I'm having a hard time figuring out how upgrading my stock evo pads, calipers or rotors would benefit my stopping distance as I can already enact the ABS system by mashing the pedal. I figured the stickiness of your tires was the limiting factor in the case of the stock EVO....Reason being, I can hit the pedal (i.e. squeeze the pads, calipers, rotors) hard enough the activate the ABS system (a show of locking up the tires...i.e. the limit of traction) so how would upgrading the pads, rotors, or calipers help if the tires are the bottleneck here?

(not trying to be a smartass as I know there are benefits to these upgrades, but trying to see the science behind it, thx.)

 

Well, I would say this:

ABS is related to vehicle speed versus time. Larger rotors/diameters will allow the car to stop/clamp better with less force. Ultimately the rotor going slower/stopping faster and the ease of the car to slow down will change the time the ABS engages. The faster/better you stop, the less the ABS has to do the job to lockup.

Make any sense at all?

To Edit.. of course you could probably end up screwing up the timing between rubber slipping and ABS engagement.... most brake pads and larger rotors are trying to battle brake fade which is caused by rotors glazing over, brake pads overheating etc. So ultimately, better brakes/rotors should be helping you with the continual braking/racing ... and not necessarily the one ultimate stop

 

tires determine contact to the ground...
brake system governs the wheel spin, which the tire is a 'child' of.
Ultimately, stopping the car requires the wheels to stop spinning.
Imagine the calipers as your fingers... would you rather grab the rotors with your fingers or your whole hand?
Smaller rotors + smaller calipers = smaller stopping force
Big rotors + big calipers = larger stopping force.

 

that's a very good "equation" and/or analogy

 

read your post deepee1, appreciate the analogy, but if the stock 'fingers' already have enough stopping force to exceed the limit of tire adhesion, why do u need more? Rocket- I agree bigger calipers and rotors would dissipate heat better and stave brake fade. I was more thinking about one hard stop. thx.

 

For one hard stop the main thing you can do is 1. stickier tires or 2. reduce vehicle weight. believe it or not, stock vehicles are often just as good if not better than those with upgraded kit. A lot of people also think that slotted or drilled rotors will help stop them quicker while reducing brake fade. This is not so. Yes it reduces brake fad but there is accually less friction so it will probably take a bit more time to stop. some people also think that wider tires will help you stop quicker. This is also not so. Bigger tires can disapate heat quiker than smaller ones. Heat is what will allow you to slow down quiker. If your good you could even take off your ABS. Threshold braking is way more effective when you don't have ABS and will allow you to stop a little bit quicker except maybe in the rain. Another thing you can do is stop weight transfer by using higher spring rates or/and higher damping rates. This way your rear tires will have a little more traction. If you want to know more, heres a good website, http://www.safespeed.org.uk/braking.html
hope this helps