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4 minute read
Durable 1 'Power Brake' Valve
Compliments of enjoythemusic @ ferrarichat.com
6-9-2005
Mike,
Ahhh, a fresh thread. Ok, have pics below of the install. As the PO or whomever buried the part behind the pair of rotor control thingies (technical aint i
) i needed to remove the rear tire and the cover, but i think in total it took me about 30 minutes to jack up the car, install, and drive away. Note i cover my brakes so crap does not fall on them. Basically loosen hose clamps, remove old part, blow in the new valve and position it so that the way it allows air through goes towards the engine. Tighten clamps and you are done. Simple stuff.
Ok, after about 50 miles of driving various roads from fast corners to slow ones... many properly banked, a few neutral-banked turns, and two moderate turns that are banked a tad bit wrong...
Normal straight line braking seems about the same, if a touch easier but really not overly so (thank G-d). It is less effort though what i did notice is that it seems a bit more responsive on the first 1/4 of pedal movement. NOT touchy, just that is seems to allow for more micro-level control during the first bit of pedal movement. This is especially true coming OFF the pedal (read on).
Stock, when i would release the pedal to ease off braking there was not a whole hell of a lot of 'variable settings' (think a scale of 0 to 100 with 100 being full brake) the lower 1 to 35 are MIA with the stock valve. With the Durable 1 valve, from 34 to 100 you get some nice variety and control ability to balance the car while braking that stock did not quite offer in such a seamless way.
EXAMPLE: Once comfortable i decided to make believe i was 'King Of The Late Brakers' knowing full well i would not make the apex and need to go extra deep into the corner but COULD use the brakes through the turn PROVIDED i kept her balanced. The new valve provided MUCH MORE ability to balance her as i steered through the corner. Even though this leads to a really crappy exit speed versus driving the corner correctly, i feel the new valve allowed a higher exit speed doing the apex wrong than i could have done with the stock valve.
As for 'proper' use, it seems that coming off the brake keeps the car more balanced in general. Please keep in mind i downshift/match revs/more gas then brake (fast sequence), enter turn still braking and keeping her balanced and going as fast as i can, then let off on brake and give her throttle... quickly reaching apex and then full gas to exit corner. It is the part as i let off brake that does not upset the balance of the car so much with the new valve while the stock valve seemed to make the car's balance more twitchy (for lack of a better word).
Hope this makes sense. And yes, i am keeping the new Durable 1 Power Brake valve. And NO, the valve will not improve your braking system, thereby shortening the brake distance. It basically seems to reduce some of the pedal effort yet also provide more brake variables (especially when reducing brake).
Hope this makes sense.
