Did you know you can’t just fit an adjustable proportioning valve to the brake system of your Honda?
Do you know what a proportioning valve is and why an adjustable one might be useful?
Here are a couple of graphics to explain.
As standard, our cars have what’s called a diagonally split brake circuit, this means that one front wheel and the diagonally opposite rear wheel are linked by the brake lines. This is done so in the event of a failure, the car still has a front and rear brake (the other circuit). The downside, however, is that we can’t adjust the brake pressure to just the rear wheels, say to address a rear lock-up issue, without affecting the front brakes as well. The common set up for a car used predominantly for motorsport is to remake the brake lines as shown in the second graphic, that is with the front brakes on one circuit and the rears on another.
This then alows an adjustable proportioning valve to be used to limit the pressure to the rear circuit as required, allowing a team to eliminate an issue where the rear brakes lock up before the fronts.