In this paper, an adaptive algorithm is developed which senses the road condition change and estimates a (time-varying) optimal braking slip ratio. This is conducted by two on-line simultaneously operating tire-road friction-curve slope calculators: one based on the accelerometer output and the other based on the wheel speed. The required vehicle speed is estimated using a robust sliding-mode observer. Enforcement of the online optimal braking reference is left to an adaptive sliding mode controller to cope with the system strong nonlinearity, time dependency and the speed and friction-coefficient estimation errors. The algorithm is applied to a half model car and the braking performance is examined. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm substantially reduces the stopping time and distance. The performance of the algorithm is verified using different vehicle initial speeds and especially non-uniform road condition where 8% improvement versus the nonadaptive optimal slip ratio algorithm is recorded. ARTICLE HISTORY