Interesting Brake Article

[SHO-Z]

This is and interesting read for all of you who are thinking about doing a brake upgrade. I do not know if I agree on all of his points, but it is interesting.

 

http://www.superchargeronline.com/content.asp?ID=98

[blueovalz]

Good article in that it makes one think. These issues of rotational mass verses the need for additional cooling was the issue I raised in a very recent thread about brakes. This is the primary reason I have backed off going to the Cobra 13" package in that I feel I've reached that balance (if not crossed over) of having plenty of mass to absorb heat, but not too large as to make the unsprung and rotational mass excessive. After all, the brakes currently on my car were well designed for a car that was 30% heavier than my Z. Reference the holes? I've seen a lot of racing with non-drilled and non-slotted rotors on real race cars (in fact, rarely would I ever see drilled rotors, but this was years ago), and this would seem to be the group of users that would have pushed this issue (if it really were an issue) of outgassing through holes. If I'm not mistaken, proper pad break-in will reduce this problem in the first place, wouldn't it?

[JMortensen]

Drilling still seems like a good idea to me, since you can use a larger diameter rotor and get more braking torque, then lighten the rotating weight by drilling. Porsche and Ferrari still use it, that has to say something. Cracking between the holes happens, but the rotors don't need to be replaced until the cracks get from one hole to the next. On the Porsche 911 race car I used to work on we never replaced the rotors in the couple years I worked on it, and the rotors were starting to crack when I got that job. That car was doing 165 to 170 from what I recall in the straights, so it used the brakes a lot.

 

The main issue for me with brakes is not having to screw with them so often. As has been said so many times here, stock brakes work on ITS cars that post very fast road race times, but they require ducting and adjusting and frequent rotor and pad replacement. Not wanting all that hassle, I went with bigger brakes just to avoid having to bleed them between sessions and replace rotors every other weekend.

 

When it comes to brakes, too big will slow you down but too small won't.