Brakes

[dai]

Please could I have some advice regarding brake upgrade?

I have a 91HPC with narrow track front suspension the brakes are normal (small) size .Is it considered best to upgrade front and rear brakes to 4 pot callipers and large disks or just the fronts/ will I have to change to wide track suspension to incorporate this?

I have heard of an upgrade where the disks are kept at the same size but the calliper upgraded is this a good option?

What is the rough cost of these upgrades and who is it best to send the car to?

I, m sorry if all this is old hat but I would appreciate a tap into the vast combined wisdom many thanks

Dai

PS are servo's a no no?

 

[Alex Wong1697456877]

Hi Dai!!

 

I was wondering when upgraditis was going to set in......

 

Over 90% of the gain in braking comes from ugrading the fronts. You don't need wide track to do this. Exclusively Sevens (James Whiting) do some calipers (Alcon) that use the standard solid discs. Caterham's setup uses vented discs. I've heard that the Alcon setup is a good improvement over the standard but I'm not sure if it's as good as the Caterham setup. It is cheaper and a little lighter though.

 

Servo's - the only servo'd brake setup I know of is in a car converted to hand only controls. It would be very complicated to add a servo and in a car as light as the Seven (even with our big old iron Vauxhalls), it isn't necessary.

 

The Caterham front brake upgrade costs £795 inc vat and fitting. Caterham midlands could do this for you.

 

To upgrade the rears, you need different de dion ears and also a different handbrake mechanism and I don't think this is worth the money. Most people fit balance valves to reduce rear braking with this setup so it does seem a little unnecessary.

 

Here's some info on the Alcon setup from JW's website.

 

ALCON BRAKE KIT £475.00 + VAT

Assembly Comprises

2 Alcon alloy 4 piston calipers

2 Stainless steel aeroquip type brake hoses

1 Brake Pad set, EBC Green Stuff material

4 High tensile mounting bolts

6 Shims

 

Alex

[philwaters]

I have just placed an order for some Willwood 4-pot brakes from Rally Design. The kit includes, calipers, mounting brackets, 235mm vented discs (which you can have x-drilled) and bolts. This costs £365 plus vat and you will need to add pads (green stuff to suit are around £26 I think) and some new hoses to suit the calipers.

 

 

Phil Waters

Zetec is in and running wink.gif

 

Edited by - philwaters on 18 Mar 2002 17:26:02

[EFA]

Dai,

Just buy the Caterham fronts. They are designed to fit the car and offer a massive improvement over the std Triumph calipers.

 

The rear setup is only really required if you brake continually from very high speed. Not possible on the road really, but on the track this can be an issue to the extent that the AP rear setup is even insufficient. There is an SLR race rear brake setup which has vented rear discs as well.

 

The Sierra derived rear brakes mean the back of the car is underbraked when used with the 4 pot AP fronts, hence why many change these. They do overheat and you will lose pedal feel after about 20 mins track use.

 

As for Wide track, this makes a HUGE difference to the handling of any Seven. It was introduced for the Superlights, and many VX owners have moved this mod onto thier cars - result being much reduced understeer. There are many of course wo consider the VX a barge as they have not made comparitive comparisons between a Superlight and a wide tracked VX.blush.gif

 

 

Depending on your location, any of the Caterham approved service centres should be able to do the work for you. Be aware its always a good idea to read the most recent postings on Chit Chat!

 

If you are in S London or near Caterham I recomend www.redlinecomponents.co.uk

 

 

Oh and you only need a servo on a much heavier car (I wonder if Wetsfield use them?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fat Arn

The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red>

See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green>

 

 

Edited by - Fat Arnie on 18 Mar 2002 10:34:42

[R500 CYA]

Phil,

 

I've sent you a mail,

 

Nick

 

[Blatman]

Oh and you only need a servo on a much heavier car (I wonder if Wetsfield use them?)

 

Nice try Arn, but I'm not bitingteeth.gif