I tried to post this in the "Wheel Tire and Brake" section, but was blocked (???).

[FONT=Arial]I have a 2010 Justa hatchback, 6-speed manual (non-S, normally aspirated). The pedal pressure is fine when cold, but after driving a little, the amount of pressure required to make normal stops becomes much higher than almost any street car I have driven. I was going to order Porterfield R4-Ss for the front of this car to improve the "bite" and reduce the pedal pressure. Would you agree? It has 9000 miles on the car/brakes. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Thanks,[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]DOC[/FONT]

 

I don't remember reading about the problem you described here before. Thus, I'm wondering if there might be something wrong other than pads in your case. Since it's a 2010, I assume that the pads aren't shot this soon.

 

Sounds like you are losing the power assist. Power brake booster might be going bad... or a vacuum leak causing the booster to lose vacuum. Doesn't sound like a pad issue to me.

 

Try checking the power assist line for your brakes. It's the hose that runs up over your intake pipe towards the fire wall. I put an DDM Ram Air Scoop in my car and had to replace that hose with a standard rubber hose instead of the molded one, and it ended up getting pinched and made my brake do the same thing you're describing.

 

It's not normal. If anything it sould take a little less pressure when the brakes are warm.

Have the dealer find and fix it. You really don't want to do something that might really screw it up and then have the dealer decline to fix it under warranty.

 

just re-bed the pads?

 

You do not need to bed OEM pads or anything for the street. Bedding is to drop a consistent layer of pad material onto the rotors to help with braking at high speeds and high temperatures aka track use.

 

I think something like this is what is likely happening to the op's car. Something may be cutting off your brake booster. I would look at that first before getting new pads. The OEM ones are pretty grabby already.

 

Thanks. Think I will "T" in a vacuum gauge into the booster line and see it is not up to spec.

DOC

 

I once had the same problem on a Honda Accord years ago. Turned out the little check valve in the vacuum assist line was sticking, resulting in a loss of boost. I replaced the hose that contained the valve, and all was well.

Spridget