Brakes on WS Fiesta

[Franco Cozzo]

Every time I drive my car, I feel as if the brakes aren't very good, when you push on the pedal, its either soft braking or its slam your face into the steering wheel levels, there seems to be no inbetween, up to a certain point, its barely anything, after that point its excessive. Anyone else have this problem or is it just me, it feels as if there is only two levels of braking.

[dannyhilton]

Mate, I'd get that looked at. My brakes, and the other Fiesta models I've driven have very good brakes. Not great, as they seem to lack some feel and can get stodgy. But they are not like my girlfriends Astra, which has the worst brakes. Exactly like you said, there are two modes, stop and crash into the car infront of you or stop and hit your head on the steering wheel and have the car behind you tail end you. Not cool.

[Fi.ES.TA]

Yeah i will agree my brakes do feel like that.

[BruceT]

Some of the reviews I read complained of "grabby brakes". Drive.com.au even listed this as one of the few cons for the car. Lack of feel and stodginess is a drum brake characteristic, and the rear drums are an inferior choice. (Is grabbiness a disk brake 'feature'?)

I can't say I've ever felt let down by the brakes. They were a little grabby, but now I have the feel of them, combined with the ABS and electronic brake force distribution, I Have no complaints.

[Dustproof]

Originally Posted by BruceT

Some of the reviews I read complained of "grabby brakes". Drive.com.au even listed this as one of the few cons for the car. Lack of feel and stodginess is a drum brake characteristic, and the rear drums are an inferior choice. (Is grabbiness a disk brake 'feature'?)

I can't say I've ever felt let down by the brakes. They were a little grabby, but now I have the feel of them, combined with the ABS and electronic brake force distribution, I Have no complaints.

New cars with ABS ESP and other brake options usually have grabby brakes, they take ages to wear in as well. Magazine editors (And I know a few of them) will tell you they get cars that have been thrashed, the brakes are usually glazed which will cause the grabbyness, they try to write as honestly as possible but it is difficult when the car is either too new or thrashed.

If your brakes are Grabby, I would go to Ford and ask them to chamfer the pads and de-glaze the pads and rotors. Try running them in again gently and you should feel an improvement.

:

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Dustproof

New cars with ABS ESP and other brake options usually have grabby brakes, they take ages to wear in as well. Magazine editors (And I know a few of them) will tell you they get cars that have been thrashed, the brakes are usually glazed which will cause the grabbyness, they try to write as honestly as possible but it is difficult when the car is either too new or thrashed.

If your brakes are Grabby, I would go to Ford and ask them to chamfer the pads and de-glaze the pads and rotors. Try running them in again gently and you should feel an improvement.

:

The car has only about 500km on it since I've had it for two months, I did give the brakes a bit of a work out when I took it up to the mountains though, would that have caused my problems being a new car?

[GoesLikeAZetec]

I noticed a huge difference to the run demo car we drove and our own.. The demo was really grabby and quick... ours has the soft start that progresses into a grab....

the dealer told us to take it easy on the brakes for a fair while, while they bed/run in. they had had a few cars come back with problems after people attacked the brakes really early in the cars life....

[Dustproof]

Originally Posted by XCPWSF

The car has only about 500km on it since I've had it for two months, I did give the brakes a bit of a work out when I took it up to the mountains though, would that have caused my problems being a new car?

In general terms 500Km's are pretty new, give the brakes about 1000Km's and see if they improve, your first service is a 3000Km's so if they haven't improved ask the Ford Dealer to have a look at them.

What sort of car did you have before the Fiesta? Some of these issues are because technology has moved on in the last few years and brakes are now pretty sensitive, it might take some getting used to.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Dustproof

In general terms 500Km's are pretty new, give the brakes about 1000Km's and see if they improve, your first service is a 3000Km's so if they haven't improved ask the Ford Dealer to have a look at them.

What sort of car did you have before the Fiesta? Some of these issues are because technology has moved on in the last few years and brakes are now pretty sensitive, it might take some getting used to.

This is my first car but before that I'd driven mainly Dad's 03 Mazda 323.

[JClarke]

Originally Posted by Dustproof

In general terms 500Km's are pretty new, give the brakes about 1000Km's and see if they improve, your first service is a 3000Km's so if they haven't improved ask the Ford Dealer to have a look at them.

What sort of car did you have before the Fiesta? Some of these issues are because technology has moved on in the last few years and brakes are now pretty sensitive, it might take some getting used to.

AS that it has gone more electronically.

[greenfoam]

If you ever jump out of a Holden into a Ford you will see that all Fords have grabby brakes. It's the major difference between the ways the companies set the cars up. All Fords have on or off brakes and all GM/Holdens have progressive brakes (that will feel to a Ford driver as if you have nothing, because they are used to touchy on or off brakes) but in the end they both brake the same it's just a difference feel/setup.

Since I mostly drive Holden's I very much dislike the Ford setup, but you get used to it after the first couple of corners and recover from head butting the wheel

[Zetec Dave]

Hmm I also agree with the complaint of the brakes but I think that's what happens when you have rear drums. They definately need to improve on the brake setup.

[Franco Cozzo]

Car isn't a Mazda 2 though, its a Mazda 323.

[BruceT]

Originally Posted by XCPWSF

Car isn't a Mazda 2 though, its a Mazda 323.

The second link makes it clear it's the Mazda2 Maxx. The numbers are the same in both links for the Mazda.

[GoesLikeAZetec]

Is anyone else having heaps of brake dust on the fronts of their new fiesta?

[Dustproof]

Originally Posted by GoesLikeAZetec

Is anyone else having heaps of brake dust on the fronts of their new fiesta?

Yes and it is very annoying, I will swap over to Ferrodo soon. I use them in my Motorcycle which has white wheels, dust is minimal and none of that Black Crap. I believe it is because they use HH Sintered Pads, I used these Sintered pads on my bike and got Black Crap until I swapped them out.

:disco:

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by BruceT

The second link makes it clear it's the Mazda2 Maxx. The numbers are the same in both links for the Mazda.

Was talking about my Dad's car.

[Fi.ES.TA]

Rather than start a new thread ill ask here seen as though its brake related.
im wanting to paint my brake calipers,not bleeding brakes before i have no idea so is it possible to take the pads out and put them back in without re-bleeding?

And yes i have black dust on my rims but because i wash the car once a week anyway i can deal with it.

[Zetec Dave]

Originally Posted by Fi.ES.TA

Rather than start a new thread ill ask here seen as though its brake related.
im wanting to paint my brake calipers,not bleeding brakes before i have no idea so is it possible to take the pads out and put them back in without re-bleeding?

And yes i have black dust on my rims but because i wash the car once a week anyway i can deal with it.

Should be able to change pads and do what you want to it without re-bleeding unless there's something really mechanically different with the Fiesta's braking system that I have never seen in my life. Just make sure no-one steps on the brake pedal while the brake pads are off the rotor etc. Otherwise, you'll need a special tool to crank it open again :

[dannyhilton]

Yup. It's a Euro Ford thing unfortunately. One application of the brakes and they are dirty all over again. Some new brake pads will fix the issue if it's annoying you though.