Re: Al rotors - From the Prowler's mouth

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

On Mon, 19 Feb 1996, Graydon D. Stuckey wrote:

>She also said that most of 
> the advantage of the Prowler over the Viper is its weight advantage.  The 
> Aluminum rotors effect braking very little.

this makes a lot of intuitive sense.  since brakes are 100% unsprung weight,
using lighter components would mean better ride which in turn can be
traded for stiffer suspension...
 
> 	I also talked to the former brake systems manager at Cadillac 
> this morning in the coffee room (He is now my manager) and he said that 
> they found very little difference in braking distances.  They still 
> wanted to do it though because of mass reductions, 

i have never figured out the math & physics for unsprung weight, just
that a teeny weeny bit of reduction goes a long way. 

which mass, spring & damper model applies to unsprung weight?  anyone?

>but it was a $28.00/rotor 
> hit, above the price of iron rotors!!  That's alot in OEM terms.

well, that's not bad if you consider how much people are paying for
alloy wheels over steel...

thanks for the informative post!


eliot