Decreasing brake peddle effort

I recently gave my fiancée a 1999 Chevy Prizm with about 27,000 miles on it. She likes the car, but says the brakes require more pressure than her previous car, a 1997 Sentra. I've driven both & the Chevy may take slightly more pressure, but the peddle feels normal to me (i.e. no air in the lines) but she is a lot smaller than I am. Both cars have power brakes. At 27K it is possible the car could use front pads (haven't checked this yet, no wear indicator noise so far, I'm assuming it has them... ) Assuming the pads are OK & there is no air in the lines, is there any way to improve braking w/o increasing required pressure? If there are any "performance" pads for this car (BTW, same car as a Corolla) my guess is if anything they'd take MORE pressure, not LESS. Any suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Reply to
Dirk
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|I recently gave my fiancée a 1999 Chevy Prizm with about 27,000 miles on it. |She likes the car, but says the brakes require more pressure than her |previous car, a 1997 Sentra. I've driven both & the Chevy may take slightly |more pressure, but the peddle feels normal to me (i.e. no air in the lines) |but she is a lot smaller than I am. Both cars have power brakes. At 27K it |is possible the car could use front pads (haven't checked this yet, no wear |indicator noise so far, I'm assuming it has them... ) Assuming the pads are |OK & there is no air in the lines, is there any way to improve braking w/o |increasing required pressure? If there are any "performance" pads for this |car (BTW, same car as a Corolla) my guess is if anything they'd take MORE |pressure, not LESS. Any suggestions appreciated.

Not too many options here.

Pads - Some performance pads have more initial "bite" but may require more pressure overal to completely stop. You would want to ask the tech dept of the brand pad you are considering.

Is the car is already fitted with power brakes ? If not, you may be able to add a booster. On some cars this is pretty easy. Unbolt MC, move it forward enough to slip booster in, change pushrod type, bolt back together.

Lastly, you may be able to find a model of that car or it's Toyota twin that has a slightly smaller MC bore. This give more mechanical advantage, albeit with a slightly longer stroke. Rex in Fort Worth

Reply to
Rex B

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