It's not a problem, the OP just doesn't understand performance brakes and the effects that cold and wet have on them. People don;t bring it up because it's truthfully a stupid question.

 

Yep..... Most people will have this issue if you did a test under the same condition's with the same driving habit's . Some people who use there brakes more often prolly wont notice it as much as other .

Say you live in a town where you pull out of your driveway and have to stop 200 feet down the road at a stop sign ...then another 500 ft and stop....ect ect.... you prolly won't notice it as much. Now a guy who pulls out of his driveway onto a back road and doesn't have to use his brakes for 5-10 miles down the road..... it will be more of an issue to this person.

 

Just spray some WD-40 on your rotors. WD-40 is a water displacement and will prevent water from sticking to your rotors.

 

Every TC owner's brakes do this. Permafried and I get it bad being in South and Southwestern Ontario where it's typically cold and/or wet.

Just drag your brakes periodically on the highway to scrub the water and keep bigger following distance to account for the problem. It's annoying, but it's nothing a little defensive driving can't fix.

 

Wow.......Wow........thats really all I can say. My brakes dont work real well when its cold or wet the first time I use them.............Wow.

Its been covered pretty well, Some of you guys need to hang out with your grandpa,grandma, dad, older brother, mechanic friends more often.


Vagification of the American Male continues unimpeded.

 

If were just talking wet condions the factory contis are not bad at all. If were talking freezing conditions they are crap and shouldn't be expected to be any better since there strictly summer. As for the brakes the brembos surface area is allot larger than average therefore they trap more water under the lad and the rotor much more easily. Pump your breaks a few times and it gets the water off quickly. And once your brakes have heated up they will be much more resposive. Same idea as haveing crazy wide tires and hydroplaning on even small amounts of water. Drilled or slotted rotors would help let the hot water go somewhere and help prevent it from staying on the rotor to begin with. Otherwise just take the time to heat up your brakes and you should be fine.

 

AHhahah yep ... Some of these people would **** themselves trying to stop an old muscle car in the cold and wet . My dad drove his 70 chevelle SS LS6 4/sp threw the winter of 1970 with a set of pizza cutter rears and some weight in the trunk . He would get a good laugh outta this thread . My first car was a 72 Nova SS . Disc in the front / drum in the rear.... talk about fun stopping in the rain hehe.

 

My first car vehicle was a '77 Chevy 1/2 ton. had manual steering, manual brakes, 3speed manul with column shift, bias ply tires. Guys complaining about "slippery brakes" on an SS/TC need to be smacked. My '65 malibu SS had 4 wheel manual drum brakes.....

A stock Cobalt LS is better in virtually every aspect of handling and braking than most of the badass muscle/pony cars from back in the day, kids are spoiled

 

one of the first cars I ever drove actually had 4 wheel drum brakes. Now that was terrifying!! Then in high school I helped a buddy put together a 454 chevelle using a 78 chevy truck 454 between the heads cam and such the car was lopy as hell idle wise. Well long story short massive cam = not enough vacuum for strong brakes. Yeah that might of been worse than the 4 wheel drum brake car! That thing couldnt out brake a nuclear aircraft carrier! It did get a some help on that issue down the road.

 

I think you may have the topper there lol. Manual brakes give you leg muscles hehe. We had a 69 chevy pickup that had 4 drums but power brakes hehe. My Nova has manual steering as well .... didn't think to mention it.

This was after i drove it a couple years and had just got it repainted. I wet sanded on that car for a week straight . I bet you will notice something else ..... it has no motor in it at this time. We had pulled the 350 when we sent it for paint .... the 427 and M-22 went into it a couple of days after this pic. This is a pic of a pic from 96 and i still have the car . It's been stored the last few years thou.

 

Rockcrusher.....Ill bet you never bitched once about shifting that either.....pansies and there 2.2s.......alright we gotta stop, I got outta iron rwd cars a few years back and now its making me wanna build my Malibu with a V8, and making think badly about all the Cobalt kids.

 

Hehe ... I guess thats the Whine that I love the most . That M22 has a sound all it's own .

Believe it or not....... my brother inlaw owns a body shop and 21 years ago a guy dropped of a 65 Malibu SS 327 w 4sp (numbers match) for a paint job . The guy lived out of town and was a friend of my fathers . No one has heard from the guy since lol. The car has been moved twice in the last 21 years . The brother in law has started to put it back together and will be a nice car for someone lol. We know the guy is alive ... but thats about it . I'm sure he doesn't want to pay storage for 21 year to get it back lol.

