Alright, i've been fighting this issue for well over a year now on the Escort.
Simply put, the pedal feels awful. There's a lot of free travel up top, and it never really feels that firm. (Compared to my other cars.) The MX6 is rock hard at all times (oh baby), and the Celica isn't as hard as the MX6, but has a great progressive feel to it. Hell, even the Jeep feels better.
The car DOES stop fine, though. It's got new pads and rotors all around, and two new calipers. I've bled the system until i'm blue in the face, and i've flushed the entire system as well.
My only complaint is with the feel. I've asked about this various times at ClubProtege and FEOA.net, and the accepted answer is that "That's normal."
I don't care if it's normal or not, i hate it, and i want to "fix" it.
To add insult to injury, the MX3 i have with all OEM junk has a GREAT pedal feel, rock hard, and i'd be surprised if it DIDN'T stop faster than the Escort with it's aftermarket stuff. (close to same chassis)
The only things i haven't replaced on the escort are the remaining two calipers, the master cylinder, and the rubber lines.
Would the rubber lines really make that much of a difference? The car is rapidly approaching 300k miles, if that makes a difference. I'm less concerned about the free travel at the beginning of the pedal than i am with the fact that it feels like i'm sticking my foot in a bucket of mud.
Ideas? I will be swapping these pads out for something with more initial "bite," but that shouldn't affect pedal feel much.