Today, I installed high performance brakes on my car after fearing that my old brake system was to weak and I could get into a crash. On the test drive a car in front of me stopped short. My new brakes worked, the ones on the car behind me didn't. I now have whiplash and a totalled car. FML
I agree, your life sucks (35282) - you totally deserved it (1598)
On 05/11/2009 at 11:13pm - misc - by Lex (man) - United States (Florida)
well, hope ure insured...u could even get a new car and salvage the brakes from your totalled one. and put a sticker on yr rear bumper saying "BRAKES LIKE HELL". I'm sure people will understand!!
PEace :D
#8 - On 05/12/2009 at 7:01am by Mikeymikey
"high performance brakes" : does that mean that manufacturers and dealers actually sell cars that have weak brakes ?
And that these brakes can easily be improved and that they don't do it ?
definitely sucks. but hey, at least this way the accident isn't your fault. i'm betting if the other driver didn't have insurance it would have been mentioned in your FML. so your car will get fixed or you'll get a new one on their dime, anyway. meanwhile you don't have a car and you're hurt though, so it's still beat. :(
#10 - On 05/12/2009 at 7:50am by fretforyerlatte
FYL. Cars are actually our biggest danger.
But don't stop suddenly, that's not smart.
#11 - On 05/12/2009 at 7:53am by nobodyno
I clicked "YDI"
not because of the crash, but because you installed "high-performance brakes" onto your car just for FEARING that your old brakes were too weak and couldn't stop in time to prevent a crash.
YDI for being so gullible to a salesperson.
#13 - On 05/12/2009 at 9:37am by genius_man16
hahah... shit happens N karma's a bitch! Just remember that and move on!.. It's not like you or the person who hit you didn't have insurance?.. right?
#10 is right--not your fault, you should be able to get total compensation from the party at fault (i.e. the driver who rear-ended you).
#16 - On 05/12/2009 at 10:22am by PianoManGidley
YOUR AN IDIOT!
If the crash was that bad, you were either driving fast or the car is close, so why the hell would you slam on your brakes!?
Next time test that out in a parking lot or something.
#18 - On 05/12/2009 at 11:40am by jackdizz
... ... just a guess here... but next time don't follow the person in front of you so closely!!! Having just enough room to be able to barely avoid hitting someone in an emergency stop by slamming on your brakes is not enough room!!!!! You have to think about other drivers behind and beside you as well! (a fact to which your totalled car now testifies!)
Man, tailgaters drive me insane!!! (apparently)
#19 - On 05/12/2009 at 11:44am by debussy
At least it's not your fault. The truth is that even if you drive safely, other people will crash into you.
#20 - On 05/12/2009 at 12:29pm by thelonelylurker
holy shit that sucks horribly. i've been wanting to put 4 pistons w/ slotted rotors on my truck just to see how fast it stops haha.
#21 - On 05/12/2009 at 12:51pm by that_guy01
@ #9. Yes, there are better brakes the manufacturers don't put, but it's because there's no need for them, their only necessary for racing situations (cars) or if you put really big tires/wheels (lifted trucks, or those shitty lifted homie cars on 30's)
#22 - On 05/12/2009 at 12:55pm by that_guy01
Factory organic/semi metallic brake pads suck! Ceramic brake pads have a higher coefficient of friction, higher heat capacity, and faster cool down time while making less brake dust to get on your wheels and tires. Yes if you lock up your tires your going to slow down the same no matter what brake pad you use, a good driver doesn't lock there tires up and allows the more powerful brakes to slow it down instead of skidding on what is essentially liquid rubber. Its part of the reason that ABS is installed, it keeps you from locking the tires up for 2 reasons you slow down faster, and you maintain control of the vehicle. Upgraded factory brakes does improve your cars braking ability, there are reasons why a 3000 lb corvette stops shorter than my 2000 lb Honda...
#23 - On 05/12/2009 at 1:02pm by legionofone
FYL indeed. sorry about your car. On the bright side, the guy who hit you owes you money! Buy a better car...... Hope you feel better!
