Better Brakes?
Discussion
quote:
A good friend has requested if there are any brake upgrades for a '92 Griff 4 litre.
Many many options, depending what problems you are trying to overcome and what sort of thing you expect to do with the car. The favorites are 285 mm 'big brake' upgrade for a few hundred quid or 300 mm 'monster brake' upgrade with new calipers for a couple of grand. Ask your favorite TVR specialists for details, or if you don't have a favorite then try Tower View (0208 452 6922).
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
quote:
I'm so glad I can't detect any bias in either of the previous replies.......
Funny you should say that, because I've been absolutely gobsmacked how much better these 4-pot/300mm brakes are, than the originals. Both in terms of heat dissipation and feel under heavy braking. But I did have to sort out the brake bias (which I did with a Tilton valve). Oops perhaps I shouldn't mention brand names ...
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
I have a 96'Griff 500, and fitted myself some Tarox grooved and cross drilled front discs and some Red Dot front pads. The difference was immediately noticible less fade (good fast road use) and more bite, but again depends what your looking for? If interested bought the discs from Raven Automotive and pads from Ripspeed. (Have pt.nos if interested)
quote:
I have a 96'Griff 500, and fitted myself some Tarox grooved and cross drilled front discs and some Red Dot front pads. The difference was immediately noticible less fade (good fast road use) and more bite
Can't believe you were fading the standard brakes on the road, if the fluid was OK and you had the standard fast-road pads in?
Definately had fade a few times after some prolonged heavy braking, which caused a lack in confidence in the brakes, which led me to change them. After all they were only XR4 by 4, discs which were designed for a less powerfull car??? Maybe down to poor maintenance by previous owner? But all okay now and looks much better also. But Thanks for your Concerns...
I used to have an Opel Monza (Luxobarge disguised as a coupe ); it initially experienced bad brake fade and occasional smoke after stopping at consecutive cross-roads with long downhill straight approaches (lots of the B roads here are ex-Roman and very fast).
Problem was not the brakes, but the Patent pads fitted by the previous owner attempting to save pennies. Genuine GM pads completely sorted the problem.
Ever since this experience I have refused to accept patent pads in any vehicle I have had.
); it initially experienced bad brake fade and occasional smoke after stopping at consecutive cross-roads with long downhill straight approaches (lots of the B roads here are ex-Roman and very fast). Problem was not the brakes, but the Patent pads fitted by the previous owner attempting to save pennies. Genuine GM pads completely sorted the problem.
Ever since this experience I have refused to accept patent pads in any vehicle I have had.
I am also surprised you get brake fade on the road. It would suggest there is something wrong with the brakes rather than needing an upgrade. I did 3 track days last year in short succession and eventually went down to the rivets at Donington (which is hard on brakes) and I got no fade at all even when they trashed the disks. You can upgrade earlier Griffs quite cheaply by fitting ventilated disks and fast road Kevlar pads and possibly DOT 5 brake fluid. I am sure the upgraded brakes are great but for many people it's a bit excessive unless you are going really fast on a track.
Sorry, I should have been clearer.
My Chimaera is a 1995 4.0 model which TVR unaccountably fitted with 240mm discs -- smaller than the rears -- which really are barely up to high-speed driving on the road never mind the track. I now find that, having upgraded to a combination of DOT 5.1 fluid, bigger discs (but same calipers) and fast road/track pads, road driving's not a problem. Track work is OK too as, even though the pedal gets a bit spongy, the brakes don't go away.
>> Edited by manek on Wednesday 10th April 09:28
My Chimaera is a 1995 4.0 model which TVR unaccountably fitted with 240mm discs -- smaller than the rears -- which really are barely up to high-speed driving on the road never mind the track. I now find that, having upgraded to a combination of DOT 5.1 fluid, bigger discs (but same calipers) and fast road/track pads, road driving's not a problem. Track work is OK too as, even though the pedal gets a bit spongy, the brakes don't go away.
