Big brakes/small brakes and fade

[Mick Ralph]

it seems to me that brakes are probably the most common modification on a 1600, other than installing an L20B... Those who follow the list closely will have seen terry's comments about outbraking soobies and stuff and also my comments about his challenge.. well i don't want to be the one that misleads any of u younger datto drivers about this very important area so here we go... Fact: A car will only decelerate as long as the tyres hold the road.. if the cars are identical they should slow down at the same rate.. Standard brakes are perfectly alright for standard cars and standard drivers i have no doubt that the std brakes will perform as well as all these big brakes - for the first time - after that the fade gets progressively worse and after 2 or 3 hard stops the std brakes fade to nothing.. enter 2 piston calipers..   this is where it gets tricky.. this upgrade will resist fade for longer than std brakes because of bigger disc size and more clamping pressure from the twin pistons The major advantage of discs on the rear is that disc brakes generally get rid of the heat more efficiently than drums - so u would naturally expect less fade.. The advantage of vented discs is that they dissipate heat more efficiently than solid discs, therefore less fade. For a car used solely as a road car this set up (ie r31/240k) is probably close to perfect.. If u go racing u will be looking for 4 spots and vented discs because u have to keep outbraking the soobie ALL day - not just the first time. i need the bigger brakes because i do go racing a bit and also i tow a motor boat regularly. I had a race from the top of Cunningham's gap in sth qld all the way to the bottom (its an amazing twisty downhill road that seems to go on for ever)   - against a 450 mercedes sports ( i was towing the boat at the time) He ran out of brakes about halfway but mine kept pulling up perfectly at every corner.. i love doing that to guys who spend so much money on 'image' cars!!! cheers mick PS  don't forget that bigger brakes and discs increase your unsprung weight and will definitely adversely affect your handling but thats another story..... --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] No unauthorised redistribution of this email http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html http://www.mail-archive.com/membersozdat@datascribe.com.au/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------