A thought occurred to me when reading the latest thread about the Fiero braking system. Back in 1995 I drove out to Colorado in a 1995 Saturn SW2 and went up Pikes peak with it. Halfway back down the troopers were stopping cars and checking the brake rotors for heat. I had to stop for a few minutes and let the rotors cool down on my Saturn. Has anyone made this run in a Fiero and if so did you have to stop for a cool off on the way down? (My Saturn was an automatic)
I haven't been there with a Fiero, but was with a '77 Dodge van with 440 V8 & automatic tranny. The brakes were OK, but I don't abuse them. I had to stop going up to cool the tranny, and did foul 2 plugs. Later on, I made the trip with a '91 Saturn SL2 manual. No problems.
This is not unique to Pikes Peak. Going Down any big hill or mountain and road have just one to many curves can cause brake problems, fading or worse. This is for any size or type of vehicle. Diesel Trucks use "Jake brakes" to save the real brakes but both are working together most times. Most others have to think how to use brake and engine brake effect to work and sadly many just simply don't think at all. (Auto Trans can engine brake but too fast or too long then you will have trans problems. TC will generate Heat and that can kill the trans oil. See http://www.txchange.com/heatchrt.htm )
Fiero brakes can take some abuse if the bakes are working right. Many think solid rotor will have heat problems but solid rotors cool very fast. I've check this w/ IR thermometer. If you keep speed down and don't use the brakes every second the brakes will cool off and faster then many think. Using current Ceramic pads, like Wagner TQ pads, have less fade problems vs many Semi-metallic pads but some roads could generate enough heat to cause fading etc.
Example: I had GM Monza w/ solid rotors (Front disk, rear drum, and had Carb version of Duke engine.), Fords w/ Drum brakes only and lived in hill country in NY. I had no problem w/ the brakes. You have to keep speed down so you can use downshifting to save the brakes on some roads. One hill had a very short radius turn ~1/2 way down the hill and you need to almost stop to turn right. (I think speed limit for area was 45-50mph at the time.) I would start to slow down for that turn 1/3-1/2 mile before the turn to avoid brake/trans heat issues. State made that turn bit better now but still is a pain. That curve causes many brake problem and crashes. Can warp solid and vented rotors over a very short term w/ owner that have no clue.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
I haven't been to pikes peak yet in my fiero but I go around Horsetooth (it's near Fort Collins) and I go up and down the mountains during the summer. I had recently changed my calipers and brake pads before I went up there and it did just fine. I own an 86 GT manual 4 speed.
I drove up to Pikes Peak in 2012 in my 87 GT. They stop everyone to check the temperature of your brakes coming back down. I used the five speed to keep my speed down, not using a lot of brakes. At the temp stop, my brakes were only 140 F, so no need for me for a forced stop for cool down. I stopped anyway as other members of the group had brake over heating issues.
I wasn't trying to brake any speed limits on the road up and back to pikes peak.
i remember taking the cog railway as an end of year trip in fifth grade. The 2 things i remember are:
1. The donuts from the shop on top of pp are amazing! 2. The on-train tour guide said during our decent... "it takes 90 min to get up, and only 4 to get down." I was scared.
I drove up to Pikes Peak in 2012 in my 87 GT. They stop everyone to check the temperature of your brakes coming back down. I used the five speed to keep my speed down, not using a lot of brakes. At the temp stop, my brakes were only 140 F, so no need for me for a forced stop for cool down. I stopped anyway as other members of the group had brake over heating issues.
I wasn't trying to brake any speed limits on the road up and back to pikes peak.
Some had brake temperatures at 350 F.
So they have a mandatory brake temperature stop for all vehicles? They use an IR gun I suppose, but what about cars that have wheels where the rotors are not plainly visible?
It's also amazing from the air. I ended up on a prop flight from Denver to Albuquerque.....went over the peak at about 18,000 feet. What a view!....some of the cars I saw had red rotors.
[This message has been edited by Gall757 (edited 02-16-2015).]
It's also amazing from the air. I ended up on a prop flight from Denver to Albuquerque.....went over the peak at about 18,000 feet. What view!....some of the cars I saw had red rotors.
We had 8 Fieros go up in 2012 my 86gt auto grand am breaks with 4.9 North Star had 300 deg brakes at the stop I feel the problem was the auto Trans could not get car in lower gear to slow it down. The stick cars had no problem. It was a fun drive up though and would do it again. We also went up Mt Evens higher than Pikes peak but not the steep grades
