Boss Mustang Brake Failure: Is 60-0 Just as Important?

Published by Chris Rose on April 29, 2011 in Mustang Discussion and Mustang News.  ( 40 Comments )

bossbrakefailure.jpg

If any of you have ever experienced brake failure, you know that split second can scare the crap out of you! Now imagine brake failure in your brand new 2012 Boss at the quarter mile… yeah… now we’re shaking a little. That’s what happened when Motor Trend went to brake test their new bright-yellow Boss 302 Mustang at the track.

They picked up their Boss, went for spirited drives on some of Cali’s curviest, deadliest roads and luckily never had an issue. It was only once they reached the track, got the car to 60mph and hammered the brakes when a connecting pin snapped! Some quick downshifting allowed the driver to maneuver through a gap in the wall at the end of the track. He was safe, the car was untouched, but you know he probably headed straight for the changing room!

Ford quickly picked the car up, haulted production lines and ripped it apart investigated the problem. No issues in production were found and it is likely that someone had re-installed the brake system incorrectly after it left the plant. I’m glad this was an isolated incident!

This does pose the question, is braking power as important as horsepower? Comment below and tell me what you think!

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About Chris Rose

This hobby became serious when I went to work for a local speed shop. Within a few years, I helped build the business into a nation-wide name that focused on modifying and tuning late-model Mustangs. We equipped ourselves with a chassis dyno, lifts, mechanics and that is where I gained my SCT and Dynojet Certifications. I spent 6-7 years there, building and custom tuning in the best and most passionate automotive industry; the Mustang aftermarket. Since the move to AmericanMuscle in April of 2010, I have purchased my second Mustang – a Grabber Orange 2007 GT (supercharger coming soon)! My Google+ Profile

  • Brianpierson08

    Braking is even more important than HP. All the HP is the world isnt worth a dime if you cant stop.

  • Shanecalitine

    speed is all fun and games but if you cant slow it down when you fullfill the thrill,it isnt really worth having the speed,lol.in my opinion unless you know to kick it into a lower gears at a time to slow it down or out of gear and use e- brake holding button down as you pull it up to keep it from locking to slow car.

  • No Name

    Most certainly… I bought a 1989 GT Convertible last June and the first thing I did was get new breaks…. I wanna live to see another day

  • Anthonyhanson

    down shift and slowly pull the e brake hoping there was enough room to slow down and if there wasnt look for the safest place to crank it side ways and spin out been in the situation b4 in one of my old cars thnk god it was low enough and i didnt flip but i got it to a stop

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Darenty-Duke/100000645291915 Darenty Duke

    I am deeply convinced that I would use the famous Polish word KURWA.. !:O

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Darenty-Duke/100000645291915 Darenty Duke

    I am deeply convinced that I would use the famous Polish word – KURWA..! :O

    • Anon

      This is pronounced “Kudva” for those interested

  • Izzy

    Brakes>hp. Better to stop at some point than to have all the hp you want.

    I would be sh****** my pants too!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/lightning.rob Rob Balderas

    well hell yeah it is. thats a stupid question. thats like asking an astronaut, “is discovering a new planet is as important as gettting back to earth?”

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Alex-King/677920281 Alex King

      lol I would go one way ticket to mars on the biodome project nasa recently had squashed by budget cuts. Could you imgine being one of the first humans to colonize another planet? that would be beyond amazing man….

  • Rob

    This is what i recommend as a 1st upgrade: tires, suspension & brakes….

    In this case, I may do 1 of these 2:

    - As article says, “downshifting” hoping the track is long enough.

    - but if i got panic due a dead-end, quickly turn 1st gear and try to make a u-turn asap… kinda stupid but tires may slip and turn the car successfuly.

    (Of course, your tranny gears will surely get damaged and your engine over-rev’s may also damage it)

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Alex-King/677920281 Alex King

      bad idea. If you get to the end of a drag strip and you have brake failure your better off downshifting, taking a wide radius turn and getting around to the return road while engine braking. overreving will only serve to lock the rear tires and send you into a spin. Controlled engine clutch braking is your best bet where you can go from fourth to second and you can ballance the clutch to get the maximum engine braking. your going to fry the clutch for sure but it will gain you the maximum braking force from the engine without spinning or damaging the engine / trans. As soon as you have catastrophic failure of the engine or trans you could loose other assists in some cars , power steering being very important as you are attempting to get out of an emergency situation. If worst really came to it and you were going towards a wall you could try to power out and slide in to a circle like rally drivers do at the end of a run in a tight spot but that is dedication and should only be used as a last resort.

  • sneaky98gt

    Downshift and use the e-brake.

    And then go change my undies.

  • KillerStang67

    All the horsepower in the world would not matter if you couldn`t stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous

    Fast is fun, but not being able to stop isn’t. I say brakes are definitely more important and I even upgraded my brakes before I started getting into drag racing for this reason;-)

  • http://www.facebook.com/emilio.sumter Emilio Sumter

    Very Important ,So you know also you need to upgrade YOUR BRAKES. I would let it roll out and hit the hand brake 2 or 3 than 4 clicks slowly just to brake and slow down the wheels .I happened with me before ,and down shift after slowing down ,Because your gear will not get out before it reach the speed,

  • Caddman1

    Sure does! What goes up, must come down, so you had better be able to slow down!

