Gonzo71

Thanks F1fan, I'll take a look at the items you mentioned.

androdz

Erm you are forgetting about an important part yes the total energy required to stop it is smaller but the energy the brake pad will be required to put on the rotor itself will be less since it will be able to apply more braking torque. Hence the wrench example. Yes the pressure on the nut required to remove it will be 150lbs but for example with a 6 inch wrench you might have to push with 125 pounds on ur hands since the wrench itself is increasing the power being delivered. With a 3 feet long wrench your arm would probably need around 40 pounds to loosen that nut. Your applying 150 lbs to the nut itself but to the wrench with your hand you are applying much less. Same principle would be applied with a bigger brake rotor. If not then why are they longer wrenches if with a 4 inch one you could apply the same force?? Somewhat like a lever which is used multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object. Remember when you are talking about results in the brake department you usually talk about braking torque and the formula that I found is this: Braking torque in pounds-feet on a single wheel is the effective disc radius in inches times clamping force times the coefficient of friction of the pad against the disc all divided by 12. Thus the Rotor Diameter or effective radius of the rotor: Larger diameter rotors have longer torque arms and can generate more brake power with the same amount of clamp force than a smaller diameter rotor.

Andrew

exx1976

I agree about the SLA deal, but holy crap!!! They START at $6600 from Griggs! Surely there's got to be a less expensive alternative.. Kind of like the Watts link thread.. Lakewood and Fays2 both make decent watts links, and they do the job, but they aren't as good (read: EXPENSIVE) as the Griggs..

ChiDiddy

think about it...."race teams", synthetic or not, they change their fluids far more often than a street car would. It is very HARD to bring synthetic brake fluid to a boil. u'll boil stock brake fluid (at wet boiling point) compared to a synthetic.

Heck, lots of racers use stock Ford Heavy Duty Dot3 b/c its very high dry boiling point, but it absorbs moisture very fast and has very low wet boiling point compared to your synthetics. They dont care bc they change it quite often. For street purposes, you're looking at wet boiling points.

07BOSSGT_S197

I found with a set of powerslot 13"rotors(F & R) withHawk ceramic pads that the stopping power is a huge difference from stock. I think that once I break the 500HP barrier I'll go to a "big" brake set up w/steel braided lines.

androdz

I am with you, the statement that a big brake kit wont stop any better or is not any more efficient at breaking is absurd in my opinion. The best example is the wrench like I said which is exactly the same thing.

Andrew

ChiDiddy

it got better b/c of his pads, not the rotors.

after this whole thread, u still find it absurd? even with all the technical data and links u can find on the net....

androdz

A bigger rotor will give you better braking torque which is what really helps. Just think about it

Andrew

zero2sixd

In this example, note that you would also need to apply your 40 lbs over a greater distance (due to your 3 ft. wrench), so ultimately you are doing the same amount of work. I do agree that a larger rotor could supply more braking force (all other things being equal). However, I think the point was that you can lock up the brakes and activate the ABS with the stock S197 brakes, so why would you need bigger brakes? Heat dissipation. If you accept the fact that braking is simply converting kinetic energy into heat, the real question is: are your current brakes doing an acceptable job of heat dissipation. The answer to this obviously depends on how you use the brakes. I don't think anybody is arguing the point that larger rotors have better heat dissipation due to their increased mass. The question is: do you need it?

At least one person here has suggested that the stock rotors and calipers (upgraded pads and fluid) with the addition of brake ducts would outperform a big brake kit without ducting. This makes sense to me, as properly designed ducting ought to greatly enhance the flow of air radially through the rotor, and therefore quickly dissipate heat. I should think the only place where you would need this would be on a road course though.

All that said, I do like the curb appeal of large rotors with mult-piston fixed calipers that look like they could stop a steam train.