I suppose I will have the usual person ,who is on here all the while,telling me I am talking absolute B.....ks,but here goes.......😝

 

I have owned the car from new,just 3000 miles on it. Just started using it on motorway,and noticed a lack of brake performance - say when slowing down on a slip road from speed......

Brakes are ok a round the houses,which I suppose that is what the car is intended for.It seems like brake fade -small pads and small drums = low performance.

Once you are aware of the performance ,it is awake up call (to me anyway).Any one else think the brakes are not up to much???   I though about competition pads ,if available.😁 (Waiting for the usual responder.....)

How old is it? Brakes usually take a while to bed in but I'd have thought 3000 miles would be enough. No issues with mine with almost 20000 miles under its belt.

If it feels like fade, it may be fade (as opposed to simply poor brakes), so one thing to check is how hot the brakes feel after a fair drive. Don't touch the disks as such, but see how hot the hub gets, and the centre of the wheel. If those areas are too hot to keep a finger on, then it is possible that you may have a slightly sticking piston in the caliper, or that the disk is running slightly out of true. Might even be a fault, like the hill start feature not being quite right (i think it works on the front brakes). Don't worry about the rear drums.

 

My Citigo does seem to have good brakes - no more fade than on most other cars I have driven, good ABS, brakes straight, no noises. Similar to yours, mine has 2800 miles and I've had it from new, so I know everything on it is original and has not been bodged by a previous owner.

 

One problem with harder pads, while usually less prone to fade, is that they tend to work less well around town, or even for an emergency stop on a motorway, because they need to be worked hard to keep the temperature up. When 'cool', you need a lot more force on the pads to get good braking. It is commonly misunderstood, but harder pads don't provide more effective braking as such, they just continue to work at temperatures beyond the point where standard pads have overheated - if the ABS kicks in during fierce braking, there is nothing to be gained by 'more braking power'.

All true what you say above.  I passed an IAM test in 1980,so I  am not prone to panic braking,or heavy use of the brakes.Calipers are warm  after use ,but not hot.There is no judder or ABS kick in.

As you comment,probably material is too hard.Ok for the more "briskoda " driver,who makes more use of the pedal.My forty plus years of driving, from mini to Rolls Royce,tells me that performance is not good.Once had an MG Midget (1500 engine) that required a good heavy shove on the pedal to stop from speed.Car  had an A35 braking system,basically.......

I now know the capabilities of the system on this Citigo - and will use more caution -wouldn't want to use another cars rear,or HGV to stop.....

Edited 3 August, 20205 yr by Blackcountryman

Does it feel like the servo may not be assisting enough?

If so, you could have a vacuum/air leak. Which engine and what year?

That's a good point about the servo.

 

And for low-mileage drivers, the brake disks can rust up surprisingly fast, and it takes a few stops to clean them off.

 

Also, brake pads can get glazed if they get too hot, but the OP doesn't sound like that kind of driver!

 

I'd be temped to have the pads out and have a look at the surface, and also check the disks are still smooth.... It can only be  a few mins effort, and with low mileage/age, everything should disassemble easily.

I would check:

 

 - Vacuum.

 - Brake fluid water content (We don't know how long it was sat up or if a cap was left off etc).

 - Condition of the pads/discs. Do they have a coloured hue to the disk surface for example.

 - Get the car over to an MOT centre and ask them to test the brakes, they will be able to show a lack of brake performance.

 

If all of the above are ok and the checks show up nothing then perhaps the following.

On a very empty and suitable road, when safe to do so, do some 70 to 10mph stops, perhaps 3 times and allow the brakes a little time to cool between each attempt.

Obviously making sure nobody else is in the vecinity and allowing plenty of extra space just in case. This will bed the brakes in pretty quickly.