Once, sure. When driving the car hard on hack roads, absolutely not. The rate at which the car is capable of accelerating is directly proportionate to how quickly they well heat up, and start to not work well.Originally Posted by 08087
Location: Reading PA
Posts: 335
My VIN: 2638
Once, sure. When driving the car hard on hack roads, absolutely not. The rate at which the car is capable of accelerating is directly proportionate to how quickly they well heat up, and start to not work well.
Still rocking the Ducellier
Posts: 153
I'm certainly not looking for an argument but again HP has no direct effect on stopping distance. If brakes heat up no matter what the HP is they will fade and have longer stopping distances. Sure with more HP you can speed up faster but stopping the car from 60, HP has no bearing.
What weighs more a hundred pounds of bricks or a hundred pounds of feathers?
Posts: 1,068
One thing more HP will do is incite faster speeds, hence longer stopping distances -- just like the Boo Boos with 4WD/AWD who drive faster on icy roads than those of us with 2WD, inspired by their added traction but conveniently forgetting that their stopping ability is basically the same.
Bill Robertson
#5939
Location: Reading PA
Posts: 335
My VIN: 2638
You could have a 1000 HP supra, with stock brakes and yes, it would stop the same as a standard one, once. "Stopping distance" would be the same, once. Till the brakes started getting hot, and they would - very fast.
Drive that car, and you will quickly find it will break 100 at just a few seconds, far faster than the standard car would. Get on the brakes for a turn, cut it down to 40, accelerate up to 100 again in a few seconds and repeat. You will quickly find your "stopping distance" increasing rapidly as the standard brakes started to smoke badly
Say the car has 130 HP rather than 1000 HP - or even just 200. the brakes will have more time to cool down between stops because the car is incapable of accelerating quickly enough for you to be back on the brakes fast enough to seriously overheat them during even highly spirited driving. If this were not the case, you can get good enough stopping distance and plenty of power to lock up all 4 wheels from 4 wheel manual non finned drum brakes. Once.
Still rocking the Ducellier
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif.
Posts: 2,084
My VIN: 0934
Club(s): (NCDMC) (DCUK)
144ft (Motor Trend, Dec. ‘81)
60-0 MPH braking distance for the D. and 4 rivals in the article, ranked here from best to worst:
1. 142ft. – Porsche 928
2. 144ft. – DeLorean
3. 147ft. – Chevrolet Corvette
4. 164ft. – Ferrari Mondial
5. 167ft. – Maserati Merak
Location: Leonardtown, MD
Posts: 9,008
My VIN: 03572
Now find the weight of those cars.
Posts: 1,068
Same article (low to high, braking distance ratings unchanged):
1. Porsche 928: 2,712 ibs
5. Maserati Merak: 3,200 lbs
3. Chevrolet Corvette: 3,307 lbs
2. DeLorean: 3,351 lbs
4. Ferrari Mondial: 3,500 lbs
(Remember that new from the factory, a DeLorean cost *MORE* than a Porsche)
Bill Robertson
#5939
Last edited by content22207; 07-30-2011 at 11:08 AM.
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,582
My VIN: 10757 1st place Concourse 1998
All of these stopping distances are "best case" with cool brakes. Repeated hard stops from speed and you will see a larger spread as the cars with less capable braking systems take longer and longer to stop. Where HP comes into it is on a track where the car will reach higher speeds making the brakes work harder. For what the Delorean is, a very distinctive STREET car, the brakes were adequate for the era. Take just about any street car onto the track and you will quickly find out the brakes are not good enough. Just as you will want to upgrade the powertrain to go faster the braking system (along with many other systems in the car) will need to be improved. To go fast you have to be able to stop fast.
David Teitelbaum
Location: Leonardtown, MD
Posts: 9,008
My VIN: 03572
My Delorean says gross vehicle weight is 3180 lbs.
Posts: 1,068
I'm just quoting Road & Track. If you're going to use their stopping distances, you need to use their vehicle weights as well (can't mix one tester's distances with another tester's weights).
Bill Robertson
#5939
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