How good are G3 Brakes?

wrote:

In terms of improvement, some people upgrade to ventilated discs and accompanying calipers from a Vitara. From memory they are the same diameter so don't improve the overall stopping power, but they will allow you to do more repeated fast stops before letting the smoke out.

Rotor diameter is not the only factor to be considered, pad surface area and the distance between the pad from the center of the rotor (consider it a lever) also contribute significantly to stopping power.

Since the original poster has mentioned towing an upgrade to the Vitara brakes might be worth his while.

The towing capacity of a Gen.4 is 350 kg un-braked and 1,300 kg braked. The former is a nominal amount and should not affect driveability to any extent, especially as the driver should be aware of the what is behind him and make due allowance, but the 1,300 kg braked weight should be compensated by the brakes on the trailer/caravan.
Or am I being naive?
Braking power, as I know it, is about converting kinetic energy into heat energy and dissipating same to the atmosphere before melt down. The better and faster they do it, the better the brakes.
Not certain I understand fordem's comment re: pad to centre of rotor, unless it relates to rotor thickness?

Roger

wrote:

The towing capacity of a Gen.4 is 350 kg un-braked and 1,300 kg braked. The former is a nominal amount and should not affect driveability to any extent, especially as the driver should be aware of the what is behind him and make due allowance, but the 1,300 kg braked weight should be compensated by the brakes on the trailer/caravan.
Or am I being naive?
Braking power, as I know it, is about converting kinetic energy into heat energy and dissipating same to the atmosphere before melt down. The better and faster they do it, the better the brakes.
Not certain I understand fordem's comment re: pad to centre of rotor, unless it relates to rotor thickness?

Roger
 

Pad to centre of rotor is just saying the bigger the disc (rotor) and the further out the pads are the more braking force you get.  The pad moves over more disc area for each revolution the further out it is, just like a lever moves further for the same angular distance.

I agree with you about trailer brakes, they are there to slow the additional weight and stop the back of the car becoming unstable (jack knife).

Mike, just remembering you tow a small caravan, rear discs would probably be a good investment.

I'm towing a ~1,200kg load every day through the winter, about 300 miles of short trips a week including lots of dual carriageway at 60mph.
G3 Jimny, no ABS, 215/75 BFG tyres, standard brakes, braked single axle Ifor Williams trailer.

I have no issue with stopping power and no issues with brake fade. In my opinion the standard Jimny brakes are perfectly adequate for towing. 


 

Thanks all.
I have new good Yoko tyres so plenty of grip. The brakes feel plenty good enough day to day, even towing my caravan.  The initial push on the brakes feels promising, plenty of bite. It's just surprised me that when you ask more your don't really get anything, it sort of feels a little wooden from that point on.
I had experienced similar with my caravan on the back in a must stop quickly situation, but had attributed the lack of progressive bite due to the 750KG on the back.
But the emergency stop without the van highlighted that it's the car, the van brakes are keeping the van under control.
I genuinely think at the moment I have more grip than stopping power, if not it's going to take more pressure on the pedal than I can currently apply. So big thumbs up to Yoko geolanders grip levels, even in the wet!

It sort of sounds it's about correct for a Jimny, so looks like that my lot. I know the ABS works as it can activate on manhole covers and other similar surfaces. I was sort of hoping some magical pad / disk combination existed, tried and tested, with better performance (friction).
Thanks again.
Mike








 

Ah pads and rotors, I have ebc on Temeraire as they are awesome, plenty of bite and a good degree of modulation. The same stuff on Dreadnaught was epic as I could utilise the available grip.