A pedal that goes hard with little braking is a safety fault. If it happens on the road, get the car checked before you drive it on. The cases below are what owners found, not a fix you can rely on. For the other pedal faults and the servo test see Brake pedal problems: hard, dead, weak when cold or slow to return.
A Turbo owner on an airfield and at Rockingham found that heavy braking over a short distance, from about 80 mph to a roundabout speed, changed the pedal feel just when he needed the brakes most. The pedal felt pressurised, as if it could go further without more braking. Many other owners described the same thing on track and occasionally on the road: the pedal goes rock hard like losing servo assist, then goes soft and drops away, with no chatter from the ABS.
- Owners blame the ABS. Several said that the problem disappears when the ABS is disconnected. One said the two-channel ABS cannot cope with trail braking, where the load on each wheel differs. They said it gets worse with sticky tyres and the 16/17 inch wheel combination (more grip), and on bumpy surfaces, and one added stiff Nitron dampers. Another said braking downhill into a corner brought it on every time.
- "Ice mode" as one owner described it: brake hard enough and the ABS works in a normal mode. Push a bit harder and the car thinks you are on ice, and braking falls by about half. He said the way out, which he was shown on a driver training day, is to ease the pressure slightly while staying in the ABS zone, and full braking comes back. Another owner who tried it said you do not need to lift right off. That is one owner's description, not a specification, and it is hard to do when it takes you by surprise.
- Remedies owners gave: live with it and expect it; disable the ABS; or fit the four-channel ABS unit from the Elise 111R or Exige. See ABS unit swap for part numbers and what owners reported.
- Disabling the ABS can be done with a switch (see ABS cut-off switch), a spade connector in the wire that you pull apart for track days, or by unplugging a wheel sensor. Pulling the ABS fuse also loses the speedometer and rev counter. The ABS light comes on in each case.
- Insurance. One owner phoned an insurer, who said a switch is a modification and wanted an admin charge of about £27. He made a permanent join in the wire, left the ABS on, and said he was happy with it once he understood how it behaves, especially in the wet. Another thought an ABS switch could give an insurer an excuse not to pay. That is opinion.
- Single wheel locking over bumps. One owner with a standard 2001 NA said that sometimes the ABS caught one front wheel over a bumpy surface while the other three freewheeled, so he lost steering until he lifted off. It was intermittent and could not be repeated at two garages. Another owner with Nitrons and the standard ABS had the same and said the only cure was turning the ABS off. The first owner cracked his front clam running onto a grass verge.