Searching yielded very little brake theory for me, so lets see what I can dig out of you guys. Alright, so brakes. There's only about 5 things that we can change, which is the rotors, pads, calipers, brake lines, and fluid. So here's a buncha questions for you all.

If OEM braking systems have enough power to lock the brakes, why all these upgrades (other than fade and boiling issues)? This is assuming that you have decent tires to allow the brakes to do their work.

Pads. With higher coefficients of friction, it'll require less clamping pressure to stop the car, right? And better pads will have higher fade resistence, etc. And operating temperature comes into play, but I think I got that all straightened out in my head.

As far as I understand, the only purpose of larger rotors is to provide more mass for heat dissipation. We can get into the cross-drilled/slotted debate, but I think we've mostly all agreed that they're mostly ineffective for amateur racing where rotors can't be replaced on a daily basis. Is there anything else I'm missing as for the benefits of larger rotors?

What's the advantage of these newfangled calipers (usually when upgrading, you upgrade to multi-piston calipers)? Is it mainly to make sure the pad size fits the rotor size? Is it to ensure that the pad and rotor contact on a flat surface, thus allowing the most friction possible? Is our OEM single piston systems THAT bad when it comes to equally distributed force? Also, I see stuff advertised with "increased clamping pressure". Is this really necessary? I assume it'll reduce pedal travel before lockup, but is really beneficial?

I think that's all I have for now. Thanks.

 

theres a link to braking systems in the FAQ. Also try stoptech's website.

multi-piston calipers generally afford better modulation and pedal feel.

 

You seem to have a pretty good grasp of the situation. The key is modulation and the ability to achieve threshold braking.

Let me direct you to "The Great Brake Debate of 2002": http://www.altimas.net/forum/showthr...7&pagenumber=1

Lots of very excellent info and theory in there if you can wade throught the B.S.

Matt

 

"The Great Brake Debate of 2002"...lol

More like "Brake FlameFest 2002".... ah, those were the good 'ole days! Don your fireproof flamesuit and you can find some good info though.

I think Drew has mellowed out a little since then though....


[Modified by Vracer111, 6:11 PM 12/11/2002]

 

hehe, now THAT was the funniest thread ever...

 

lol, 450 posts in 6 days. that attracted a lot of attention. thanks for the links...i got a lot of reading ahead of me...

 

shortly thereafter on the loudspeaker in the paddock of CMP:

"this weekend brought to you by altimas.net, and remember friends dont let friends use cross drilled rotors!"

Thanks david...

 

having not read that ridiculous thread, couple things id like to mention.

yes, there is a difference between a racing 4 piston caliper and stock 1 piston calipers. brakes are a hydraulic system. ideally, if you push 40psi at the master cylinder, you get 40 psi at the caliper. but of course, you can vary the area of the caliper to get a different amount of force applied to the brake piston. obviously, the difference between one big piston and 2 smaller pistons is noticable. the advantage of the 2 smaller pistons is that it covers more area, and can be spread further across the pad, which means a more even clamping force across the pad, better clamping for the same amount of psi.

other benefit of a properly designed racing caliper is that the jaws will flex less than oem calipers. this is important just like the difference between reinforced and rubber brake lines. the flex of the rubber lines steals some of the force that is meant for the pistons, same as a flexing caliper. this is evident when you see that one pad on one side of the caliper is not as worn down as the other side on a oem caliper setup with only one piston. so having pistons on both sides of the caliper means equal force on both sides of the rotor.

another thing to consider is across the pad, there wont be equal heat range. meanting the trailing edge of the pad will be hotter than the leading edge as the rotor has had a chance to cool. staggering the piston size of the front and rear piston staggers the amount of force applied to the trailing and leading side of the pad. this leads to a more consistent pad wear and heat across the pad.

all this equates to improved brake "feel", not just ultimate braking power. but like many ppl stress, ultimately its not the brakes that stop the car, its the tires. then again, when you are using really sticky tires, you can use really powerful brakes as well. but whats also important, again going back to the "feel" is how QUICKLY can the brakes reach the ultimate braking power. those split seconds matter. and then being able to balance and manipulate the braking force is necessary a performance criteria.

so all this does in fact matter. most of it doesnt matter on the street and even for what we do in sedan racing. but it all helps and its not hard to find a racer who wants that extra edge and will pay for it.


[Modified by Tyson, 4:47 PM 12/11/2002]

 

N/P I was just getting warmed up this year I plan on being a little more outrageous next year on the mic ... this is your warning

 

Great, David's giving us a hyper-warning about his hyper-outrageous hyper-mic next hyper-season

 

:fizzle:

 

Larger rotors also give the pads a larger lever arm to act through, thus more braking power.

 

Wow, I never saw a group of ricers that big. Altima.net ... that's a good one . I got tired after page 10 ... did that Salesman-slash-Moderator finally wise up?

~Nam

 

No. Which makes him look even more like an idiot for refusing to learn anything.

 

You Practiaclly to the Hyper-Words right outta my hyper mouth

 

<FONT COLOR="red">:hyper-fizzle:</FONT>

 

I woke my roomate up laughing at this one!