Spent some time working on the brakes this weekend. First step was to
adjust the rears - I realized that I'd not done so since putting the
rear axle together. That made a fairly noticeable improvement - mostly
reduced pedal travel, but also a real sense of weight transfer for
the first time. (It also gave me the opportunity to look over the
rear suspension - found several loose nuts and a few missing ones!)
Then I put in new pads up front: Porterfield R4S "autocross/high
performance" pads. These have a Cf of .48 and are reputed to be very
rotor friendly, low dust and work well from cold. Goodness ... *much*
better. Now, without too much pedal effort, I can brake hard enough
that the side windows slide forward! They'll take a week or two to
fully mate to the microgrooves on the rotors, but they're already a
vast improvement.
At some point, I'll do the final step: stainless steel/Teflon brake
lines. I can feel some "squish" from the lines, and it would be nice to
be rid of those. But at least now I have much more confidence in my
braking ability!
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