As a lark, I installed four new, stainless-steel braided brake hoses on the calipers of my S10 race truck. I was hoping to improve the brake pedal feel some, though I've heard mixed reviews about that. It may have helped me some in that regard.

I wondered though if a side benefit would be that the brakes might release quicker at the starting line, for a foot-brake racer like myself.

At the track last weekend I was red-lighting badly during test-n-tune passes. I launched at my normal spot on the tree, and I do have to 'count' the tree.

I think my brakes are in fact releasing quicker now with those new steel-braided hoses, I reckon because they would allow pressure to the calipers to drop quicker.
You don't have to wait for the rubber hoses to collapse back down first.

I realized this may sound like a lot, but I estimate that the truck's reaction time has improved by as much as .07 second or so.

If I bump into the beams a small amount, I can actually leave with the bottom bulb and get reaction times of around .05 or so.

The above may be old news for some racers, but any remarks?
Thx!

Unless you test on a pro tree, you will not know the actual difference, if any at all. You have to remove as much variable as possible, and reacting to the flash does that. I can tell you that there is know way it would be .070 difference.

quote:

Originally posted by botmbulb:
Unless you test on a pro tree, you will not know the actual difference, if any at all. You have to remove as much variable as possible, and reacting to the flash does that. I can tell you that there is know way it would be .070 difference.

.070 does sound like a lot. Before, if I left with the flash of the bottom bulb, I'd get an RT of somewhere between .16 and .18. Now I get about .110 if I don't anticipate the light or bump into the stage beam at all. It's hard to tell for sure outside of laboratory conditions.

A long while back, I had those rubber brake lines start to deteriorate inside and they would act as a checkvalve and not fully release the rear brakes. It was always a pain to bleed the brakes, and I would never get a good pedal. I don't recall if it effected the reaction time as it was a long time ago. But if the old lines were in bad shape, I can see a noticeable difference, but .07 seems like a bunch.

But going to the steel braided lines yielded a better pedal feel in my car.

While standard brake hoses are obviously hydraulic hose you can imagine some ballooning over a steel braided line with a liner. OEM use braided line near the master cylinder/ALB unit for a reason, and it's not to save money.

Thanks, guys