Re: V8 quattro tyres

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Fri, 11 Aug 1995, Bob D'Amato wrote:
> OK, maybe Im missing something now... How can you mount calipers to the 
> chassis while the suspension has travel? THe caliper MUST follow the 
> rotor for vertical movement. I didnt think the internal calipers were 
> chassis mounted. I dont see how they could be.

inboard mounted brakes are located before the driveshaft, beside the
differential.. so braking forces are transmitted by the driveshaft to
the wheel.  both the disc and caliper assembly are on the "body", part
of sprung weight.  alfas used to do this to great effect... the fwd
alfasud had inboard mounted front discs, while the rwd alfettas and
GTVs had inboard mounted rear discs...  the sadly departed citroen GS
also had this arrangement.

changing pads or discs would be a bitch though... the alfasud with its
flat four engine was also difficult to work on.. you had to lower the
entire engine to change spark plugs... but ooh such a sophisticated
design.  low unsprung front, low center of gravity.. no wonder the
'sud had class leading dynamics in its day.  more uncompromising
than many cars today.

internal caliper brakes are certainly unsprung, with the entire
assembly around the wheel hub area.  that giant tortilla shell housing
the disc weighs a ton!  i have tried lifting a discarded one before.


eliot