brake pedal travel

hey folks

post number 1 of what will surely be many

i have test driven 3 n/a exiges , an 05, a 55 and an 06 all with relatively low milage and seemly top mechanical condition.

on all of them there appears to be about 1/3 of the brake pedal travel of “nothing” before anything happens. all seems fine after that. so i wondered if:…

is it a known problem / phenomenon ?

can it be fixed / changed ?

is it just me getting used to servoed brakes after my standard 02 elise?

is there a generally regarded “best pad” for road use?

many thanks

richbk

yes, yes and yes…

A fixable problem which involves adjusting the pedal, ensuring the brakes are bled properly and you have decent pads, ie. pagids or at last mintex for road use.

I went through exactly the same with mine. After a bit of fettling I ended up with brakes that bit hard, stopped without fade and allowed me to H&T properly

Early night for me but a quick search (or PM me) and I’ll dig out th thread.

Needless to say, any brake “issues” on a Lotus are surmountable

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yes, yes and yes…

A fixable problem which involves adjusting the pedal, ensuring the brakes are bled properly and you have decent pads, ie. pagids or at last mintex for road use.

I went through exactly the same with mine. After a bit of fettling I ended up with brakes that bit hard, stopped without fade and allowed me to H&T properly

Early night for me but a quick search (or PM me) and I’ll dig out th thread.

Needless to say, any brake “issues” on a Lotus are surmountable

What pads did you fit? I have just ordered a set of Pagid RS42 for the front, hoping this will go some way to firming up the pedal a bit.

I put 42’s on the front only and it made a great difference.

Good news! Roll on Saturday- new front tyres, pads and a geo lined up.

I know it seems like the brakes do nothing for the first part of pedal travel and people don’t like it much but like anything you can get used to it.

You’ll find they do actually work very slightly and feel like they can take like 1 mph off from your speed. I use it to apply the brakes while keeping my right foot planted through a fast corner just for a touch more front grip.

The Performance Friction PF01’s I am running have improved the initial bite so the brakes feel much better.

Someone on Seloc reckons the braided hoses help with this.

but like anything you can get used to it.

I am used to it now and there’s no complaints about stopping power. It’s just hard to blip the throttle on downshifts when your foot is so far past the the level of the throttle pedal.That’s my main reason for upgrading to be honest, and I assume there’ll be improved braking with it which is a bonus.