Technics Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Thought I would start abit of a thread. Big brakes are cool to have but they actually steal horsepower.Why? