Overheated brakes?, Ever actually done this? |
|
Porsche, and the Porsche crest are registered trademarks of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.
This site is not affiliated with Porsche in any way. Its only purpose is to provide an online forum for car enthusiasts. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. |
|
Overheated brakes?, Ever actually done this? |
lapuwali |
Feb 24 2005, 12:44 PM
Post
#1
|
Not another one! Group: Benefactors Posts: 4,526 Joined: 1-March 04 From: San Mateo, CA Member No.: 1,743 |
With all of the recent caliper discussions, I got to thinking: has anyone here actually suffered from stock rotors overheating? Street or track? Which calipers? Which MC?
I've personally only ever suffered from brake fade caused by overheating brakes twice, and neither time was in a 914. Once on a Alfa with inboard rear brakes and an overenthusiatic romp along a road with lots of downhill hairpins, the other time on a Mini with drums all round, also on a romp through a (different) set of downhill hairpins. The Alfa was heavy and suffered from bad cooling of those inboard brakes (which had vented rotors), and the Mini just used cheap iron drums (and I was deliberately trying to induce fade). Interestingly, another very similar Alfa that was much lighter (400lbs or so, from lighter body stampings and a four instead of a six) never suffered from fade despite solid rotors at both ends, on the same roads that would cook the brakes on the later, heavier car. Much as I approve of the idea of good strong brakes, I wonder just how necessary big, heavy, expensive vented rotors really are on the car (at least with stock or near-stock power). |
john rogers |
Feb 24 2005, 05:19 PM
Post
#2
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,525 Joined: 4-March 03 From: Chula Vista CA Member No.: 391 |
As you have found out there are several things that can reduce the chances of brake fade from over heating. Clean, hi temp brake fluid, larger calipers which provide a larger heat sink for the fluid, vented rotors with some cooling air directed at them and short hard braking instead of easing onto the brakes. A couple of additional items are much longer brake lines in front so there is more fluid volume to absorb heat, a fluid recirculator with the lines going through a cool can type of setup and finally a water mister in the cooling ducts to help cool things off. We don't have much room for the recirc system but I have added 36 inch long sections of line for the front brakes when I switched to Volvo calipers and will have to wait until the first race in Tecate Mx to see if the fade problem has been licked. It was raining in Phoenix so it did not matter. The long brake lines is a trick used by the BMW 2002 vintage race guys as they have a lot of trouble with brake fade they told me and this cured it.
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 8th June 2024 - 01:06 AM |
All rights reserved 914World.com © since 2002 |
914World.com is the fastest growing online 914 community! We have it all, classifieds, events, forums, vendors, parts, autocross, racing, technical articles, events calendar, newsletter, restoration, gallery, archives, history and more for your Porsche 914 ... |