Wednesday 16th November 2005

TVR Power offers brake upgrades

Griffs and Chims benefit from new stoppers

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New 300mm brake disc and calliper

TVR Power is offering 300mm Wilwood brake upgrade kits for Griffiths and Chimaeras. The company said that the kit will be a straight swap with no other modifications required.

Front kit contains:

• 1 left hand calliper
• 1 right hand calliper
• 2 alloy disc bells
• 1 left hand 300mm brake rotor
• 1 right hand 300mm brake rotor   
• 2 braided hoses 
• 2 mounting brackets       
• Brake pads (uprated compound)
• All nuts bolts & fixings supplied

Rear kit contains:

• 2 brake discs (standard size)
• Set of pads (uprated compound)
• 2 braided hoses

Prices

Griffith and Chimaera front brake upgrade: £899 plus two hours labour at £48/hr to install new discs. All prices plus VAT.

• TVR Power brake kit

[zumbruk]

How do these compare with the standard brakes (on a '97 Chimaera 450, anyway)?

[GreenV8S]

TVRPower said:

straight swap with no other modifications required

Sounds similar to the 12" 4-pot Wilwood setup I have on the front of mine. Don't like the sound of 'no other modifications required', on mine I had to make several other modifications to restore the correct brake balance. If you just put bigger brakes on the front it might be fine in the dry but could be nasty if you have to do an emergency stop in the rain.

[Graham]

I put 300mm on the front of my chim with wilwood superlights and the brake balance was much improved. I think as standard the chim is over braked on the rear anyway...

couple it with the standard cars tendance to lift the rear under heavy braking and thats why so many end up in ditches..... brake hard, back lifts, rears lock up car spins....

I found with better stoppers onthe front and better dampers that all went away

G

[cuneus]

Seems VERY expensive

Wonder if these guys will do the Chim as well

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-Pot-Caliper-Brake-Kit-TVR-Ta

[purpleheadedcerb]

That is alot of wedge for Willwoods. I had a custom set of 4 pot calipers, discs and pads made by Hi-Spec in Dartford for around £600. All I gave them was the hub assembly and a wheel and they designed an optimum set-up for that. It was for my Dolomite Sprint not a TVR but wouldn't make any difference price wise.

Edit. Didn't include rear calipers and discs but did include braided hoses and fluid as well. Definitely shop around.

>> Edited by purpleheadedcerb on Wednesday 16th November 15:14

[Graham]

purpleheadedcerb said:

I had a custom set of 4 pot calipers, discs and pads made by Hi-Spec in Dartford

and they actually turned up and work WOW......

Quote from a guy at AP "anyone with a cnc machine thinks they can make a caliper these days"

[GarryM]

Graham said:

I put 300mm on the front of my chim with wilwood superlights and the brake balance was much improved. I think as standard the chim is over braked on the rear anyway... couple it with the standard cars tendance to lift the rear under heavy braking and thats why so many end up in ditches..... brake hard, back lifts, rears lock up car spins.... I found with better stoppers onthe front and better dampers that all went away G

The better dampers probably made the difference. Bringing the bias forwards without better dampers could make it dive more making the situation you describe even worse.

[purpleheadedcerb]

Graham said:

purpleheadedcerb said: I had a custom set of 4 pot calipers, discs and pads made by Hi-Spec in Dartford and they actually turned up and work WOW...... Quote from a guy at AP "anyone with a cnc machine thinks they can make a caliper these days"

I'm not saying cutomer service will win them awards, far from it. But yes, they do work incredibly well. Much better than the AP's on my cerbera even from cold. I don't think the radical motorsport people were using them just because they found their name first in the yellow pages either.

Scott

[mongoose]

Are these willwoods the same as shpub was selling at the griff growl?

[the dodger]

Graham said:

purpleheadedcerb said: I had a custom set of 4 pot calipers, discs and pads made by Hi-Spec in Dartford and they actually turned up and work WOW...... Quote from a guy at AP "anyone with a cnc machine thinks they can make a caliper these days"

I heard the same about them. When I was looking for decent pads they didn't respond to email or return my calls. No thanks.

[groucho]

Will 300s fit behind a 15" rim?

[Gaffer]

Hmmm....still fancy a set of AP's for Miss Daisy but not sure if I can justify the expense.

Lets see what Santa leaves in my Stocking this year.

Claire

[purpleheadedcerb]

Generally speaking a 280mm disc will go behind a 13 inch rim so I would imagine 300's will slot behind a 15" rim with ease. I'm more familiar with 13" rims so I'm sorry I can't give you a definitive answer!

[Steve_T]

groucho said:

Will 300s fit behind a 15" rim?

Yes, but if you talk to Tower View about their 300mm kit, they acknowledge it's a tight fit. Similar would apply here I'd expect.

Steve.

[GreenV8S]

purpleheadedcerb said:

Generally speaking a 280mm disc will go behind a 13 inch rim so I would imagine 300's will slot behind a 15" rim with ease. I'm more familiar with 13" rims so I'm sorry I can't give you a definitive answer!

I expect it'll depend on the rim style, and what caliper you're using. I found that 285mm with Wilwood Superlites fitted easily inside a 15" Chimaera 5 spoke rim. The same calipers on a 300mm disc were a very tight fit indeed and not really viable once you take account of thermal expansion and bearing float. They fit easily in the 16" rims though.

[Graham]

The 300mm and wilwood calipers on my griff 500 wheels did fit, but when things got hot the balance weights got ripped off.

you really want a bit more clearance than that, if you flick a stone up you can easily trash a wheel or caliper.

[chassis 33]

cuneus said:

Seems VERY expensive Wonder if these guys will do the Chim as well http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-Pot-Caliper-Brake-Kit-TVR-Ta

...maybe... www.chassis33.co.uk/20074.html

But, Keri doesnt know you know right!!!


Regards
Iain

[jd]

purpleheadedcerb said:

Generally speaking a 280mm disc will go behind a 13 inch rim so I would imagine 300's will slot behind a 15" rim with ease. I'm more familiar with 13" rims so I'm sorry I can't give you a definitive answer!

what 13" will fit 280s?

i have 14s an 256s are bare mm away from the calipers

[purpleheadedcerb]

Do you have a billet caliper or cast? Also depends on the inner edge of the wheels you are using. I couldn't get 280mm under mine by the way (Superlites) but 270mm will fit. Standard is 225mm! I'm only repeating what Jeff (I think that's his name) told me when I took my bits along to Hi-Spec regarding the 280mm bit.

Scott

[shpub]

300's will fit under a 15 inch but it is very very very tight. I've spent many hours working with Tower View on their 300mm kit and it is not straightforward.
Owners with egg shaped wheels or balance weights on the inside need not apply! Even experienced differences caused by slight changes in how the uprights were milled. 285s are no problem and are superb. been running that on the Griff for nearly 5 years now.

The problem with the TVr wheels is that the internal diamter is reduced on the outside to strengthen the wheel and this places the limitations.

Yes some people have machined the wheel away to get clearance but it is not recommended.



>> Edited by shpub on Friday 18th November 11:30