1965 Barracuda Disk Brake Kit? Or Keep the Drums?

Those of us old enough to recall, remember the federal mandate was either air bags or automated seat belts (1989+ cars). Many manufacturers chose the later for a few years, but buyers hated them and air bags got cheaper. Certainly an air bag helps a belted passenger, but the feds didn't consider it helped enough to mandate. Reg FMVSS 208 was modified for 1998+ cars to require dual air bags, but continues to require that bags be engineered and calibrated to be able to "save" the life of an unbelted 50th-percentile size and weight "male" crash test dummy. Seach "Air Bags" on wikipedia for more info.

I never suggested that one should skid the tires in trying to stop fast, just that the capability is there with both drums and disks. Hard to believe one couldn't lock up any tires if the pedal is pushed hard enough, particularly with a booster. You can't compare old stopping distances measured with thin bias tires with what our cars can do today with modern rubber. Front drum parts are very easy to find, the standard Bendix design used in most cars. Most bad experiences people have with drum brakes are due to faulty brakes.

Re the Mopar Muscle article, that is the first time I have heard any claim that rear disks give any significant improvement. My first thought is that in switching to disk brakes they also did a better proportioning between front & rears, which is more likely where the improvement came from.