Bigger Brakes Won't Stop You Any Faster
By Engineering Explained
If you had to choose between super powerful brakes or super sticky tires, which helps you stop faster? Brakes make you stop, so you might think brakes, but the real answer is tires. Any modern car already has enough force in the calipers to lock up a wheel. The limit on stopping distance isn't the brake, it's whatever grip the tire has with the road. Better tire, better braking. It’s really that simple. And with modern ABS, you just mash the pedal and get insanely good stopping distances. But if do that again, and again, and again, and excessive heat builds up in the brakes, your stopping dis…
