Re: [T3] question on rear disc brakes...

[Jens Vagelpohl <jens@dataflake.org>]

<x-flowed>>> 2) you are unable to lock up the wheels
> You don't want the wheels to lock. You have lost control if the wheels
> quit turning. That is why the modern cars have anti-lock brakes.
> Check your wheel cylinders if you think there is a problem.

Under almost all circumstances this is definitely true for the *rear 
wheels* - if they lock up the car will lose the ability to follow a 
given direction. All modern car brake systems that don't have anti-lock 
brakes have pressure modulators for the rear wheels to prevent them 
from locking up no matter how hard you hit the brakes. Obviously 
anti-lock brakes don't need that anymore, that whole system is there to 
prevent any and all lockups.

As a little anecdote on the side, a long time ago (I think it was 1991) 
when I went through the automobile mechanics apprenticeship in Germany 
our vocational school class had the chance to participate in a short 
half day "extreme driving" class. You brought your own vehicle and they 
used a parcours set up to simulate various extreme conditions to teach 
you how best to handle dangerous situations. As the last step they 
combined all of these conditions in one longer run and measured our 
times going through. I ended up being the fastest, but not because of 
my car's speed. I was driving a 1965 bug at that point that I had 
overhauled myself, and it had a standard 1200 40-horse in it. But since 
that brake system is devoid of any manipulative devices I was able to 
control it better and even lock up all four wheels when I needed to. 
Under these controlled (and contrived) circumstances this actually gave 
me an edge over everyone else...

jens

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