3.3TT Stiffer brake pedal possible?

[Last Lemming Alive]

while the car has strong brakes the pedal feel is on the soft side for me.

Is there any reasonable way to stiffen up the pedal?

SS Lines?
Brake booster brace?
Pads?

I’m sure all 3 would help, but I’m open to other ideas

 

[Manaz]

Braided lines - less flex/expansion in the lines. Will only help if there's comparatively significant flex/expansion now (braided lines will be a little stiffer than new rubber lines, often much stiffer than aged rubber lines).

Better/newer fluid - less water and/or bubbles in it (due to water boiling) will give a stiffer pedal - a longer/softer pedal over time is an indication that your fluid needs replacing.

Pads won't help stiffen the pedal (better pads will potentially give better grab when they're hot - often at the cost of cold bite, but they won't give a stiffer pedal).

I'm not aware of a brake booster brace for the Stinger yet, nor do I yet know if one will help - they only assist when there's significant flex in the firewall where the booster is attached.

 

[westcoastGT]

while the car has strong brakes the pedal feel is on the soft side for me.

Is there any reasonable way to stiffen up the pedal?

SS Lines?
Brake booster brace?
Pads?

I’m sure all 3 would help, but I’m open to other ideas

I felt the same way , now I love the way it feels , just take some time to adjust I think

 

[Ozstung]

Yeah when I had my car in to Kia last week I asked for them to take a look at the brakes particularly the amount of travel. They told me everything was good and that much play is normal.

 

[Manaz]

I felt the same way , now I love the way it feels , just take some time to adjust I think

When I test-drove the Stinger, I found the brakes to be very progressive, and really easy to modulate braking via changes in pedal pressure.

Yes, the pedal feels longer and softer than other cars - but given its weight and the speeds I was stopping from, I was impressed with the actual stopping power, without feeling that the brakes were overly bitey or grabby at small pedal movements, yet I didn't feel I was pushing the pedal through the firewall when braking hard.

Hopefully I have the same experience when my own car arrives. If not, braided lines are easily sourced and fitted.

 

[MerlintheMad]

while the car has strong brakes the pedal feel is on the soft side for me.

You say that like it's a bad thing.
I always thought that a sensitive brake pedal, with progressive bite the harder you push, is desirable. Having to push harder to achieve the same amount of stopping power defines an insensitive brake pedal to me.

 

[LoLaWy]

I have the same feeling as the OP
I did change my brake fluid to a better one to try to achieve stiffer/more sensitive brake pedal .. while my car is almost 3 years old it did get better just a little bit but nothing really changed

tried performance brake pads (giro disc magic pads) but the brake feeling only got worse
I changed back to stock brembos as they bite nicer

now I understand that this soft pedal is normal on this car .. but I’m wondering if there’s a safe way to pump up the sensitivity just a little for that extra insurance feeling?

is adjusting the brake booster possible? is lengthening the pushrod on the brake booster just a tiny bit for that extra brake pedal stiffness without having the brakes being constantly engaged when not desired is a good idea?

what I and the OP are noticing is how the brakes are designed and not a malfunction.. so we are not trying to fix it, but only trying to adjust it to our liking



PS: my G80 is gripping very hard on low speeds and that’s the opposite of my G70
Although the G70 have much stronger brakes especially on higher speeds

this confuses me when I switch between cars .. the brakes behave very different
And I like the brake feel on the G80 more than on the G70

Thankful for any helpful input on that

 

[nhcowboy28]

There’s an additive you can get from Pfizer. (The tablet is blue in color).

Drop one tablet into the brake reservoir… start the car. Let it warm up.

modulate the brake pedal 10-20 times.

slowly increasing the speed.

it should firm up.

if that doesn’t work, turn on motortrend.com and pick engine masters as a visual aid (make sure the car can see the screen).

 

[JSolo]

Maybe a different pad is in order?

I can't comment on this specific car, but i went through many sets of pads on motorcycles. I remember running a ferodo pad that came highly recommended but felt extremely spongy. Switched over to ebc sintered and got a nice hard lever. Almost did an endo the first time stopping.

Over on the g37 site, stoptech comes highly recommended for the 4/2 piston brake systems.

 

[RM7]

It's strange how different some brakes feel. I've had Hyundai's I rented back in the day that were so damn sensitive, way way too grabby, to the point of being dangerous. My BMW M-sport brakes were not my favorite, they felt like "wood" as the best descriptor. Interestingly, my XTR non-servo-wave mtb brakes feel similar to those M-sport brakes (servo-wave brakes have a cam that increases leverage through the brake actuator travel). Not progressive at all. Adequate, but not massively powerful. Maybe this is the feel you are referring to? Interestingly too, I could never really stop that car (the BMW) smoothly due to the brakes. I thought maybe it was because there was some sort of mechanical intervention due to the car being able to do the emergency stopping/adaptive cruise control, but the Stinger doesn't have "wooden" brakes IME so far. Those M-sport brembo brakes were highly sought after and I thought that would be a worthy upgrade...but it didn't turn out that way, very lackluster. That BMW definitely had "firmer" brakes...firmer, but not better modulating. The 6 pistons up front on the 1LE SS...can't find any fault with those. The basic Stinger brakes are decent, but I noticed I could easily overpower them and lock the wheels a little, which I attributed to the kind of ridiculously skinny OEM tire size (225), fixed with 255. My WRX brakes...they were ok, but man did they not like slowing the car from 120mph or more, lots of fade.

First thing I would try is a good bleed. That's usually step one. A little bit of contamination could always be making the pedal a little too soft.

Then possibly the lines. The lines *can* lead to a firmer feel, but not necessarily more power or better stopping. The majority of the power comes from hydraulic mechanical advantage, pad compound and rotor size.

The thing I really seek out is good power and modulation.

 

[Spyder168]

There’s an additive you can get from Pfizer. (The tablet is blue in color).

Drop one tablet into the brake reservoir… start the car. Let it warm up.

modulate the brake pedal 10-20 times.

slowly increasing the speed.

it should firm up.

if that doesn’t work, turn on motortrend.com and pick engine masters as a visual aid (make sure the car can see the screen).

Baaaaahaaaaa!!!

 

[5tinger]

Hmmm. Stinger GT brakes are perfect.
They're smooth at low speeds. And at high speeds they provide powerful stopping power with good modulation.