General question: Why are bigger brakes better?

Originally Posted by axeman71

Wow, big discussion for one evening. I don't understand the sarcasm in the first 3 or 4 posts, I was asking a serious question. Just saying "duh, bigger brakes are better" doesn't tell me why which is what I was asking. The misspelling was just me not paying attention (I am a bad speller though). I maybe didn't ask the question in a clear enough way.

Taking our Z's as an example: I expect the larger sport brakes to stop the car from 60mph to 0mph in a shorter distance than the standard brakes (btw, I have not yet read any reviews testing the standard brakes, they all test sport packages). I know from experience that the standard brakes produce enough friction on the rotor to completely stop the tire from rotating making the tire skid over the pavement (or, well the ABS come on but you know what I mean). So, why do the larger sport brakes stop the car in a shorter distance? Yes, the sport brakes have a larger surface area in contact with the rotor and produce more friction but there is already enough friction with the standard brakes to lock up the wheels. The only answer I can gather (both from this discussion and my own imagination) is the larger brakes allow greater control over the stopping force allowing the driver to push the brakes closer to the point of locking up the wheel without crossing over the point where the tire starts to skid.