Brian C in Az

Goodridge Braided lines are DOT and TUV approved and cost much less than Porsche oem rubber hoses.

mark kibort

Those are great questions and many that have done this for a long time have had this happen and either used the "plan" or didnt have one. personally, ive always been very nervous about brake failure, and made a conscience effort to have a "plan".. since, very early on, i learned of the power of the decel forces by downshifting, i made sure that was the first think i ever was going to do., so much so, that near my first thing i do, is hit the brake and immediately grab big blip and a downshift. ive become so used to the fores that if i ever miss a downshift, there is not enough braking to make up for it.... and ill drive the corner wide because of it.............so, first thing you need to do is grab a downshift, assuming you are not at redline.... if so, a pause for a second will get you at a safe RPM to do a downshift... even if it is, a slow release of the clutch can feather the forces to bring the RPM down as well as provide as much braking force as the rear tires can handle. next i like to start thinking "early apex" by turning into the turn early , grab another downshift and then start inducing a push..... you do this by applying more and more steering progressively, so that the back end doesnt follow, and you end up getting a HUGE slip angle of the front tires (a forced push) and that ends up slowing you down, almost like locking up the front tires, so its pretty effective. Ive had the luck to have survived turn 2 laguna seca brake line burst..... and didnt even have to run off into the dirt. sure, a more powerful car , or a turn following an even faster straight, might have not have been that lucky, but using this technique, you can make sure that all the car gets is dirty.
one way to practice this is to do a few , no brake, fast downshifts and turn ins. you get used to it, it wont be unfamiliar if you ever have to use the technique.
MK

mark kibort

I've been doing this all the time based on the repeated suggestions here, in all the areas where brake failure could be near fatal.....however it wouldnt have helped my failure which was on application (line burst) but pad knock back is equally as frightening... you have to resist the tendancy to press the pedal on the floor even harder, and release pump and repeat.. Had this happpen in a mazda that was borrowed and ended up pulling a Mike Hedlund down the back straight off T-hill. thanks for promoting. its a GREAT habit to get into..... not only for your own protection but for those in front of you.

aryork

Great video - thanks!

ajcjr

Again god bless the driver who lost his life. I amglad someone brought up this topic because i always wondered about checking the brakes, i have tap my brakes before to reposition the pads after running over rumble strips at NJMP but have never did a brake check. As any other racer yes i wanna win but if checking the brakes slows me down a little im ok with it.

Peter i had had a hub go bad on me and every time i would brake the car would spin out, it was weird.

Someone mentioned good neck and head protection, is there anything better than a good helmet and a hans device? Are the lite carbon helmets putting less strain on your neck? IM all for safety and if it means buying a better helmet and missing a day at the track i am in.

schaibaa

bpu699

For the folks that say to tap your brakes on the long straight... Doesn't that pose a risk to the guy just behind you? Any tap hard enough to generate any pressure must have some effect on speed...

Any risk of the guy behind you hitting you?

Or, even if you don't slow down, confusing the guy behind you (EG. Why is he stopping?! Road Debris? Oil? Brake check?)...

ProCoach

You're not generating any significant pressure at all. Besides, your right foot is fully on the floor! You "tap-tap" to make sure the pedal stops at a point of resistance.

If there were a risk, no cars would finish Conti races!

LuigiVampa

Another time to check your brakes is at the start of a session or race.

I see the majority of people come blasting out of the pits and the first time they really use their brakes is at the first hard braking zone.

I always accelerate and brake hard several times as I am leaving the pits if there is enough room to do so just to make sure I have good brakes. Also has the benefit of adding heat to the brakes.

ajcjr

i use a butler seat in the spec racer with side head restraints on the roll bar. Has anyone gone through with any tests comparing the neck restraints. Curious if that would work w the SRF.

mark kibort

the majority of all problems happen during a race where pad knockback or brake line burst happens. so as break failure strategies go, i listed a few. as far as preventative measures go, pre-check, bleeding breaks, checking brake function on the warm up lap... (which all racers do on the warm up lap) and break tap before braking zone , are good strategies.

bccars

So I did. Went out for a drive, not on track though. On the road, at sane speeds, the car doesn't care you tap the brakes when on the throttle. No funny reactions ! Next test at the track.
But I do not FEEL anything when I tap the brakes with my left foot ? What am I supposed to feel ? Maybe my left foot is too numb as I do not regularly LFB yet.

Thundermoose

In my E46M3, left foot tap (LFT) doesn't produce any substantial feedback but does provides firmer feel when I get to next braking zone. At top of climbing esses at VIR I am not yet able to LFT so I have some pretty vague feel when i brake at 10 compared to 1 or roller coaster where I am able to LFT in the long straights.

I am not certain though if i had totally lost braked that the way I LFT that I would 100% know.

KOAN

A few weeks ago at a PCA Grattan DE, an M3 lost brakes on the front straight where there is little run off. He pulled the parking brake, which caused a spin and he took out a nice GT4. Both drivers are fine...cars, not so much.

bccars

OK, I'll try it out next time on track to see if I can feel a difference in the braking zone with and without Left Foot Tap.
How much time should or shouldn't there be between the LFT en the braking ?