Factors that effect car braking part 2

Factors that affect braking: Tyres are the car’s point of contact with the road, we have already covered (1) low tyre pressure, but what if you drive through a deep puddle, some flooding on the road or even a ford and the brake drums get (2) wet? This would directly affect your braking distance. Remember when it was raining heavily a few posts back and a certain person who was driving too fast for the conditions aquaplaned (cough-you-cough) causing a thin layer of water to become trapped between the tyre and the road? The same principal applies to wet brakes. Talking of aquaplaning leads me neatly to the next factor, if the roads are wet or icy or even melting after a long day baking in the sun these (3) environmental factors will also impact on your braking distance.

So that covers  three factors affecting braking, two relating directly to the wheels and one below the wheels but what about above the wheels? more specifically in the engine compartment. There are a number of fluid levels to be maintained, (which we will discuss in an upcoming post) one of those fluids is (4) brake fluid which must be maintained at an adiquate level for optimal performance. Moving up the rank of brake accountability now from road to wheel to engine, we arrive at the driver and my main reason for bringing up this subject on a long downhill road, oops keep your eye on the road there.

Just as I suspected you would, you are allowing the vehicle to (5) coast down the hill in neutral. While this is very tempting on a long downhill it is also reducing your control over the car and by extension your braking because the car, without engine resistance, picks up speed a lot faster. As the vehicle rapidly picks up speed you are forced into using constant (6) excessive braking to compensate, leading to brake fade as the brakes overheat through friction. Before that happens lets ease back on the brake pedal and put the car into a low gear, this will engage the engine and give you back some control. A bit like engaging a parachute durin a freefall... www.facebook.com/TheoryTestNovel http://twitter.com/theorytestnovel