Premium Brakes Or Side Air Bags

[Cam]

Sounds like an unfair comparison,

comparing a $500 extra to a $3000 extra!

I voted Side airbags - because that's what I got.

In a normal single emergency stop situation the standard brakes are going to stop the car at the exact same rate as the premiums - and that rate is determined by the tyres and the surface.

(Having said that premium brakes were on my wish list, but since I dont do track driving I couldnt justify the cost)

[olcoolone]

Id go the brakes aswell, we have the premium brakes on our car and the are fantastic.

All cars in Australia have good brakes but the are only good for a few hard high speed stops including Falcons.

My wife who's car it is has also commented on the feel and stoping power of them and said it is good to know your car is going to stop.

All brakes are good at 70 Kph try the same test at 110kph or 140kph and see the differance.

Now don't get me wrong but most of the people on this forum would of brought there cars as a bit of a hoon thing like us, so I think if you ordered a car with this much power they should have the premium brakes as standard.

The more clamping force you have will slow the car down faster, as an example if you can lock the brakes at 100Kph on one car and if you can lock the brakes at 70Kph in another car with both car having the same suspension and tyres then the car that will lock the brakes at 100Kph has more clamping force as it has the force to sop the wheel turning so if the brakes arn't locked up it will stop in a shorter distance.

Same as why does a Porsche 911GT3 out brake a Expensive Daewoo Late model camira Clubsport with similar tyres and weight because the Porsche has bigger brakes and alot more clamping force to wash of the initial speed quicker.

You use brakes ever day but side air bag deployment may only count for 5% of total serious accidents and then you have a 50/50 chance it will be on the left or the right' just like front air bags are only good for frontal impacts and not side impacts

[olcoolone]

Oh and one last thing, check with your insurance company about side air bags.

Take the same car one with air bags and one without and ask the differance in price.

Some insurance company charge more for cars with air bag because it is more expensive to replace air bags in an event of a accidents....and they are NOT interested in your's or your passengers safety only the car!

[FamiliaGTRAe]

G'day Cam,

Price wise it may be different, But it still shows that some people buy things on "cost" not on effectiveness, percieved or otherwise.

I am biased of course, having both Side bags and Premium brakes; However If you reckon that that all other things being equal a standard braked vs Premium braked XR series would stop in the same total distance, I suggest you ask Porsche Ferrari, Aston Martin HSV, FPV etc as to why they fit extremely large rotor and calipers to some of their cars.

As Plonky has mentioned, the standard brakes on the XR's do not match the performance in a consistant fashion, and im sure that for HWP duty you would need all the consistancy you can get. Which is why the HWP falcons have Premium brakes (as mentioned elsewhere).

In smaller cars you could purchase the airbag seperately for $950 (Toyota Starlet) but to get ABS (with otherwise normal rotors etc.) you had to pay $2500 and get ABS in a pack with powerwindows, coloured body bits, etc.

Particularly in the cheaper cars what do you think 99% of the customers are going to choose.........

Cameron

[Guest brotherof]

its interesting to see different points of view, for me if I had the choice I'd choose the brakes. I'd rather not be in the postion where I had to use the air bags. I'd like to know that hte barkes would stop all the time EVERY time and under all circumtances. With the problems Ford's been having with the standard brakes shuddering, I'd be worried they weren't up to the job in an emergency if I'd had them machined close to the minimum thickness.

[Guest HocuSChrisT]

I test drove both sets of breaks, and I must say that as far as stopping power/distance goes, there is no difference between the two. The Premium breaks just alow for more rapid breaking, and since I'm not racing the car as yet, I feel the standard suffice. They have brilliant stopping power, despite the poor journalism I've read. If I was going to increase breaks, I'd go all the way with either ARP or Brembo's.

Side airbags I reckon are a more important feature, and always good peace of mind. Just imagine your head banging into thick Glass window. It's no different in this case.

[Cam]

I suggest you ask Porsche Ferrari, Aston Martin HSV, FPV etc as to why they fit extremely large rotor and calipers to some of their cars.

I think you will find two really good reasons why they do:

1. It would be expected to get huge stoppers on cars of that price

2. Those cars are designed for track/racing driving. Those cars arnt even trying until they are doing 200km/h.

If you drove the XR6T at 240Km/h and slammed on the brakes I'm sure the standard brakes would fade and you would be in trouble. Do the same with the premiums and I'm sure you would not have a problem.

Since I dont go that fast and the standard brakes will do a single emergency stop from 110Km/h as effectivly as the premiums its hard to justify the cost.

(Like I posted before they were on my wish list, but I dont regret not getting them at all.)

As for Airbags - I agree with what everbody is saying about not wanting to be in an accident where they deploy. But if you are in an accident how many people lives is $500 worth. If I had an accident where they may have been usefull and I didnt have them and somebody was injured - how could you justify that!

[Guest brotherof]

Although I selected the brakes over airbags I must concede that premium brakes will not stop some dickhead driving into the car side on (side airbags) or stop me from trying to view a telegraph pole from close up. But the fact still remains that for $3000 you can have something that may (touch wood) never be used, where as brakes are a vital thing on the car, if you don't have them you'll end up around the telegraph pole!

[Guest HocuSChrisT]

I suggest you ask Porsche Ferrari, Aston Martin HSV, FPV etc as to why they fit extremely large rotor and calipers to some of their cars.

I think you will find two really good reasons why they do:

1. It would be expected to get huge stoppers on cars of that price

2. Those cars are designed for track/racing driving. Those cars arnt even trying until they are doing 200km/h.

If you drove the XR6T at 240Km/h and slammed on the brakes I'm sure the standard brakes would fade and you would be in trouble. Do the same with the premiums and I'm sure you would not have a problem.

Since I dont go that fast and the standard brakes will do a single emergency stop from 110Km/h as effectivly as the premiums its hard to justify the cost.

(Like I posted before they were on my wish list, but I dont regret not getting them at all.)

As for Airbags - I agree with what everbody is saying about not wanting to be in an accident where they deploy. But if you are in an accident how many people lives is $500 worth. If I had an accident where they may have been usefull and I didnt have them and somebody was injured - how could you justify that!

Exactly what I mean. $500 or $2800+-? Bare in mind that the premium breaks as said will only make a difference at high speed. Also... they are designed for repitive breaking, on the track. And the problem of the break shuddering is the discs getting too hot and warping, (common on most new vehicles), not the break callipers. That is why the common fix are DBA rotors. I betcha a beer that if I used a standard setup with the $150ea per wheel rotors that the problem would be fixed. And... what's more for only $600. Makes more sense to me.

Life is priceless and $500 on a car that your already paying $50k approx on road, doesn't sound too much to me for peace of mind. You can't go through life worrying about accidents, so prevent them. And, as far as road accidents go, they aren't always preventable, that's why they're called accidents. It's not always your driving to worry about, it's the other monkey's on the road.

[aaronmihe]

I stand by the idea that the standard braking system is a good fouondation. Chuck in some good DBA discs, some decent pads and they'll be a lot more durable (although probably not as durable as the premiums) at a fraction of the Premium package cost.

Neither package was going to stop like my previous car, but then again two very different cars there.

Maybe after 1 year on stock brakes I'll know it was the wrong decision, but for the moment I'm happy... And open minded about improving them when I feel the nedd...

A.