[Jimrod]

Hi guys, just wondering if anyone actually knows the stopping distance of the ID3 vs comparable cars?

I ask as we know VW have used drum brakes on the rear, the cynical thinking it's a cost saving while VW talk of many benefits due to "engine" braking taking the strain. Seeing how VW look to have made the ID3 quite the cost-cutting exercise in many areas compared to their usual standards I remain dubious and was keen to see the stopping distances on what is a relatively heavy car - however I can find none anywhere and the many glowing reviews don't seem to mention or test the claims either. 🤷‍♂️

Just curious really! May be my best EV option come lease renewal time in November...

 

[Tooks]

Hi guys, just wondering if anyone actually knows the stopping distance of the ID3 vs comparable cars?

I ask as we know VW have used drum brakes on the rear, the cynical thinking it's a cost saving while VW talk of many benefits due to "engine" braking taking the strain. Seeing how VW look to have made the ID3 quite the cost-cutting exercise in many areas compared to their usual standards I remain dubious and was keen to see the stopping distances on what is a relatively heavy car - however I can find none anywhere and the many glowing reviews don't seem to mention or test the claims either. 🤷‍♂️

Just curious really! May be my best EV option come lease renewal time in November...

Check out the ID.4 underbody aero and drum brake thread…

If you have a good look at the drum brakes as implemented on the ID.3, it’s hard to imagine they cost less than a caliper and a disk. The size of them for one thing, these are not tiny drums like you’d find on an early 2000s Clio, they’re huge.

I’ve driven an ID.3 for over 10k miles now, the brakes are excellent. In a full on emergency stop, your eyes are out on stalks and the ABS is intervening telling me that available grip is the limit of braking and not the brakes.

EVs need a change in mindset, and that includes solutions to braking as the needs of an EV are different, particularly one with a 150kW motor on the rear axle too.

 

[Ralkbirdy]

Disc brakes corrode relentlessly as they have are hardly used, drum on the rear is a good solution. Regenerative braking is very powerful.

 

[Jimrod]

Cheers for the info!

I'm glad about many of the changes occurring in EV's - the return of RWD being a particular positive - and they need it in many cases due to the layout and drivetrain, the wife's e-Niro lights up the tyres if you put your foot down at 30mph in mildly damp conditions yet my i3 has pretty much never lost traction!

Those drums must add quite a bit of weight I'd have thought, just seemed a really odd choice of all the things that are done to improve efficiency - unless they had some already available it would have probably been simpler/cheaper to use existing disks than tool the parts.

 

[Mr_ess_jay]

Drums may be heavier but the lack of a conventional gearbox makes up for that quite nicely.

 

[Jimrod]

Drums may be heavier but the lack of a conventional gearbox makes up for that quite nicely.

Well, that may be a point but the vast majority of EV's lack the conventional gearbox AND have disks all round... I've still yet to see just someone slam the brakes on full on an ID3 (or ID4) and measure how effective the system is and IF it's any different (better or worse) to a Kona/e-Niro or other equivalent. Fade may be more prevalent but I doubt many people will be having track days in them - my reservations come from having had cars with drum brakes in the past and them being poor compared to disk equivalents of the same era, but this was a long time back!

I've read the ID4 thread now Tooks, thanks. Lots of back and forth there it seems, lot of opinion, not much measurable data which could put the whole thing to bed but it seems there's unlikely to be any major issues. I raised it as a cost-cutting measure over performance as there looks to have been a lot of it in the ID series compared to the likes of the Golf (and even Korean competitors), VW aren't exactly squeaky clean and trustworthy of late and I had my fingers burned with a Scirocco which had injector failure at 17k miles so my faith in them isn't at an all time high. You can only go by your own experiences and sometimes need convincing if looking to potentially return to a brand.

 

[Monkeyhanger]

Rear disks on cars that have them don't get the heavy use that the fronts do under heavy braking. Front discs for stopping, rear discs for stability corrections and parking brake.

Look at pretty much any car with discs all round and the rear discs are much smaller. With the steel wheels or alloy options for the ID3, you can see hardly anything of the discs/drums behind them, so aesthetics considerations aren't really relevant either.

 

[Mr_ess_jay]

It's marketing hype to have discs all around, the same way that people fall for the one pedal driving nonsense.

Brake tests are pointless unless in lab conditions and repeated to failure. The limiting factor for the vast majority of single big stops is the tyres and at which point, the type of braking system is irrelevant. If it's powerful enough to brake traction on the tyre, then it's powerful enough.

The friction area on pads is larger and so actually work better. Until they overheat that is but how many big stops from 70 does that take and how representative of normal life is that? D

 

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, "Which" magazine says -
"The feel of the brake pedal is a little odd, but the braking distance from 62mph to standstill is acceptable at 35.8 metres."
Cheers

 

[Big277wave]

There's another thread about an ID.3 doing a lap of the Nuburgring. I haven't seen any mention of brake fade on that thread and it's about as extreme a test as anyone is likely to do.

ID3 Nuburgring

 

[Jimrod]

Hi, "Which" magazine says -
"The feel of the brake pedal is a little odd, but the braking distance from 62mph to standstill is acceptable at 35.8 metres."
Cheers

Thank you!

 

[dk6780]

I'm with the opinions above - discs are not fundamentally more powerful for stopping but are better at rejecting the heat and hence avoiding fade when repeatedly braking from high speed. The recent video of the ID.3 doing a lap of the Nurburgring showed no evidence of fade (and hence overheating) in what is far from "normal" usage. On the plus side drums offer better resistance to water, a better handbrake and less corrosion. Discs on the rear of performance cars like a Taycan may be sensible, but on an ID.3 that isn't even a performance model? Unnecessary in my opinion, and with other problems.

 

[EricM]

. . . . hence avoiding fade when repeatedly braking from high speed.

The friction braking system on an EV is really only there for use in emergencies; in a non-emergency situation, recuperative braking would be applied unless you're actually 'slamming on the anchors'. If you really get three or more 'emergency situations' before the brakes have had time to cool then it's perhaps time to rethink your driving technique !

 

[idiotzoo]

The rear discs on my Niro are getting corrosion, I just rarely use the brakes apart from gently when coming to a halt. Some properly steep hills in the North York Moors don’t need any braking, all handled nicely by regen. I reckon drums all round would be an improvement now

 

[TJEV]

The friction braking system on an EV is really only there for use in emergencies; in a non-emergency situation, recuperative braking would be applied unless you're actually 'slamming on the anchors'. If you really get three or more 'emergency situations' before the brakes have had time to cool then it's perhaps time to rethink your driving technique !

ACC uses friction brakes too, remember

 

[vc-10]

If it has to it does- but when I test drove an ID.3 the bar in the dash cluster moved into regen when the car was slowing for the car in front.