| If all conditions were always equal and optimal with the exception of traction, then you are correct - braking potential will be limited to the tire. However, you are only looking at it as a timeslice rather than in a real-world situation. Here's a good example of what I mean: Car #1: Stock brakes. Take her to 120MPH and stand on the brakes. At around 50MPH, you will begin experiencing sever brake fade - to the point that you cannot push hard enough on the brake pedal to overcome the fade, and your stopping distance is no longer based on your tires' traction. Car #2: Upgraded Brakes. Take her to 120MPH and stand on the brakes. The ABS system will buzz and chatter all the way to the point that the car actually stops moving, which will likely draw a difference of at least 40 feet shorter compared to the stock brake vehicle. Now in this comparison it was from 120MPH, which is excessive speed and could land you in jail.. Most people dont go this fast. So if you would like, take it to the mountains where you are driving the car no faster than ~60MPH but it is all braking, turning, and accellerating. Eventually the guy with stock brakes is going to overshoot a turn while trying to keep up with the guy that has upgraded brakes and he will not have a good day.
Theory only gets you close. Testing in actual conditions tells all.

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