My brakes are too powerful

property.advert

New pads feel like this. Drive around a bit to wear them down a little and they will feel fine. Not a drama.

attila_

Its down to the quality of pads. If u go to ur local motot factor you will have the choice typically of 3-4 makes/quality levels.

Usuaally (this is not always the case) the cheapest are very soft pads which are extremely grippy but barely last a year.

You want to find what suits you best.

Another thing vans are designed to be driven loaded which may be affecting this.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Over-servoing brakes seems to be a Citroen/PSA thing, you'll get used to it but may never truly like it.

Our C2 VTS which i rarely drive catches me out, if someone pulls out suddenly and i apply just normal but instant brake pressure the wheels start to lock and ABS cuts straight in...i haven't activated ABS for more years than i can remember except to test its actually operating, so its not me.

garethgas

Thanks for your replies.
Regarding the loading of the van, its about 50% laden so although I can see your point, I can't see that would be the cause really.
In my OP I tried to explain the fault in a factul way but to be honest, its really a lot worse than a simple matter of having very good brakes.
Imagine if every time you slightly touch the pedal, you have a full on emergency stop...thats what its like.
When I need to brake, I have to 'prepare' for about a second or two in order to prevent any dramas. This can't be right surely?
I've had agressive brakes in the past and after a few days, I get used to them but I think this is something different.
I'm no mechanic but brakes should be proportional, ie they should respond to how hard/soft you press the pedal.
I think I'm just looking for confirmation or otherwise whether they can be made less sensitive before going to the dealer

gilbert_and_sullivan

garethgas wrote: »

Imagine if every time you slightly touch the pedal, you have a full on emergency stop...thats what its like.
When I need to brake, I have to 'prepare' for about a second or two in order to prevent any dramas. This can't be right surely?

No that doesn't sound right, i've driven hundreds of those vans in my work and found the brakes good but easily controlled albiet overservoed.

andrew-the-cat

There is a feature it may have called Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) which is designed to detect when the driver is trying to perform an emergency stop but not pressing the pedal as far as they could, and it takes over by maximising the brake force.

worried_jim

I had a hire car last year for a company business trip from Brighton to Birmingham as it was cheaper than the train. At the time I was driving a 1997 Astra diesel and the hire car was a brand new Astra petrol 1.6 sxi and it was the fastest car I have ever driven! The brakes were very good and when I returned it and got into my own Astra as I drove out the car park I thought my brakes had stopped working and got out to check for leaks- they were that bad compared to the new car. It took about two days to get used to pushing further and harder on the peddle.

Joe_Horner

andrew-the-cat wrote: »

There is a feature it may have called Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) which is designed to detect when the driver is trying to perform an emergency stop but not pressing the pedal as far as they could, and it takes over by maximising the brake force.

Probably this, and quite possibly a fault in this. "If the computer decides...." is not, imho, a good thing to trust braking force to!

It certainly sounds like it should be back to the dealer for them to at least confirm whether or not it's "normal". Apart from anything else, if there is a fault and an accident happens, you're in less trouble if the manufacturer's agent has told you it's ok

Kilty_2

Do you drive in thick/steel soled work boots?

Kilty_2

worried_jim wrote: »

I had a hire car last year for a company business trip from Brighton to Birmingham as it was cheaper than the train. At the time I was driving a 1997 Astra diesel and the hire car was a brand new Astra petrol 1.6 sxi and it was the fastest car I have ever driven! The brakes were very good and when I returned it and got into my own Astra as I drove out the car park I thought my brakes had stopped working and got out to check for leaks- they were that bad compared to the new car. It took about two days to get used to pushing further and harder on the peddle.

Sounds like when I went between a 1992 Peugeot 106 and my 2011 Kia Picanto :rotfl: