Mark Brueggemann wrote: > Tom Shay wrote: > > > > GVWR was certainly an issue with my Ranger EV > > I've found it an issue too, especially in regards to braking. > Vehicles leaving the factory have to meet certain braking > distance standards, I doubt many conversions could meet them > in their GVWR-plus status. At least with trucks there's a > chance you can beef up the brakes to the next-heavier > version's model, with cars there may not be much you can do. > That's one of the reasons I would never stuff 1200lbs of > floodeds into a Rabbit or Escort, the chassis just was never meant to > hold all that and still go down the road safely. For those > EV owners that do and get away with it, it's due to safe > driving habits and luck. If there was a panic stop, forget it.
Hi Mark, Sorry, not true. If your over-GVWR car is close to it's original brake balance and you can still lock the wheels, you should be able to stop in the same distance. In the old days you would have to consider whether the added weight would cause enough fade _in_one_stop_ to reduce braking performance, but with current hardware that's generally not an issue. You're not far off though - fade is the primary braking issue when adding weight to a car. It matters when descending long grades or making repeated hard stops. Better pads and cooling ducts might bring you back up to original performance. Some cars will need a complete brake upgrade. Trust me, I've thought hard about this. I'm still planning to cram 1400 lbs of lead in a Lectric Leopard! (with chassis strengthening where needed....) Chris
