Brakes Brakes Brakes

[GingerWizard]

Right ladies and gents its brain picking time!

I have a few questions about brakes.

Braided hoses: Are they better because: They are less susceptable to heat transfer? Can deal with higher pressures? Are less likely to go wrong. what have a missed?

Grooved and drilled discs: Are they better because: They reduce centrifugal weight. Cool more easily? It seems in my mind that having less contact surface area would increase friction on some parts and thus heat, but overall they would have a lower contact surface area so would be less effective. Someone want to explain for me?

Rob

[P.J.]

braided hoses flex less than rubber so transfer the pressure better to the calipers. I have found they also feel better and seem to tell you through your feet whats going on.

groved discs remove the gasses that build up between pad and disc under very heavy braking. and yes the total friction of a groved disc is less than that of plain disc.

[Bigfatnath]

P.J. said:

braided hoses flex less than rubber so transfer the pressure better to the calipers. I have found they also feel better and seem to tell you through your feet whats going on.

groved discs remove the gasses that build up between pad and disc under very heavy braking. and yes the total friction of a groved disc is less than that of plain disc.

Changing either of these will give you no noticable difference on the road........Maybe a spot of placebo effect though...!

If you have an ep3 gingerwizard, the brakes are very good as standard, just change the pads for ferodo ds2500, then you may feel some difference...

[10 Pence Short]

If it's for road use, leave the whole thing as standard. Just remember to change your brake fluid once a year.

You'll get no benefit from drilled/grooved disks over the OEM items on an EP3, even on track, in my opinion.

If you must tinker, then change the pads for Mintex 1144s or equivalent and uprate your brake fluid to Castrol SRF or equivalent.

[GingerWizard]

no changes are planned, its just i went out for a hoon with some PH'ers the other night and the brakes where suffering after few sections of very heavy braking.

New pads i think are the answer...

Oh and also what is the thickness of the discs up front and back? I will put a micrometer on them to check they have not worn down too much.

[P.J.]

the brake fade you experienced could be due to old fluid boiling.
I changed mine for AP 5.1 fluid as its cheap and lasted well last time.

[PJ S]

GingerWizard said:

no changes are planned, its just i went out for a hoon with some PH'ers the other night and the brakes where suffering after few sections of very heavy braking.

New pads i think are the answer...

Oh and also what is the thickness of the discs up front and back? I will put a micrometer on them to check they have not worn down too much.

25-23mm and 10-8mm - once the lower level is reached, time to change.
Get the fluid changed - Motul RBF600 is worth the extra over their 5.1
£50 also gets you braided HEL or Goodridge lines plus fitting.

[P.J.]

Had a look on the Dixcel brakes website and it says coeficient of friction is greater for the groved discs than plain.

[anonymous-user]

i have dixcel brakes on my car and they are truely amazing!

[jonnydiscopants]

AP carbon dixcels along with DS2500 pads on my EK and the brake are immense!!!! Awesoem feel no matter how much you abuse them and keep a consistent feel to the pedal

[havoc]

P.J. said:

Had a look on the Dixcel brakes website and it says coeficient of friction is greater for the groved discs than plain.

That'll be due to the material, not the grooves.

Grooves are only good for dissipating gasses/dust, which keeps temperatures that little bit lower...i.e. they're only really any good when repeatedly braking hard, i.e. fast tracks.

I agree with Dan - stick with the OE disks and some 1144s or DS2500 pads...both my ITR and S2000 run exactly that set-up.


Braided hoses - better pedal 'feel' and feedback. Nothing else. May make it easier to HnT though...depends on pedal set-up.

[dvpeace]

I have had issues with the brakes on the track, both times I have gone to Castle Combe the brakes have worn out during the day. Last time the rears went with just 4k miles on them.

I've changed disks & pads all round so lets see how we get on this year.

[10 Pence Short]

dvpeace said:

I have had issues with the brakes on the track, both times I have gone to Castle Combe the brakes have worn out during the day. Last time the rears went with just 4k miles on them.

I've changed disks & pads all round so lets see how we get on this year.

Change the fluid!!

[dvpeace]

10 Pence Short said:

dvpeace said:

I have had issues with the brakes on the track, both times I have gone to Castle Combe the brakes have worn out during the day. Last time the rears went with just 4k miles on them.

I've changed disks & pads all round so lets see how we get on this year.

Change the fluid!!

Thanks for the tip, I did not have issues with fade, just no pads left!

[10 Pence Short]

dvpeace said:

10 Pence Short said:

dvpeace said:

I have had issues with the brakes on the track, both times I have gone to Castle Combe the brakes have worn out during the day. Last time the rears went with just 4k miles on them.

I've changed disks & pads all round so lets see how we get on this year.

Change the fluid!!

Thanks for the tip, I did not have issues with fade, just no pads left!

Oh. Bear in mind that more racey pad compounds often wear pretty quickly.

I got 3000 miles from front set of Mintex 1155s on my old CRX. By that time the disks had been pretty monstered, too.

[dvpeace]

10 Pence Short said:

dvpeace said:

10 Pence Short said:

dvpeace said:

I have had issues with the brakes on the track, both times I have gone to Castle Combe the brakes have worn out during the day. Last time the rears went with just 4k miles on them.

I've changed disks & pads all round so lets see how we get on this year.

Change the fluid!!

Thanks for the tip, I did not have issues with fade, just no pads left!

Oh. Bear in mind that more racey pad compounds often wear pretty quickly.

I got 3000 miles from front set of Mintex 1155s on my old CRX. By that time the disks had been pretty monstered, too.

That does not cheer me up much but this is a standard road car with no mods. (It's more fun winding up the TVR's that way)

[10 Pence Short]

dvpeace said:

10 Pence Short said:

dvpeace said:

10 Pence Short said:

dvpeace said:

I have had issues with the brakes on the track, both times I have gone to Castle Combe the brakes have worn out during the day. Last time the rears went with just 4k miles on them.

I've changed disks & pads all round so lets see how we get on this year.

Change the fluid!!

Thanks for the tip, I did not have issues with fade, just no pads left!

Oh. Bear in mind that more racey pad compounds often wear pretty quickly.

I got 3000 miles from front set of Mintex 1155s on my old CRX. By that time the disks had been pretty monstered, too.

That does not cheer me up much but this is a standard road car with no mods. (It's more fun winding up the TVR's that way)

My CRX was standard with no mods (except brake pads and fluid!).

[GingerWizard]

Fitted a set of DS2500 over the weekend, and changed the brake fluid. Took about 2 hours max. They are bloody good are'nt they. Those pads, christ talk about anchor out the back!