 

Ya, I know what it is like to stop an old muscle car. I have a 1967 Chevelle with a big block in my garage. This car had 4 wheel drums on it and stopping was bad, and i mean miles bad. The engine does not pull enough vacuum to stop the car correctly with power brakes. The engine is so strong that it will push the car through the brakes sometimes. This is at idle of 750 rpm.

At one point with this car, if we were caught in a rain storm we were in trouble. Sitting at lights we could feel the rear moving side to side due to the brakes not being strong enough and the torque the motor puts out. I now have 4 wheel discs on it with Wilwoods on the front.

The problem with my Cobalt was that when I hit the brakes when I first took off that the pedal went to the floor. When I took it to the dealer, they had trouble finding anything and they kept the car inside except when they drove it. They did open the bleeders and the pedal feels better now. When I first take off, it feels like cold brakes, that is what I expect and the pedal does not go to the floor. My truck was this way when I ran Hawk pads and Power Slot rotors on it.

Nice Nova, ever make it to any Super Chevy shows with it?

Bill

 

Glad to know I'm not alone in the problem! It's really scary when you've gotta brake fast and have no stopping power though! I know the performance brakes are crap in wet to begin with, but these stopping distances are really long and dangerous. I've gotten into the habbit of stepping on the brakes a few times every time I get in the car before even moving it, and it seems to help a little bit. And as you suggested, occasionnaly tapping the brakes on the highway. Has anyone had any luck getting GM to look at the back brake pads/rotors?

 

My rear brakes were replaced under warranty at 17,600km (11,000mi). The service manager saw them again last week and noticed they're getting bad again (25,500km/15,850mi), so he promised that when they go again he'll warranty them.

 

OP: Glad some bleeding got your pedal back to stock height


Okay, i think I am done here, people are STILL bitching about CObalt SS/TC brake performance in the wet, if you guys only knew what it was like to drive a car as quick as the TC but had truly had "normal" brakes, let alone actually "bad" brakes I think your head would explode. Learn to f*cking drive.

 

my breaks dont do that

 

No kidding. Just look at the Nismo 370Z... I'll bet its brakes don't squeak or have issues in the rain, but if you use it on the track, they'll fail at 130mph without warning (see: 2009 Lightning Lap)

 

Check your PMs...I have a feeling they're forgetting to do something when replacing the pads.

To the OP (and half this thread), like others have said, it's normal when it's wet. If you want to see what's NOT normal check the thread below; this was a result of my brakes binding since my sliders were bone dry:

Binding Rear Caliper: Rust Band on Rotor

 

Just got the newest issue of Car and Driver, lulz.

 

Once I saw the driver was ok I laughed. Kind of pathetic that such a track-oriented car would have an Achilles Heel like that.

...Still, not too funny considering the magazine. Car and Driver lost one of their writers in an accident with a Rennsport Mercedes back in the late 90s... I'm glad this crash didn't end as tragically.

 

I'm at 40 000kms now and this is the second time I'm having my brakes replaced. I'm in the dealership about once every 6 weeks getting the damn rotors turned until they can't turn them anymore and they finally replace them. But they never replaced the pads along with the rotors at the same time, so the problems persist. And the brakes slipping in the wet conditions is not Normal! Those of you blaming it on Brembo's need to read something! The new mustangs for instance have brembos but don't have this issue. I'm not sure if my car is different, but this is not a normal braking issue due to heat dissipation. It takes at least three car lengths for the brakes to start to slow the car down, making for some seriously close calls.

Has anyone had any luck with the slotted rotors from R1 concepts? I'm looking into just taking matters into my own hands but don't feel like dishing out 500 bucks if the rotors are just going to warp like the factory ones.

 

yeah, I have the slotted R1's I love em. The braking distance is still alittle stretched BUT I feel the water dissipates faster when braking in wet conditions. No scoring on these rotors and I've had them for over 20,000 miles.

 

I had a 70 Dodge Demon with manual steering and brakes. Drums all the way around. When I swapped the slant 6 for the 340 the extra weight on the front made it want to swap ends when braking in the snow. Nothing like going down the highway backwards at 60 MPH. A couple sandbags in the back didn't help it stop any faster but at least it went straight then.

 

Stock rotors for me. I run them lap after lap in the dry, and the poor things glow from the abuse, but they are smooth with no cracks. Last event, I also ran them lap after lap going 110-120 mph in the pouring rain, and they were just fine. Yes, you'll have a split second where they don't work as well, but just step on the pedal harder.

YouTube - Trackdaze, VIR Full, Nov 16, wet, wet, wet!