Bedding in new brakes - new car

[cyberface]

I know that when you get new brake pads / discs that you should bed them in. And I've historically had a set procedure that I stick to, to do this - on a particular short stretch of dual carriageway with a roundabout at each end.

However this time round, with a brand new car, it was picked up in the snow, and has been driven around in atrocious weather ever since. The first miles on dry tarmac where I could *conceivably* bed in the brakes properly were yesterday, when I'd already done 650 miles (now up to 740).

I've tried a few accelerate - hard brake - accelerate cycles, but one brake started pulling more than the other (left nearside) to begin with. That's stopped now, but I'm finding it's *really* easy to trigger the ABS when braking hard.

Obviously I don't just stamp on the pedal, I brush a bit to get weight forward and *then* increase the pressure. Could the non-bedding-in of the first 600 miles of pussy-footing around in snow, ice and slush have caused this? Or is it just the consequence of oversized brakes on a light car (it's got the 4-pot AP racing brakes and Pagid RS14s, which are OTT for the car, since none of the Elise Trophy racers seem to use the big calipers)?

I haven't had much in the way of serious pad-disc sticking (which is good) and the brakes make no noise at all (even better, I was expecting the Pagids to squeal) - and yes, they work rather well. And I know I'm being a bit more paranoid about this car than others, but I want to do all the right things. I *know* I haven't bedded in the brakes properly from new due to the road conditions - if I'd tried even 30% brake performance on the first few hundred miles in the snow and ice, all it'd have done was kick in the ABS and not really heat up the pads. Getting serious temperature into the pads is difficult on the road with current ambient temps anyway, even though I've got tyres that are sticky at low temperatures.

Is this another 'stop worrying you pussy' or should I wait until the roads are dry and safe and then do a proper full-on heat cycle of the pads, just to make sure? Or would that be wasted now I've got 700-odd miles under the wheels?

[The Bandit]

Stop worrying and enjoy the car.You're over analysing everything and its spoiling the experience.
This whole 'bedding in new brakes by standing on the pedal' thing never made sense to me.I was always taught to go gently on new brakes and build up the heat cycles gradually (but wtf do i know)

[bogie]

with that combination of tyres/pads/brakes you are not going to be doing much bedding in, until you can get the tyres up to temp otherwise you end up just locking them up ...complete overkill for non track use I guess ...but thats why you buy a the top spec Exige with all the track options isnt it - to go on track

...so dont worry about it - just drive it like a normal car, until such a time you can do the job properly ...if they glaze over because you are only going to the supermarket in it for a couple of months its no big deal really ....just drive the thing

[Esprit]

I seem to remember cyberface you're on sottozero winter tyres? That, combined with huge, grabby brakes will be the reason your ABS is triggering early.... to properly bed in race brakes (which is what you have) you basically need to be on a race track with sticky race tyres to get enough heat into the brakes properly to bed them in for real. But all this is academic on the road anyway really.

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

You don't see 4 pots in ET because AFAIK they aren't allowed, got to be standard

[Boggy]

You need to get the Exige on a track day with the A048's back on that will bed the bugger's in alright

Boggy

[bogie]

LivinLaVidaLotus said:

You don't see 4 pots in ET because AFAIK they aren't allowed, got to be standard

yup - they are marketing more than anything ..you dont *need* them...but they look cool

I did have them on my 330bhp SC Honda car ...they were good ....well in fact they just gave more braking for less effort really ...bigger pad surface and good spec AP disks, so reduced fade over many hard laps too

[braddo]

Even if bedding in hasn't been optimal it would only be a matter of new pads at worst, right? Maybe take along a fresh set of pads to your first track day as insurance so that if the current ones can't hack those conditions, you can chuck in the new ones, take it for a bedding-in drive and then continue with the track day

[S Works]

Just drive it, seriously, a lot is written about bedding in procedures but I'm not sure I hold much stock in it. I've gone through numerous sets and whenever I've asked about this at the Lotus Indies I used they just said "drive it like you normally do, but be mindful of the fact that you need to increase braking distances for the first hundred miles or so". Always worked fine for me.

[GT3meupbaby]

I've got the Performance Pack brakes too and I'm finding them very hard to moderate - particularly coming down the box from highish speed on heel 'n toe - the 4 pots and Pagid pads grab sooo hard that if anything I'm beginning to think the car is overbraked. Fair enough only road use so far and I've no claim to be the world's greatest wheelsmith but every other car I've had can within a week or so of ownership lend itself to seamless downshifts under hard braking even my 05 plate 111R where the pedal box set up was supposed to make it nigh on impossible.

Hmmmmmmmmmm, OVERBRAKED? Never thought I'd be saying that about a car as usually I end up uprating pads etc to get better braking.

Anyone else find this? Its an Exige S Performance/Sports etc.

Cheers,

GT3