420S Braking Performance

[420SCTD]

I've just picked up a 420S from Caterham with just under 1000 miles on the clock. The car is all but new but the brakes seem to lack feel and real stopping power from speed.  Is this normal on standard brake set-up? Has anyone had a similar experience or could there be an issue with the brakes? 

Any thoughts?

[David Brown]

Perhaps you are just not used to unservoed brakes. They need a heavier push than our tin tops. 

[420SCTD]

Thanks for your post, this is Caterham no3!

[David Brown]

Sorry, stand corrected. 

[Robert Cadiz]

I have an older 7 but have had a real saga with my brakes to find feel and baking power.

What are you experiencing?  Early lock up?  One wheel or two?  Which wheel?

No feel as in small changes in brake pedal movement results in light braking to lock up?  Or lots of pedal movement, no lock up but no braking performance?

What brake setup do you have?  Standard brakes and standard deplhi pads?  Standard master cylinder?  What tyres, what pressures?

Sorry, all the questions.

First thing to check is for glazing (I'm sure you have done this already).  Light use, depending on pads material and disks can result in glazing that can be removed with some fine grain sand paper.  Sometimes it takes time to bed in the pads (you did say the car has less than 1000 miles).  Roughing up the disks and pads can help.

I find that with increased temperature, brake feel and performance is also increased (my brake set up is more track biased and at sensible speeds I can't get enough heat into them to work properly)

I also found my brakes sensitive to corner weights and rake so I run a little more rake and front axle weights even.

Anyway, hopefully you find something to work for you.  I find Caterhams are very sensitive to set up and personality (what works for me might not work for you).

Robert 

[DJ.]

I would imagine a 420 would be fitted with big front brakes, so my experience may well not be relevant.

I have the standard set up and found they lacked initial bite and found it very hard to lock a wheel. Changing to Mintex 1144 fronts and uprated rears made a huge difference.

[Golf Juliet Tango]

If it's your third Seven, I just assume you know the feel you want.

But I try to judge things by the deceleration I obtain. The brake feel of my 21 is different to that on my Seven. The former gives me less aggressive feel but certainly stops in time.

This is just my personal experience and I can't really comment on how you want the brakes to feel or how this or your previous cars felt. I think you'll just have to tweek to get the feel you want.

[SM25T]

You could check there is no air in the system. I had brake fluid changed by CC when I bought my pre-owned car 10 years ago ... but I found air in the rear calipers when I looked at it ! Easy to sort.

[420SCTD]

Thank you for all your posts.  The car is 6 months old and has had little use.  The car is the S model so has a road orientated setup. Standard brakes, pads and master cylinder.  The car is shod with 13 inch Apollos with ZZS tyres.  The brakes lack feel and I'm unable to lock the wheels at high speed. The brakes lack real braking power.  The car is currently back with Caterham-so I will ensure they bleed the brakes and rough the surfaces up in case the discs are glazed through little use.

[Robert Cadiz]

When you go to collect your car, see if they have another in the showroom that you can drive with the same brake set up / tyre setup.  If you experience the same issues it may give you a better idea of what you need to do to change it for the better.

And no doubt, a trip to upgrades ;)

[elie boone]

Sticky brake pads ?