Stock brakes

[MiltonHavoc]

So now I begin to wonder about the complaints about stock brakes.
I drive my festiva pretty hard, probably harder than most as I am a canyon carver here in Colorado, and have been known to do some gravel stuff as well. Even in my daily traffic driving the brakes have only left me nervous once and it was when I hit a pothole right before an intersection and I felt that familiar crunch right before brake bite subsided for a second.

This all in turn makes me wonder:
A) what are your guy's braking habits like? are you guys mostly late brakers, or are you tactical like the RR people?

B) what is the maintenance record of your brakes like? I cant speak for mine as I haven't touched them since I got the car but will be inspecting soon.

and C) have any of you upgraded the stock brakes and pads and done a full "reconditioning" of the system? If so what was the comparison of before and after?

[TorqueEffect]

I have never had a problems with the stock brakes, except for the E-brake but that thing never seems to work right.
I always wondered why people feel the need to upgrade them, only time braking it this car has made me nervous is in slick conditions, that is it, but I blame the skinny tires on that, not the brakes.

A. I will admit, I am a late braker most of the time, though if someone is not riding my ass, and the traffic is light, I tend to slow down and wait for the light to change green to keep from wasting gas.

B. Same here, I can't speak for the front brakes, but I did fix a leaking rear brake cylinder. All around the pads, and shoes have a good amount of material still on them, and I believe the seller mentioned he had done work on the rear driver's side brakes, haven't had the drum off so I don't know, but I clearly see a new brake line section was installed.

C. Nope stock all around

[Flw Sock]

Never had a problem with stock brakes, except that my ebrake cable has been snapped ever since I bought it.

I'm a late braker.

All my stuff is stock.

[navdoc101]

I've had front pads, & rear shoes replaced. Both rear wheel cylinders were leaking bad, replaced them. Replaced the master cylinder with '94 Escort GT cylinder. Brakes are very tight & stop great. I will upgrade to Aspire breaks when I find everything, Thats mainly for the wheels & tires. If you have a bigger motor than the B6, bigger brakes are needed because of more power & larger heavier wheels.

[fastiva89]

Plus you have to figure in how much people like to tinker with their toys. It's not a matter of them being bad or operating poorly. But its the want for something different. I have never had a problem with the stock brakes, but i can see the fun in swapping in new ones. Plys aspire brakes are easier to change at least the rotors..

[rmoltis]

When I bought my aspire I bought new front calipers $25 for a pair online brand new in box what a steal. Brand new lines all around. I bought ceramic pads for the front with slotted rotors because they keep the water off of them better in the rain for better bite, and the last aspire had drilled and slotted and they stayed cold in city driving so slotted warm up faster. Plus I have bigger rims and tires I need to slow down. Got new rear drums, new pads, new spring kits, new wheel cylinders, and new wheel bearings inner, outer, and grease seal. And replaced everything all at once. I like to brake slowly and smoothly most of the time as to be easy on the suspension and ride comfortably. but I also like to know when I'm driving fast I can brake hard and not get brake fade in a worst case scenario. Also if I'm racing around I like to brake late before a corner so I can maintain my momentum longer so I need something to bite hard and not fade. Always gotta keep your brake system in top shape never know when you'll need it. I just hate brake fade on any stock brakes. On any car with stock brakes they bite hard and warm up the fastest but in a high speed sudden slowdown when you jam on your brakes and they bite hard but then they start off gassing and create that layer of gas between the pad and the rotor preventing you from slowing down. So you get brake fade and you can't slow down the rest of the way quick enough. That is what I like to avoid. I have had it happen on every vehicle I have owned when they still had stock brakes.

And just remember you only lose %20 of your traction in the rain so you can still brake hard

[jtugfestiva]

I always time my braking and slow gradually. It's a pain to change rotors often on these cars. I've changed rear brake cylinders about 2x on the car due to seal leaks. I still Have the stock front calipers but changed front rotors at 160000 miles. Master cylinder been changed once already but booster has yet to be changed. I wonder who has ever changed their booster on their car?

[deathrace2000]

I thought my stock brakes were sufficient. I've only upgrade because I am doing an engine swap.

[Movin]

I pull trailers a lot on dirt, gravel, snow and ice. I want stock brakes in perfect condition. It is easier to control sliding and skidding especially with heavy trailers with stockers. If I were to build the other festy into a road car with a big engine and a 4 speed automatic I would definitely want bigger brakes.
Really though with either car I want better tires for the conditions I am in, brakes are no better than the tires they are braking through.

[Team Lightning]

The only complaint I've ever had concerning my Festiva was the brakes. In almost 23 years of driving it, I've always said the car would out run the brakes.
By that I mean that the car has more go than whoa.(Yes even stock) With the Aspire swap, I feel much more comfortable about the brakes.

[Twistiva]

A) Braking habits: city driving is 90% of my 185,000 miles. Only a "late braker" if I'm running late to work/driving more aggressively. Other than that I coast a ways before applying the brakes. Only time my brakes didn't work as needed was when I stupidly drove to fast in bad conditions (snow/ice) and hit a curb at about 4 mph. Entirely my fault, not the brakes.

B) Brake MX: practically nil in 24 years of ownership. It's been so long since I've had any brake work done I can't even remember when I did it. However......

C) I'm about 2-3 weeks ago from starting to upgrade. My rotors are shot (causes the car to wobble badly when braking > 40-45 mph) and since I'll be putting on 15 inch wheels and 195/45/15 tires someone on the forum recommended getting the best brakes possible to handle the increased weight. So...slotted and drilled rotors on the fronts and (probably) Bosch disc brakes. Will keep the standard calipers, I think, but paint them unless someone can convince me of a better option/brand to buy. New drums on the back (probably shot as well) and the best shoes I can find. Stainless steel brake lines sound nice but I've had absolutely zero brake line leakage so probably won't go that route, at least not yet.

[Huli]

Re: Stock brakes

I ditched mine for the KIA upgrade.

I had a really close call, with the pedal to the floor it was still rolling!

Rotors good, pads good, fluid changed and bled properly. I never have problems under normal driving, its the emergencies I was not comfortable with.

Now, with KIA bits, I can stop so very quickly and with confidence.

[MiltonHavoc]

Hmm, this thread took off just like I was hoping it to.
So for you that have stock brakes, and have changed the MC: what is your feedback on that?

Twistiva:
by slotted and drilled do you mean the aspire upgrade?
I'm fighting going to 15". there are some awesome looking stock 14" wheels off of various cars that would look good on a festiva. If I do the aspire swap I will have to go to BMW basket-weaves or peruse the club4age forums even harder. Since the nissan forums I am a part of all have the same bolt pattern and such I had a wide selection of 4x114.3/ or 4. Lots of them in 13 and 14".

[Team Lightning]

I'm using the Aspire Mc on my swap. It's much better In my opinion
My 93 will use a protege mc along with EGT calipers. All on an Aspire swap with 15x6,5 wheels and 195-50-15 tires.

[rmoltis]

I would go with the slotted rotors. I had drilled and slotted on my last aspire and as great as they were for 100+mph brake stomping slow downs in a hurry they stayed cold in the slow city driving. Whereas the slotted perform better at lower speeds and still prevent brake fade at higher speeds. It's like the middle ground for the rotor upgrades. Now if you live in a hot climate already i would go with the drilled and slotted since they won't have a hard time staying warm. I've only lived in Seattle and now pittsburgh. Both fairly cold climates.