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inboard rear brakes?


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has anyone thought about mounting the brakes just off the diff to reduce unsprung weight?

 

I'm by no means ready to attempt something like that on my own project, but it does seem like a good topic to delve into.

 

what would it take to make it work?

would it really benifit performance?

 

I've only seen it done on cobras and some truely bad ass old vettes.

 

what are your thoughts?

 

chris

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would it really benifit performance?

 

I've only seen it done on cobras and some truely bad ass old vettes.

 

what are your thoughts?

 

A friend did this to a 510 racer years ago. It made virtually no difference to the car and he eventually went back to normal brakes. The only real advantage was people got all hot and bothered about it and it made it into the Japanese magazine Hero or something like that.

 

Only downside is if you lose a half shaft you've lost a brake.

 

Cary

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There's a big disadvantage of using inboard brakes in racing applications - heat. More literally, it's cooking the rear discs and decreasing fade resistance as a result of lots of heat being generated by the differential. Jaguar once did it in Lightweight E-types, and most of the teams that ran these cars had to make air scoops over the trunk lid, to duct the air around the diff and the brakes. It still didn't make enough difference for anyone o notice... Besides the frequent brake failures of course. IIRC, Cobras had Girling brakes mounted inboard that came with the Salisbury differentials from the E-type. They might have been good enough for 289-powered street Cobras, but in racing applications (either 289 or the thumpin' 427 "side oiler") they were rather inadequate.

 

It does have an advantage though: mounting the discs inboad opens up lots of wheel possibilities, and you're limited only by the available space.

 

It's a great solution for drag cars, but I wouldn't do it in a road racing car. Quite a lot of problems for only a few advantages...

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If you were to use Arizona Z Car's upcoming aluminum hub carriers in conjunction with inboard rear brakes, the rear of your car could conceivably have incredibly low amounts of unsprung weight (depending on tire and wheel weight). This might make a tangible improvement in cornering speeds, depending on how bumpy the driving surface is.

 

Another old car that used inboard rear brakes was the Alfa Romeo GTV-6 from the late 70s/early 80s. Correct me if I'm wrong on that point.

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