Following on to the Premium brakes thread,

If you could only afford or choose one which would you choose and why would you choose.

Cameron

G'day,

I would choose the brakes because improved or high performance brakes allow you to avoid the accident in the first place. An airbag will only help you after you hit.

For example that RTA ad showing on TV at the moment, Wheels and Motor magazine have referred to the difference that better brakes and better tyres would have made in the exact same situation, same reaction time, same initial speed.

Cameron

Avoid the accident chose the brakes. :idea:

Tough question because for 3 grand you could get the side airbags and go aftermarket top of the line DBA rotors all round with good aftermarket pads. But then you are back to what we talked about in the other thread with insurance/warranty issues, but without having changed the rotors there may be no issues at all.

l think side airbags are an excellent safety aid but l agree avoiding the accident in the first place is the name of the game.

Brakes. You already get driver and passenger air bags anyway.

I'd take the side bags.

Why?

The brakes on the car are enough to lock the tyres pretty much under any circumstance. This means the limiting factor in road use is the tyres not the brakes. (Track with repeated cycles under higher stress is different)

Hence out of the two I'd rather that extra bit of protection available in the case of accident...

Hi Everyone

What seems to be the issues with the brakes on the XR, before I ordered my XR8, I went for a test drive and asked about the brakes and the sales rep, had me gone down a quite steep hill hit 70 and hit them.

The thing stopped on a pin, I did this about 10 times and it was great and was with the standard brake package.

He also got me to drive right through and over a small roundabout a few times to show how the suspension held up.

I now know not to buy demos :D

Side-airbags. I reckon they offer more of a difference to having no side-airbags on a side collision compared to the difference between the performance of standard and premium brake packages.

I would go for the brakes every time.

Even for an unskilled driver, a good brake package is designed to retard the inertia more effectively in concert with the chosen tyre package.

The advantage of the Premium brakes is the larger swept area and the finer tolerances of the piston construction ensuring maximum brake effectiveness every time.

To win a race first, first one must finish

To survive a crash first, first one must stop

Brakes every time! (Not even taking into account that the Ford has EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution) ensuring that the brakes are part of an ACTIVE safety feature that redistributes the braking forces under yaw and pitch to give the driver the ability to manage a front/rear/all wheel skid.

The side airbags are a PASSIVE safety device, only for when everything else fails (including the side intrusion bars, crumple zones, pre tensioning seatbelts to reduce side movement and prevent submarining)

Brakes every time!!!

I went for the brakes.

I also got premium sound and leather. If I could only afford one thing It would be the brakes.

I've had a long and prosperous(for ford that is) relationship with ford brakes. My last XR6 chewed throgh two sets of front rotors and I don't trust the std's. I'm not saying the std's aren't up to the job, but for the driving I do in the NT, I like the premiums. If safety is really such a concern, (now this isn't as silly as it sounds...)wear a crash helmut. It would be of more value than airbags.