brake later with an ABS equiped car. I would imagine you can since you do not have to worry about locking the brakes.

 

From my one track day experience at Thunderhill, it is normal to feel the ABS come on while hard braking. It all depends on how fast you want your entrance speed for the corner to be. I was pretty timid on using the brake on the first couple sessions, but once you feel more comfortable about the track, you tend to pick up more speed and with more speed you will need to shave off even more speed faster (ie brake hard) to make it through the turns. Note though, if you're running the stock brakes and pads, they will feel faded by the end of the day if you keep using the ABS.

Also, make sure you get all your braking done before initiating a turn. You do not want to be braking while turning.