race brakes

coyled · #1 (**permalink**) 09-23-2003, 12:22 PM

Ok, who has really good road race brakes and what kind and size calipers front and rear? scott

Randy Resetar · #2 (**permalink**) 09-23-2003, 12:57 PM

Scott: call Nelson. He had some trick willwoods on his race car...RR

coyled · #3 (**permalink**) 09-23-2003, 02:16 PM

I am more interested in brakes on a cobra. scott

MistressMotorsports · #4 (**permalink**) 09-25-2003, 10:29 PM

There are a lot of correct answers to this question. I ran Baer/Alcon's on the front of my Superformance, with Corvette brakes on the rear. That was before Wilwoods became standard on those cars. A really good system that also fits a "normal" budget might be Wilwood Superlights in front, Dynalights in back. That's a very common road race application for high horsepower, big tired cars. For more money, you can look at AP or Alcon brakes. I wouldn't bother with anything larger than a 4 pot in front, as Cobras are still pretty light.

Mike

coyled · #5 (**permalink**) 09-26-2003, 09:02 AM

Mike, I am running the 1 3/4 willwood superlights in front and the pbr's in back. I am changing out the pbr's and going to the willwood 1 3/8 superlights in back. I melted some r4 pads and some baer race pads in back at road america so thats the reason for the change. Do you run ducts to the rears? I run ducts in the front but not the back yet. I am thinking about ducting the rears. Are you going to the coco event at willow in October? Thanks, Scott.

MistressMotorsports · #6 (**permalink**) 09-26-2003, 03:48 PM

I have never needed rear ducts on any of my cars, but they certainly wouldn't hurt. Were you running the two pot "front" Corvette/Mustang PBR's or the single pot "rear" PBR's? If you were running the two pots on the rear of your car, I'd be really surprised that your had heat issues. Anyway, if you put Superlights on the rear also, don't forget to check master cylinder capacity, and also add a brake bias valve if you don't already have one. Otherwise, you may have more rear bias then you want, which is exciting, but in a really bad way.

I won't be at the COCOA event since I sold the Cobra. Been vintage racing a C Production 240Z.

Mike

Richard Hudgins · #7 (**permalink**) 09-26-2003, 11:46 PM

Scott,

The rotors are much more important than the calipers.

Remember, when you put on the brakes you are converting the kinetic energy of the cars forward motion into heat. The rotors need to absorb the heat (energy) produced during the stop.

I know that everyone is now going to say "Wait, that is why you use ducts and have vented rotors."

Well, sorry. There is no way that you can remove the heat quick enough to match the input speed of same. You must first store it in the rotor. Then the heat transfer from the surface and the interior vents/vanes to the atmosphere will attempt to bring the rotor back to ambient. If there is not enough time between stops, you will reach a point where you are putting in heat quicker than it can be released and you get brake fade.

I know, pad compounds etc. will change this fade point, but the bottom line is you need enough rotor mass to do the job.

750hp · #8 (**permalink**) 09-27-2003, 05:56 AM

13" x 1 1/2" thick drilled, vented and slotted front
13" x 1 1/2" slotted and vented rear.

Wilwood 6 piston GN111 front
Wilwood 4 piston Superlite rear

Braided lines, wilwood pedal box and master cyls.

I don't use any ducting at the front or rear, and I haven't experienced any fade with my setup. I'm really happy with the way it's all working so far. For what it's worth, I'm only using street tires, so the absolute braking effort (and therefore amount of heat) would likely be a fair bit lower than with slicks.

Bart Carter · #9 (**permalink**) 09-27-2003, 11:23 AM

Scott, why don't you stop by Levy Racing and talk to Gordon? He is a Wilwood dealer now and has great combinations for Cobras.

DanElam · #10 (**permalink**) 09-28-2003, 08:48 AM

Yeah, we don't bother with ducting the rears either.

Brakes, like everything else, represent a compromise. You can go with really expensive brakes that give you an extra 15 feet over stock Mustang calipers using Hawks or Carbotech, but the costs of the rotors might be 6 times more. You might decide you don't want to change brakes every weekend or two and decide to go with a moderate pad. You might be running sprint races (with a more aggressive pad) or endurance races.

The good news is that the Cobras are very light and you can usually get by with inexpensive brake configurations that offer better performance than just about anything on the track.