[ZTWsquared]

imack,Jun 12 2009, 07:08 PM Wrote:If your Focus has ABS, it also has EBFD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution).  This limits the amount of brake force that goes to the rear wheels, so that under normal conditions they will not "out brake" the fronts.

Having said this, it's never a good idea to set yourself up for failure.  If you go with the SVT rear conversion kit, you should really upgrade the fronts as well.

Ivan MacKenzie.
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I think the consensus is this ... with drums at thre rear the front brakes do a disproportionate amount of the braking - even more than would normally be expected from a front engine vehicle.

The test for this is to apply full braking, and if the fronts skid first, or go into ABS mode first, then the fronts are bearing the brunt of the braking.

Ideally for maximum braking effect you want all four tires to reach the limit of their adhesion at the exact same time ... in the real world however, without ABS this would present a real challenge to the driver with the possibility of locking up the rears first and the resultant lack of control ... with ABS the whole thing is managed for you, and as Ivan says - EBFD will also manage the force.

So bottom line ... to answer your question ... if you have ABS then don't worry about it - you will be able to take advantage of greater overall braking power without worrying too much about which end goes into ABS mode first.