Serper3

iTrader: (3)

i have a quick question about big brakes; i am going to try to make this as short as possible.
me and my friend where discussing adding bigger brakes to a car and we where discussing this in general so not necessarily pertaining to the miata, but it would apply here as well.
what he was asking, which i am looking for the answer to, is: if in a car with stock brakes, driving at lets say 50 mph, you can slam on the brakes and lock the wheels up, how would bigger rotors and lets say 4 piston brakes be more effective if the stock brakes have enough power to lock the tires up?
i know that the upgraded big brake kits do brake better though because i have driven cars with stock brakes vs. 4 piston brembos and stoptechs with larger rotors.
if anyone can please enlighten me so i can enlighten my friend, i would appreciate it alot!
thanks!

spike

If you & your friend don't know the answer to your question,then you guys have no business in making a BBK at all.

Serper3

iTrader: (3)

whats a bbk? i have some guesses as to how it would help braking, but i am not sure and thats why i am asking.
i am assuming that with more pistons that would increase force on the rotor. i am aware that a larger rotor means the braking wont fade as fast. i also know that with the better brakes, you have better material in the pads and maybe rotor, but does this help the grip? because that would only make the tires lock up faster which is not ideal.
thanks,

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

lock up means you've exceeded 100% traction...I assume you can figure out the rest.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

do your test 40 times in 15 minutes and come back and ask again.

and what good is locking up the brakes? you have no control on sliding wheels. so when you re-do the test, threshold brake instead.

oh and try the test both on $30 high mileage tires AND racing slicks that are warm. can you still lock em up?



basically the difference is improved modulation ability and heat capacity. stock brakes are fine for non-threshold braking all day long but may not be as precise as a larger brake. also a small solid rotor will get very hot, very quickly and burn up your brake pads or boil your fluid or both. bigger brakes are bigger heatsinks and can absorb more heat before failure and better dissipate it to prolong failure.

Here is another reason you want big brakes:

J.T.

Your missing the point. Almost any stock brake in the world has enough power to lock up the wheel of the car that it is on. I'm under the impression that BBKs are to help deal with heat, responsiveness and modulation more than trying to get more clamping power.

Edit: looks like y8s beat me to it

spike

BBK=Big Brake Kit.

Serper3

iTrader: (3)

so basically if you have crappie tires and get a big brake kit, your braking wont really be improved?
their is nothing else between better pads, bigger rotor, more pistons and ss lines that will give you better braking if you have the same shitty tires?
obviously we arent planning on running shitty tires, this is more for arguments sake.
thanks braineak for you quick reply.

J.T.

Well no, thats not what he said. Going BBK will help dissipate heat better, the lines will give you better modulation, pedal effort etc...Thats what he said. I think the tires thing was to show you it wasn't all about clampin force

Serper3

iTrader: (3)

yea that makes sense. i understand all of the stuff with brakes fading etc. i had a big brake kit on my mustang.
and when you do have better and wider tires, you do want more clamping force because in my mustang, with 265 wide RE-01's i couldnt engage abs or get tires to lock up.
before, i was just thinking that bbk will somehow do more to increase braking. thanks to everyone for the quick responses

J.T.

That would be because you had good, wide tires, that gripped better, so you weren't overcoming thier traction potential while braking

Serper3

iTrader: (3)

lol, i know. i guess my question was, whether big brakes in themselves have a way to improve braking.
so i guess from everyones replies, the answer would be not really. i obviously know about brake fade, (i experianced it with my stang before i got bbk) why to use ss lines etc...
i promise i am not that a noob with cars in general... i sold my mustang about 3 months ago and got the miata, i am almost ready to install the turbo on it hopefully next weekend .

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

If there was a cheap BBK I'd be all over it, enough said.