    Having had my brakes fail before at about 45mph, I first downshifted (an auto) 1 gear, applied the emergency brake a couple of clicks, then a few more clicks, then downshifted to L. At that point, (while my foot was on the emer brake pedal) I released the emer brake and used it like a regular brake until I came to stop. It would have been scarier at a higher speed or if I didn’t have the room to take the actions above!

  • Brian E.

    The question isn’t whether you will stop, because you will stop
    sooner or later.
    The question is will it be a permant dead stop.
    I vote brakes,
    However, brake upgrades are not necessary.
    You really don’t need 13″+ brakes on a V6/GT.

  • Mandy

    Stopping is way more important than HP! Also, part of the reason I’ll never own a car with an automatic tranny (besides the fact they are just boring) is because you have more stopping control (more control PERIOD) with a manual. I can’t even bring myself to ride in a car with an automatic trans. That is just too much dependency on the braking system and whoever is driving to drive correctly to begin with. (Ok, I admit it, I’m a control freak…) If someone soups up their motor, I personally believe they should soup up their braking system equally. My motor is stock, but I’ve already upgraded my braking system just to handle teaching my 16 yr old daughter how to drive! My poor car!

    Love you guys!

  • C Garlow1990

    I had this happen to me but in my humvee in iraq heavy vehicle at 55 mph equals hard to slow down. brakes are most important

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Alex-King/677920281 Alex King

    this is a preposterous question… of course braking is as important as power. Its the first upgrade i made and i love my brakes. A great car should be well balanced. That includes quality brakes, suspension, tires, etc. As for this being an isolated incident i am inclined to believe ford. The system is the same as the brembo kit on the 2011 GTs and they have been great. Its likely that this test car has been beaten pretty good and they replaced the brake pads and rotors and something was incorrectly installed or broken when that happened. Anyone who has ever had an air bubble in their brake lines knows how scary brake failure can be.

  • Steel_Venom

    Brakes failed on me because the part from autozone didn’t fit right. It was probably a fraction of a hair too fat and it didn’t allow the brakes to operate correctly. So they worked for a few months but wore through the pads to the metal so one time i went to brake and pedal just went all the way to the floor! Lucky I manged to slowly crawl back home and didn’t crash but yeah scariest thing of my life that whole drive i think.
    I haven’t really trusted my car since.

  • LegendaryFive0

    Brakes are obviously important because of those pesky redlights on the road and yes, on track days. However, if they do fail, that’s why we like to drive manual transmissions. They’re more fun and you have more control when you need it. Then there’s the emergency brake…kind of like a reserve parachute.

  • Nipplehead

    What does brakes mean?

  • Fernando

    dont these cars have a cross over system that if the front or rear brake fail and loose liquid the other part will still brake? that is what they did with race cars yrs ago, 2 brake pumps crossed, and I was under the impression all new cars have this system now??
    you should never lose the brakes totally…

  • WP2011FIVEOH

    Does a Baer (as in Baer brakes) $#!t in the woods? Ford needs to ditch Brembo and go with Wilwood or Baer on these models.

  • Ultimateaero2009

    Depends on the situation as soon as the breaks become reliable and stop in reasonable time all take as much hp as i can get.

    • Ultimateaero2009

      Id also like to add most of the time you slam on your breaks the tires are borderline locking so adding more breaking is kinda rediclious without better tires. now tires(cost) vs hp (cost) is interesting comparison in my opinion.

  • sickroush

    my 14″ rotors answer that question

  • M Nantel

    Most likely down shift and E-brake to a full stop

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=581353617 Dennis Warner

    try and crash sideways instead of head on

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Freddy-Rivera/1730150049 Freddy Rivera

    All the power in the world is meaningless if you cant control it.

  • mcbeast

    like a boss

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Gary-J-Foster-Jr/100000671950872 Gary J Foster Jr.

    Braking is more important than horsepower…safety > speed anyday…can’t enjoy it if you’re dead…

  • Jfdavies

    Jeez. Reminds me of when my steering box on a ’68 collapsed while I was driving.

  • neidan

     Seriously? as important? As in one choose or the other?  If there’s a car that forces me to pick, I’ll pick another car. LOL>  Neither is important until you need them.  If your asking which I would prefer to have fail on occasion, that would be giddy-up.  I’ll keep my whoa intact thank you. 

  • neidan

     Another thought… so was this failure the result of someone “modifying” the breaks for improvement?  If so does that mean that reviews are less than accurate because they are not reviews of ‘production’ cars?  I’m a touch lost on that point?

  • Grumpyjk

    MORE SO.GOING FAST IS A BLAST BUT STOPPING IS WHAT MAKES US COME BACK 

  • Brandon

    Brian E.– why is that?

  • Ed

    Can’t have the go without the whoa.