Brake bias?

I'm going to take exception with Redfish's contention that the rears need to lock first in a panic stop. Here are the reasons:

1. When stopping, weight is being transferred from the rear to the front (exact opposite for what ¼ milers want). A brake that is already biased towards lockup will be more likely to do so in a panic situation due to the speed with which significantly higher pedal, and resulting, hydraulic pressures.

2. When the front wheels lock, the car will tend to slide in the direction it was going at the time of lock up. When the rears lock first, the rear of the car tends to step out creating a broad slide. This dynamic is due to front weight bias in the A-body.

3. A locked wheel is not directionally stable and no longer able to respond to driver input. The natural response of most drivers (not necessarily the skilled ones here) to understeer are the correct ones. This is not so in the case of a broadslide or oversteer.

4. Put the brake closest to the weight. Most of the weight is on the front, but most of the braking effort on the front.

The most effective brake is not a locked one where the tire is being dragged like an eraser down the road. It is one that is just on the verge of locking up. This means that the brake and tire are operating at peak efficiency. Just like hard cornering will make the tires howl without leaving a black stripe, so too does maximum effort braking.

FWIW, I ride a motorcycle. When riding aggressively, I use the rear brake initially to set the bike up, then cram on front brake to whoa the critter down. If I lock up either wheel, I'm going to have a quick meeting with the ground. Even though most of the static weight of the bike is on the rear wheel, most of the braking effort is done by the front.