Every single parts add I see has a crossfire smashed in at the nose.

I was driving home from work yesterday, and it was about 45 degrees. Light rain and poor visibility and I see a car slam on brakes. I am about 4 car lengths away, apply the brakes and my car slides right into hers. I was paying attention, not distracted, not speeding. I had time to turn the wheel to try to miss the car in front of me.

I have 4 month old tires, 6 month old brakes and rotors all around. I am disgusted that I am at fault, but I felt like my car should have stopped, even with a light sprinkle, even at 45 degrees.

Then it hit me....... Every parts add has a crossfire with a smashed in nose.

 

Well I for one can tell you that the brakes on my crossfire work excellent
I have been in the same situation you describe and stopped with no issue with even room to spare

 

What tires are you running? I want to be sure not to buy those.

 

Maybe the reflexes are too old?

Forget about it, **** happens.

 

Did you lower your car too much? (like me) I out brake just about everyone on the track. While braking I'm usually looking in the rear view mirror to see if I need avoid a rear impact.

Les

 

I lowered my car yes. My brakes engaged.... my tires started sliding. Im on G Max tires. I have had excellent braking experiences up until last night!

I am running akebono ceremics/ duralast rotors.

So pissed right now..... I felt like the other car was backing up toward me! It was not.

I use this car as a daily driver. Most have their roadster in the garage for 8 months out of the year.

 

Do you have summer tires?
The colder Temps with summer tires hardens the tread compound and they are terrible. Using summer only tires on Temps under 32° can make you feel like you are driving on ice when there is none.

I have cross drilled rotors (not slotted due to the glazing they make) and ceramic pads, with 275 Gmax and 235 kuhmo. Stock height, except rear is 3/4 higher with the 275/35 over the stock 255.
I got these for rain and they are great handling.

A few weeks ago heading home at night with a wet road a deer ran in front of me and I slammed the brakes and damn near threw myself into the windshield, was very impressed how well it stopped. Barely missed the deer.
A insurance adjuster told me awhile back that 75% of auto accidents involve the front of the vechicle.

 

Did you feel ABS activate? When it does your braking distance goes up some but you retain the ability to steer the car if room exists. It was an accident, I don't think Crossfires have more than other makes.

Les

 

The conditions weren't ideal but they don't sound to bad.
Did the brake pedal feel normal?
Did you apply the brakes or really push on the pedal as hard as you could engaging the ABS?
Crossfires have " Emergency Brake Assist" which can only help in situations such as you describe.

 

As "VELOCIABSTRACT" (an experienced racer) said. There are some situations (such as a rain slick road) where actual braking distance can "increase" thanks to anti-locks.
Been there, done that.......and one reason I've never been a fan of anti-locks.
Though they do help with accident avoidance, in most cases, and probably why most all cars have it.

 

Personal opinion

If you run Crossfire in winter, General GMax is NOT the way to go. They're merely 2.5 season tire if you look at the tread pattern and the compound they use, together with the size of tire with Crossfire.

My Falken 912/612 was claimed to be all season tire. When the tires were new, it was more like a summer tire, and has been till it's near end of life after 19K miles in the rear. I was sliding left to right on highway when I ran it in the winter, so I rarely take it out when it's colder than 50 out there. Taking it out when there's any snow out there? forget it. Lower end All season tires are not that well in winter at all.

My P-Zero A/S on my Audi was barely making it even with the Haldex traction system in the winter so I switched to Continental's DWS instead.

I'm sure someone will come back to me saying their GMax is fine in the winter, but for someone as young and inexperienced(and probably dumb) like me, I would trust something better than GMax if not dedicated snow tire.

 

I have not had the Gmax in snow yet, but mainly got them for "rain" and the compounds in colder temperature, if I do not like them, I will get a pair of blizzaks.
But I just in southern il. I do alot of driving, but interstate, and a manual is better than a auto in winter, being able to keep rpm lower easier.
Had Temps in upper teens, and traction on dry pavement seem as good as it did in warmer weather

 

Is that why there are so means Crossies in Florida ? No rust and no attrition. Long time ago that Florida uses a lot of crushed sea shells in the tarmac which does wear tires but also provides very high traction.

We do get "Florida Ice" particularly at intersections where condensate from the ACs mixes with road dirt and oil and in a frog strangler those still moving generally have their blinkers on.

Originally I was concerned about the wide Contis on my Crossfire in a downpour but they have worked very well so far.

Of course there are always candidates for Darwin awards. https://autos.yahoo.com/news/2015-dodge-challenger-srt-hellcat-crashes-colorado-083512851.html

ps in my racing days I used to love it when it rained, was in my element.

 

The original ContiTouring Contact did fantastic in both rain and snow.

With only 4/32 tread left, I went through Cleveland's winter and snow, earlier back, 2012 Fall Dragon was nice and wet.

Of course you can't expect the summer tire grip out of it, but it served me well.

 

I believe everyone responded pretty much correctly . . . It was not the brakes on your Crossfire that failed you . . . It was a combination of your tires (too hard of a rubber compound & poor wet traction characteristics), the low outside air temperature, and the rain slick pavement.

Sorry about your experience and that you have to get your Crossfire fixed . . .

 

How much damage ??was done to the car

 

Will just observe that street tires do not do well at the limit and there is a fine line between at the max and letting go. It is sudden and feels just like you hit a patch of ice.

A well trained derierre can feel when it starts to nibble but takes a lot of seat time. Back when I was racing seriously, my street car (Corvette) was as close to the race car as possible while staying legal.

Have to keep in mind that traction is realy fractal with many many tiny elements in the tire interlocking with the road (why Florida shell roads have such high traction). When the tire "lets go" and that interlock is lost the change is sudden.

Note: there is a way to maintain a certain amout of slip (4 wheel drift) without breaking the interlock but is very delacate however when you can do it it is so fast it looks slow.

 

Sorry to hear about your accident, hope you are OK and that the damage to your Crossfire is not major.

 

No matter what test I read before buying this car they all agreed compared to Nissan 350Z, Audi TT, BMW Z3/Z4 and Porsche Boxster the Crossfire's brakes are the best with the shortest distance to come to a full stop! Was one of the reasons I bought this car to begin with the safety features are pretty darn good for a sports car!

 

I get what he's saying but . . . logically, andin practice, and through experience, that cannot be true.
I know how it feels to have the ABS engage (in snow for instance) with my foot hard on the pedal and the car feels like it's taking forever to stop and because of the ABS there is some directional control still.
Without ABS the wheels would be locked, even for a short periods of time, even using an Old School brake pumping technique, and a locked-up-sliding tire generates less friction on the road than a rotating tire with the braked applied as much as the tires will tolerate.