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I can't recall having any difficulty bringing my 69 340 Dart (manual drum brakes) down from 110+mph, many times. So what's the deal with the massive disk brake setups so popular today? Ten inch, 12", 14" rotors, 4 pad, 6 pad, what, 12 pad? I've never even ridden in a mopar that can handle as well as my wife's 90 Camry, or even our Suburban with my wife, kids and the dog in it. So I assume nobody's driving LeMans or Nurburgring. Where the heck are you guys driving that you need so much braking? Down a mineshaft?



Massive overkill for most people most of the time. Nice conversation pieces though. When I was a kid the folks bought a new '57 Plymouth with an "Automatic Transmission". Wow! new deal! Two-speed Powerflite...remember them? Four buttons: D, L, R, N. (they had a very effective parking brake).

Anyway, drives in the Sierras east of Fresno were challenging from a braking perspective. Many of the grades were/are quite steep. I remember first time we took the new car up to the hills. The old man concerned a bit about brake temperatures. Next time we took the '53 Cranbrook with three on the tree.

Yeah, big brakes are useful sometimes.

My $0.02