First post so please be gentle!
HJ gave the new Mazda 2 a glowing road test report so I sent off for the brochure. Mazda also sent a glossy copy of the Autocar Road Test report which was great apart from a comment in their review of the car's braking ability:- "the 48.3m needed to stop from 70mph in the dry is a little worse than average, but the wet distance - a scary 73.7m - is poor."
I need some advice as to how "scary" this braking distance really is.
This new model has Anti-lock Braking, Electronic Brake-force Distribution and Emergency Brake Assist, it's also a relative light-weight car. It has 258 mm ventilated disks at front and 200mm diameter drums at rear - this is standard for all engine sizes.
Comments or comparison with other small cars braking distances would be much appreciated - many thanks.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 10/11/2007 at 19:04
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very interesting subject. i spent many hours on road test reports to buy my new car with all the electronics aids. i never even thought to look at stopping distances
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Without knowing how they tested the braking distance its hard to say.
Weight has relatively little bearing on stopping distance (none in theory, but stopping distance does increase slightly with weight in practice, because of non-linear relationship between normal load and tyre friction).
Anyway the brakes themselves are clearly quite adequate for the car because it achieves a very respectable stopping distance in the dry - to there is enough retarding force at the wheels.
The issue must be down to tyre performance (wet grip of the tyres fitted) or (possibly 'and') poor calibration of the ABS system.
If you want a comparison then I found a report on a 2006 BMW 323 runing Michelin tyres with a stopping distance of 62m from 70mph on wet road.
It would be interesting to know what tyres the Mazda was fitted with.
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It would be interesting to know what tyres the Mazda was fitted with.
I've gone back to the Autocar report - it says
"Wheels 16in alloy
Tyres 195/45 R16 Toyo Proxes"
I had a quick look at the Toyo web page - claims "make the best performing tyre in the wet" - but maybe that's not the one fitted to the Mazda 2!
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Auto Express Tyre Test 2005 tested 19 leading tyres (185/60 R14H).
Toyo Proxes CF1 were 3rd best for wet braking
(OK, joint 3rd, along with Continental ContiEcoContact3)
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In the Fifth gear road test they measured the 2's braking as 25m from 70mph in the dry, i doubt wet conditions add 50 meters
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25m from 70mph in the dry
On an ideal surface with ideal wide tyres... still sounds too short to me. Shome mishtake shurely?
I was at school with a noisy Italian aristo who asserted that the (then brand new) Alfa Giulietta Sprint could stop in six feet from 100mph (never mind that it probably couldnt quite manage 100 in 1956 or whenever it was). He wouldn't listen to reasoned objections. Later he killed someone in a car crash.
Cars take longer to stop than you want, or anyway it's a good idea to assume that that is so.
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who asserted that the (then brand new) Alfa Giulietta Sprint could stop in six feet from 100mph
Absolutely possible. but you need to look carefully at the state of the concrete block afterwards.
On second thoughts most of the italian cars of that era were made out of pretty poor steel, you would probably find the concrete unmarked.
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I don't think there was a BMW 323 made that late. Sorry v. pedantic
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Putting "2006 323" into Google brings up results. Maybe they are not sold in England, but they are in other countries.
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