Running Without A Brake Servo, Any Veiws On This?

[inferno 1]

At first i was thinking along the lines of fitting a 106 servo relocating bar, but due to my manifold design there may be no room for it, so i want to lose the servo. Ive been told driving with the vac pipe disconnected has a good brake feel and isnt dangerous.

 

Whos actually done something similar and how did you feel about it? did you use aftermarket MC's or different calipers ect? i still want to have good controlable use of the brake pedal. currently using 1.6 gti brakes, may upgrade to 1.9s but it wasnt my intention initially.

[inferno 1]

Ive noticed on the parts cd theres a listing for a MC without servo assistance... anyone know anything about this? what car there on? what ther parts needed to fit it?

[hengti 2]

can you just disconnect the servo pipes without causing any other problems - ?

if you can, why not just try it without the servo assistance to see what you think?

 

i've always thought the std brakes are over-servo'd, but personally wouldn't run them without servo assistance.

[saveloy 8]

The std master cylinder, without the aid of the servo, will give you a very stiff pedal. Surely you have tried it without the engine running.

Unless you fit a smaller M/C, or go to a pedal box, I would not risk it. Unless, ofcourse, you like the idea of spending alot of evenings in the gym.

[inferno 1]

whats a pedal box like to fit and use? its not something ive looked into. but if its a sensible solution ill consider it... yes i know how hard the pedal is without the servo, thats why im looking for an alternative setup without a servo thats useable in everyday road driving

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

TBH with no servo the pedal isn't anything like as hard as with no assistance when you have a servo but I'm taking this from my Mini days. I've never seen a 205 without one & even the parts CD lists them for all year. I think that Haynes have made an error saying that you could get them without.

 

A pedal box is possibly the best way but its not cheap. I'm thinking about this for my next trackday project.

 

Graham.

[Rippthrough 98]

TBH with no servo the pedal isn't anything like as hard as with no assistance when you have a servo but I'm taking this from my Mini days. I've never seen a 205 without one & even the parts CD lists them for all year. I think that Haynes have made an error saying that you could get them without.

 

A pedal box is possibly the best way but its not cheap. I'm thinking about this for my next trackday project.

 

Graham.

 

 

Yeah, to run well with no servo you really need to eliminate as much flex from the system as possible so you can use a small master cylinder without compromising pedal travel.

A nice rigid pedal box and braided hoses would be the first steps (or even brace the bulkhead behind the standard box)

[sonofsam 5]

Well if its any help.When I started driiving my turbo around I noticed the brake feel was very different.Was because effectively I think I was running with no servo assistance.As in a turbo manifold there is pressure instead of the usual vacuum the servo runs of.To fix it I installed a check valve in the servo line So what vacuum I did get in there would be saved up and therefore used in the correct way.

I would say the pedal feel was more 'limp' if anything:)

[axnutty 10]

I run with no servo on my ax sport. Its all been converted to pedal box. Ive got Brembo 4pots up front and Vts rear discs at the rear.

 

The pedal is hard and it takes some getting used to. I find theres very little movement in the pedal itself but the brake response and feel is absolutly awsome. Certainly stop svery quickly anyway. Its certainly freed up alot of space on the bulkhead as well

 

Click here for a pic...yes i know the MC's are upside down, my mistake just was rushing to grab a photo

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/axnutty/mc2.jpg

[jackherer 543]

I drove a 205 Mi16 for a couple of weeks with the servo hose disconnected because the white plastic fitting snapped off. The pedal is pretty firm and you have to push it quite hard to get significant braking force but you can pull the car up from speed just fine, I was driving it 'properly' and had no problems with it, in fact I kind of liked it

[bren_1.3 1]

Ive noticed on the parts cd theres a listing for a MC without servo assistance... anyone know anything about this? what car there on? what ther parts needed to fit it?

 

seen them on early base models with the old XY engines. D reg example i think it was.

[Normski 1]

Yes, that's right. My mum had a 205 XL 954cc years ago, E reg. It had no servo.

[saveloy 8]

Isn't the retro fitment of a pedal box an MOT failure?

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

Isn't the retro fitment of a pedal box an MOT failure?

I couldn't find it mentioned in the MOT testers manual website I checked but I can't see why. There are still cars on the road that don't have a servo & afaik its just an N/A if one isn't fitted.

 

As long as the brake performance is in excess of the required minimum it shoud pass imo.

 

Lets hope one of our resident MOT testers reads this to clarify.

 

Graham.

[t16ryan 1]

Quote Pugtorque As long as the brake performance is in excess of the required minimum it shoud pass imo.

Yes thats right as if its not fitted it cant be tested as long as the brakes are efficient enough.

[Rob Thomson 6]

As long as the brakes are efficient and retain dual circuits there's no problem with the MOT.

 

I had a bias pedal box fitted to my 309 and that passed a few MOTs without any problems, as you'd expect.

[inferno 1]

does any1 local to me run a pedal box on a road car i could try out?

 

my only other option is to make a custom servo... imagine i was to keep the centre 4 inches of the servo and weld it up so that was the size , could i 'T' the air feed to it onto another servo withough a MC attached, and use the combined servos air space to operate the brakes without any adverse effects?

[Rob Thomson 6]

You could possibly use the remote servos from a proper Mini (Cooper S type, I think). You can fit them anywhere, since they're hydraulically activated, not bolted to the end of the pedal.