[s-cars] The front brake upgrade grinds forward

[Theodore Chen]

--- Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the explanation of floating rotors, Teddy.

just a little more: much of the clunking comes from side to
side motion of the rotors.  belleville washers may be used to
try to constrain this side to side motion, but they don't seem
to last very long (the heat kills them).

floating rotors are more valuable on autobahn-bound cars.  in that
case, you're taking about heavy, powerful sedans imposing large
thermal shocks on the rotors by braking from 150 to 60 mph on
cold rotors.  that's a recipe for causing the rotor to cone or
warp.  race cars usually don't have this problem, because the
rotors get brought up to temperature gradually during warmup 
and are hot for the rest of the race.  they also usually weigh quite
a bit less than an audi S8 or mercedes S55.

> Any insight into the differences in vaning?

none, really.  it's the manufacturer playing around with whatever
design seems to circulate air through the rotors well.  i wonder if
they are also designed for different rotating speeds, so a vane
configuration that works well at high rotational speeds might not work
so well at lower rotational speeds.

> I'm not building a Spec Miata, so the brake ducting would be strictly for
> trackdays, removed if necessary for rules compliance in Solo2.

dryer duct is cheap, and if you can do it, your brakes will last longer.
i think it's probably not going to be terribly useful on the street, but 
it will certainly help on the track.

> As for my particular brake fade issue, I think it was a combination of using
> Hawk HPS pads, Ate Super Blue and too much braking on my part.

actually, i ran hawk HPS pads on my spec miata, along with motul 600 fluid,
and didn't have any brake fade issues.  you really don't want to brake
a lot with those little underpowered cars.  momentum is a precious thing
with those cars.

-teddy


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