I've been used to driving a 1995 306, recently I got a 2001 306 and my missus got a brand new astra on the trade in deal.

The new 306 isnt so bad but I find braking in the astra a nightmare. Its okay when im fresh but I was driving back from footy last night (I was mentally very awake but legs were tired) I just could not seem to brake gently I was jerking the brakes on/off on/off.

The problem is partly the bakes seem to be very sensitive in comparison to my old car. (here i had to push down reasonably hard to get maximum braking)

But I think the main problem is I have to literally pick my leg up off the accelerator to put in on the brake as the brake is higher than the accelerator.

This means I cant get my heel on the floor so my leg in hanging in the air. When I'm tired (ie after football) I dont have the control to move my whole leg to gently brake and I tend to let it drop ending in sudden braking.

Id prefer it if I just moved my foot to brake and control it through my calf/ankle like you do in a go kart. But the brake pedal is just to high. Its like the pedal is designed to be used with ridiculously high heel or massive feet.(I have size 9 bit small but pretty standard I'd have thought.)

Can the pedal height be adjusted in any way ?

ever tried left foot braking?
thats pretty funny the first time if your not prepared for it.

if not, and your going to, pick a quiet road with no one behind you :s

No but I did try an automatic and pressed the brake instead of the non existent clutch on first roundabout I encountered, luckily no one was behind me !

Had that on a rental car. Ford Fiesta I think. Brake pedal was so much higher than accelerator pedal that I kept catching my shoe sole on it. Lethal IMHO, and good job I didn't need to do an emergency stop at any time.
Oh and the Clutch Pedal felt like it wasn't attached to anything too. Miles of travel and no feel for the biting point. Presumably designed for 4-stone ladies and great grandma?

Pretty much exactly what I think but is there anything I can do ?

youll get used to it pretty quick i think.

be a bit careful and give it a week or 2?

the thing with modern car brakes is they put a massive servo on them, you'll find the first couple of MM of pedal travel does nothing then the servo kicks in. It's just a case of massive servo gives you that on off feeling, it does take a while to adjust

On older cars smaller servos were used, mostly to save space in the engine bay.

Many modern cars have horribly over-assisted brakes. I hate them. I nearly headbutted the front bumper of a hire Corsa I got when my car was written off. I take ages to get used to them and even then dislike it. Not much you can do unless your brake pedal is adjustable, which it *probably* isnt.

Many modern cars have horribly over-assisted brakes. I hate them

Personally, I love them. Ever driven a Citroen BX? Breath near the pedal and it stops instantly. 🙂
All modern cars I've driven have a lot more moduation, but a lot more power than older cars. It's just progress.

To the OP – Not trying to be funny, but it's down to you, and your skill basically. It's just a different car to get used to. We had a diesel Vectra for a long time that had a heavy clutch. It took me ages to be able to drive out new petrol Focus, because the clutch is sooooo much lighter and needs a lighter touch. It's all fine now, no kangeroo gearchanges!
Try experimenting with your driving position too – Most cars have forewards, backwards, up and down on the seat these days, and a rake/reach adjust on the steering wheel. You might be a bit too close to the pedals
😀

PP – I dont find modern ones have more modulation, they tend to have a big dull bite of power and then gobs more and it's very hard to modulate it. I much prefer my older car that seems to be more progressive in its power application, you can slightly scrub speed with the first half inch of pedal travel, but will still happily slide all 4 wheels if instructed.

ABS is to blame surely? No need for modulation in the same way as before as its impossible to lock the wheels.

Peter I can see what you mean, for instance on my bike I like the brake point to almost be instant and I dont like the lever to move that much between off and fully on.

But that because Im using my fingers/hands ! and they are very precise and sensitive in comparison to my feet. Im not a monkey, well not completely.

The system would be ok if I was just moving my ankle but I having to move my whole leg. Where do you have you heel in the Citroen BX is it on the floor ?

BX? Lord knows, that was about 1990 when I drove one of those! 😀

You'll get used to it. I doubt an Astra has anything wierd going off with the controls! 🙂

No servo assistance at all in early Elises. They need plenty force to press the pedal down but it's SOOOO easy to modulate the brakes nicely.

Agreed that modern cars are over-servoed. Our A3 is horrible.