brakes

["Knight Rupert (2910)" <Rupert.Knight@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There seems to be a lot of discussion about making your car stop. It is really pretty simple. A little bit of racing soon identifies what works and what doesn't.

Vented discs (rotors) will not make the car stop any better. They are purely designed to reduce brake fade by dissipating heat. Drilled discs do the same.

If you want to make your car stop better you need to increase the leverage the calipers effect on your discs. Easiest way, increase the number of pistons in your calipers. In other words if your car has normal two pot calipers, fitting four pot calipers will make your car stop better. This is the reason why race cars often have 6 pot calipers. 6 pot calipers are also large hence the reason why race cars have 17/19/20 inch wheels. This also allows bigger discs which again allow a larger cross section for the calipers to press on again increasing leverage.

The sum total of all of this is that if you want to make a significant difference to your braking you will need to upgrade discs and calipers. One of the best ways is to look at higher performance models in the same range. In other words if you have a 325I, look at an M3's brakes to see if they will fit.

Rupert

Rupert Knight
Deputy Head of MIS - London

Tel. - 0171 265 3168
Fax - 0171 265 3105
Email - Rupert.Knight@domain.elided

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