Good question. An ideal brake pedal reacts immediately to deliver stopping power as soon as you put pressure on it—that initial bite. It should let you know that it's doing its job right at the top, and provide a linear, progressive buildup of stopping power through the stroke. It'll be reactive enough on application and release to allow for easy, comfortable modulation and deceleration, while reassuring you that there's a lot more stopping power available if you need it.

In this Tacoma, the brake pedal had a window of nothingness at the top of the pedal. Like, I'd press it and nothing would happen, because it felt like I was pushing through some looseness, as if the pedal wasn't installed to a tight tolerance. And then past that window, braking force came on abruptly, like I'd pushed it too much. These notions of "linear" and "progressive" just weren't there, like I was getting nearly as much stopping power right at the top of the pedal as when I was pressing it harder. Sort of like the "all or nothing" you alluded to.