Big Rotors = less horsepower at the wheels Options

[anthony]

I've been watching Sports Car Revolution on Speed lately. Of course most of the cars they feature are Japanese but I really like that they put everything through a dyno. The balance bling bling and performance mods pretty well.

Anyway, they are doing an Acura RSX project right now. They fitted the car with a big brake kit - you know, big rotors and big calipers. Their times around the track didn't really improve even though they were faster around the corners because they could brake later.

After dyno testing they came to the conclusion that even though the big brake kit was lighter than the stock brakes it resulted in a 7 hp loss at the wheels because of the increased rotating weight of the big rotors.

I thought it was a pretty interesting result.

[machina]

I am not so sure. The rotors were much larger even thought they were a bit lighter overall. The extra diameter has a huge effect on rotating mass.

I never understand why so many cars have brakes that are clearly oversized for the weight/power of the car. Big rotors and calipers are heavy.

Best thing to do is learn how to slow down the car and how to carry the most speed out of a corner. Most people with big fast cars slow the car way to fast and way to soon at the end of the straight and then wonder why the brakes are fading.

dr