2011-12 Braking Issues

Looking for some info from 2 LEAF households. Wanting your opinion on brake pedal action from the 2011-12's and later versions. B mode Cars would be awesome!



http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2016/11/is-leaf-braking-breaking-or-is-it-regen.html

soooo, no one willing to volunteer anything?

Can you be more specific?

List questions. I'm willing to answer.

I know that sometimes, typically leaving the freeway under many seconds of slowing from freeway speeds to a stop, when the car goes over bumps the regen stops and the friction brakes jump into action but for that spilt second you feel like you don't have any brakes.

The brakes feel very different at times and i assume it is down to a mix of regen being nothing and friction being all to high regen and less friction.

Is that the kind of feedback you are looking for?

DaveinOlyWA said:

soooo, no one willing to volunteer anything?

Click to expand...

As Duncan said, we need to know more what you mean by "break issues"....
I own a '12SL(which lacks B but ECO does add a bit of regen) and '13S(which lacks B mode but ECO mode does greatly add to regen).
I really like the regen on my '13, not so much on my '12 but note the lack of regen on the '12 may be due to it's missing 2 bars, the '13 has all bars. I bought the '12 used missing the bars so I don't know if it were much better new, but I'd have to believe so.

well the blog in the OP discusses various braking issues on the 2011-12 namely the sudden full braking force applied with no warning. This normally happens at low speeds commonly in stop and go traffic. There was a fix issued and some found it fixed it, others said the fix did not last and some said the fix did not change a thing.

If there is an issue reading the blog, I can post the entire text here but no one has ever had a problem before (which doesn't mean an issue exists now)

I've experienced no braking issues in the almost 5 years I've owned my 2012SL. I use both normal drive and ECO about equally, and have no issues braking with either one. ECO on the 2012 provides more regen so braking is unchanged from the pedal view, but the car slows faster.

Not sure this answers your question.

SalisburySam said:

I've experienced no braking issues in the almost 5 years I've owned my 2012SL. I use both normal drive and ECO about equally, and have no issues braking with either one. ECO on the 2012 provides more regen so braking is unchanged from the pedal view, but the car slows faster.

Not sure this answers your question.

Click to expand...

did you do the brake recall?

DaveinOlyWA said:

did you do the brake recall?

Click to expand...

Not to my knowledge. Only service I remember was the software change for supposedly more accurate GOM readings. According to my service records (personal copies of repair orders and online at dealership service department), I've applied everything I was supposed to and there's no mention of a change to anything affecting my brakes. Could have been done as a part of something else I guess.

"B Mode cars would be awesome!" is a little unclear. You mean you want info from drivers of Leafs with B mode available? B mode is great for stop and go driving and roads with lots of roundabouts. It doesn't seem to affect the hydraulic brakes at all. I have never experienced the emergency automatic braking, just the brief loss of perceived braking power on rough patches of road, especially if wet or icy.

My '12 according to the CarFax hasn't had any "break recall" performed and in the almost year I've owned it I've never experienced any such break issues, same with my '13S. Note I basically drive in ECO 100% of the time on both cars, the only "issue" I have and it's with both as well as our Prius is the feeling the breaks are giving out if breaking somewhat hard and going over a bump. This is most seen when getting off a freeway off ramp and gives me a lump in my throat everytime it happens, I believe it must have to do with regen breaking, that or ABS but I'm thinking regen as the Prius and of course Leaf has regen and I never experienced it on a older Scion Xb that had ABS but no regen.

LeftieBiker said:

"B Mode cars would be awesome!" is a little unclear. You mean you want info from drivers of Leafs with B mode available? B mode is great for stop and go driving and roads with lots of roundabouts. It doesn't seem to affect the hydraulic brakes at all. I have never experienced the emergency automatic braking, just the brief loss of perceived braking power on rough patches of road, especially if wet or icy.

Click to expand...

no B eco was my attempt to explain why I really don't know how my current LEAF Brakes work. to understand what I am looking for you have to have had experience with the 2011's before the brake fix. this was when you had almost total control over regen. you could max regen (lighting up all the circles) without engaging any friction braking at all. after the fix, even the lightest touch on the brakes engaged friction braking a little