Originally posted by Sundance Kid
Wrong
Like Eyedot and Will also said -
An ABS car will stop shorter; we've had this debate many a time on here.
^ That post doesn't make any sense
It's obvious an F1 car will stop "a lot faster than the average road car"
The distance is still 100 Metres regardless how many seconds pass
But it does matter on the road. It affects your closing speed for a start.
Say someone pulls out at a junction 50 metres ahead of you, and you have to slam on the brakes. The car with better braking will stop sooner (and probably in less distance) than the other car. Because of the time factor, the other car actually has more time to pull away out of the danger zone, the time factor is reduced. (assuming the same speed). Your assumption that all stopping distances are the same is what has caused confustion.
It's simple newtonian physics. That's why distance and time have separate values. There's also the fact that reaction time is pretty constant, so the only place to make savings is with cars that stop faster (or in a shorter distance, or a combination of both). The decelaration of some cars under braking is much higher than others.
By bringing F1 cars into the equation, you have confused the issue. Look at road cars, and tell me that they all stop in the same distance and time, they blatantly don't. Some will stop in similar distances but in shorter time, others in shorter distances, and so on and so on.
If this wasn't the case, we'd all still be on wire operated drum brakes.