Speed Secrets: How to Manage Brake Fade

“My brake pedal went to the floor with no warning and there was nothing I could do.”

Sorry, but I don’t buy that; I don’t agree that your brakes never gave you any warning. They always do… if you’re paying attention. Think of this as brake fade, and not brake failure.

The only time your brakes won’t give you some kind of warning is when the actual hose or hard line carrying brake fluid to the calipers breaks or is cut (or possibly a problem within the brake master cylinder). Otherwise, the brake pedal will feel different before there is some loss of braking power, giving you some warning.

Spend enough time driving on a race track, and you’re likely to either experience brake fade, or you already have.

Brake problems occur when you apply the brakes and, for a couple of different reasons that I’ll explain, the car does not slow down the way you expect. You can imagine what the result of this is….

But, why does it happen? There are two primary reasons and both are a result of too much heat…

Read the rest of the article on my Substack here.