Watch that initial gear engagement...

Although a sound braking system that is within spec will actually stop extremely well fore and aft, a large number of cars out there aren't exactly up to par in the braking department. The reasons for poor braking performance can be varied or multiple, one of the most common is improperly adjusted brake shoes compounded by out of spec brake drums. Also, this particular braking system uses a transmission mounted servo assist system which is quite often wet from a leaky transmission seal or plain and simply worn out. Since the point for this little write up is merely as a cautionary note, we will not dip into an in-depth braking system analysis.
If you think your braking system is less than perfect, this is for you. You jump in your car and after going through the starting/warm up ritual you are ready to blaze about town in all of the 5,000 lb worth of magnificent rolling artwork, the only problem is you forgot you're no longer in your daly driver. Reverse clicks into place while you normally hold the brake pedal... and the car lunges back about 3 feet before it recognizes the fact that the brakes are on! OOPS, was that the neighbor’s cat or the mother-in-law?
The point of course is many of these cars have "lazy" brakes for some of the reasons already mentioned. If you own one of these ever-appreciating models, have the brakes checked out and brought to spec, you will enjoy the car even more... or you could potentially spend that money on hopefully just some body and paint repair!

Tires...
 
All tires are manufactured to standardized sizes; let's say for example your model takes a 235-75-15 tire, with the first digit being the tire width, the second sidewall height and the third the wheel diameter. You would certainly not attempt to install a 14" or 16" tire on a 15" wheel because it just wouldn't fit! Going back to the so called "standard sizes", this statement isn't exactly 100% true. On a whole you can install a Dunlop tire in place of a Good-Year tire and it will fit so long as the numbers all match however, aside of the diameter, manufacturer specs may differ in width and height up or down. It is perfectly acceptable to switch to a preferred brand of tire so long as you are replacing all of the tires at once and are the correctly rated tires. Now let's address the single most important part of tire selection which many people are unaware of or just chose to ignore... LOAD RATINGS! The car you are driving is quite heavy as I'm sure you have learned to appreciate. Installing inadequate load-rating tires on your car is a recipe for a potential major accident. Ever seen what can happen during a tire explosion at, let's say 60 mph? We have, and you probably have too when you rubberneck at an accident scene on the highway!
The bottom line: of all things to skimp on, why the tires? Make sure your car is equipped with the proper tire and adequate load rating. The selection is limited and they do cost more money but it's the only thing keeping your car firmly planted on the road.