Why do people assume he just upgraded his brakes? Most people who do this have also upgraded their engine performance to the point where factory brakes won't do the job, so HP Brakes are necessary. FYL dude
#25 - On 05/12/2009 at 2:03pm by wrestler_0708
#13 is an idiot. He probably upgrades things only after they break and become unusable.
At least the accident wasn't your fault. For the insurance company this should be a pretty simple case and you'll get compensation.
LOL @ #18 calling someone else an idiot when you can't even use the right "you're", dumb ass.
#27 - On 05/12/2009 at 2:10pm by FBIWarning
I've always said, "Your brakes are only as good as those on the car behind you." Turns out I was right.
I'm not saying this is the case here, but a caveat to using high performance brakes is that often they're not ideal for normal driving conditions, and they could be overkill for correcting simply worn or bad brakes. A decent replacement part might serve you better. The high performance brakes will either work like an on-off switch, or sometimes they require a nice warm up before actually working, so your braking performance will be worse in normal driving. Just a heads up to anyone else working on brakes.
#29 - On 05/12/2009 at 3:34pm by mouseintern
yeah but at least its the car behind u who gets all the blame
#30 - On 05/12/2009 at 4:13pm by toddler883
At least the crash wasn't your fault, he was following too close.
#32 - On 05/12/2009 at 5:43pm by RuralNinja
7 and 23 are partially right. you want a bigger contact patch on your tires + bigger calipers/discs to stop shorter, you dont just need a better car
#33 - On 05/12/2009 at 5:46pm by ritalinboy
so what the person behind you has to pay for damages, unless they pushed you into the car in front, you have to pay for that cause the system is fucked
#36 - On 05/12/2009 at 7:45pm by abyssion1337
#29 Thats a good way to put it. Pads wear out faster with high performance rotors, assuming he changed the whole kit.
Lesson is, follow at a farther distance and give the person behind you ample time and awareness when coming to a hault.
#37 - On 05/13/2009 at 4:08am by nushadow
I bet that you were following too close and had to slam on the brakes giving the car behind you almost no time to react and got hit as a result. YDI learn to drive!
#13: " and couldn't stop in time to prevent a crash."
No, the problem was that while HIS brakes worked, the ones of the car behind him did not. He was rear ended.
As for the people asking why he stopped suddenly: because the car in front of him stopped suddenly! His options were really to rear-end the person in front of him or get rear-ended by the person behind him.
Oh, and #38: if the car behind him wasn't following him too close, it would have been able to brake too!
Oh I'm sorry. Feel you pain. My car is sitting in my yard from being rear ended waiting til I make more money to get it fix.
#41 - On 05/13/2009 at 8:45pm by ShortyBBangin
Erm.... isn't whiplash and a totaled car better than failed brakes?
#42 - On 05/13/2009 at 11:41pm by takemeaway10
How are you writing this right now if you have whiplash right now? *thinking...*
#44 - On 05/14/2009 at 5:46pm by lologirl419
#7 is the winner.
#23: God you're stupid. If you can lock up your wheels, the brake pad makes NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL. If ABS has kicked in, that means the wheel would otherwise be locked, and the locking point will be the same regardless of your brake pads. How well a vehicle maintains traction in hard braking is determined much more by the tires, and a Corvette has high performance tires vs. an economy car having crappy hard tires designed for mileage. Lightweight wheels also help reduce braking distance (lower rotating mass), which I expect the Corvette is equipped with. There are other aspects as well, which I'm less familiar with (I'm not an expert, just a hobbyist). Having things like this is what allows the better brake rotors/pads on the Corvette to do any good. Do us all a favor and stop pretending to know anything about performance technology.
#38: See #40. It doesn't matter what the OP was doing, they stopped in time. It is the sole responsibility of each driver to leave enough room for them to brake in an emergency. This distance will differ for each car and driver. The driver behind the OP is entirely at fault for not leaving proper room to stop their own car in time.
#42: There was no failure of brakes anywhere. The OP is a tard that bought performance brakes to replace what were presumably perfectly good factory brakes.