>> Edited by manek on Wednesday 10th April 09:28
Thought you might be interested in the brake upgrade done on my Griffith
by those chaps down at Peninsula last week.
I now have TVR's own AP racing 4 x pot calipers as fitted to the Tuscan /
Tamora cars together with 315mm drilled/grooved discs at the front and 300mm
drilled on the rear. Stopping power is massive in comparison to the standard
set-up and I am pleased to find they are nicely progressive in their action rather than
harsh.
Call me an old tart but I also happen to think they look pretty good too with the TVR logo and black anodised bells
Rich...
>> Edited by richb on Friday 28th June 15:22
>> Edited by richb on Friday 28th June 15:22
by those chaps down at Peninsula last week.
I now have TVR's own AP racing 4 x pot calipers as fitted to the Tuscan /
Tamora cars together with 315mm drilled/grooved discs at the front and 300mm
drilled on the rear. Stopping power is massive in comparison to the standard
set-up and I am pleased to find they are nicely progressive in their action rather than
harsh.
Call me an old tart but I also happen to think they look pretty good too with the TVR logo and black anodised bells
Rich...
>> Edited by richb on Friday 28th June 15:22
>> Edited by richb on Friday 28th June 15:22
quote:
A word of caution re brake fluid, DOT 5 is silicone based and should not be used without first removing any polyglycol fluid(DOT 4,5.1).DOT5 and DOT5.1 are very different and can't be mixed.
Don't think brake proportioning valves are legal for road,
anyone know for sure?
There is one fitted on every car anyway. It may or may not be adjustable.
As for DOT 5.0... It ain't smart... It ain't cool... just say no. Use 5.1.
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
I'm sure the valve greenv8s is using will be adjusted via a knob or lever within the cockpit,to balance non std brakes,the std valve you discribe is adjusted automatically to increase rear brake bias when a vehicle is heavily loaded.I still question the former valves legality when used on public highway.
I'm not aware of any legislation that restricts modifications to the braking system, and in fact I'm pretty sure there is none. I believe it is no more illegal to change the brake proportioning valve than it is to change the pad or rotor specifications.
Clearly the brakes must be effective in order to pass the MoT brake test (although it's interesting that brake balance isn't tested?), and I suspect there's a some sort of health & safety or construction & use reg that would prohibit brakes that were dangerously imbalanced. In my case, the modified valve is necessary to make the car safe.
The brake proportioning valve I have fitted is not adjustable from the driving position, firstly because I have set it right and don't need to adjust it any more, and secondly because the MSA specifically prohibit driver adjustable balance for competition use. If it was driver adjustable I believe it would be road legal, though.
Other than being adjustable, it performs exactly the same function as the conventional proportioning valve typically fitted to production cars.
Neither my adjustable valve, nor the static valves typically used on production cars, are designed to cope with load changes. They are designed purely to cope with the weight transfer that occurs during braking.
Hope this makes sense,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
>> Edited by GreenV8S on Wednesday 3rd July 16:21
Clearly the brakes must be effective in order to pass the MoT brake test (although it's interesting that brake balance isn't tested?), and I suspect there's a some sort of health & safety or construction & use reg that would prohibit brakes that were dangerously imbalanced. In my case, the modified valve is necessary to make the car safe.
The brake proportioning valve I have fitted is not adjustable from the driving position, firstly because I have set it right and don't need to adjust it any more, and secondly because the MSA specifically prohibit driver adjustable balance for competition use. If it was driver adjustable I believe it would be road legal, though.
Other than being adjustable, it performs exactly the same function as the conventional proportioning valve typically fitted to production cars.
Neither my adjustable valve, nor the static valves typically used on production cars, are designed to cope with load changes. They are designed purely to cope with the weight transfer that occurs during braking.
Hope this makes sense,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
>> Edited by GreenV8S on Wednesday 3rd July 16:21
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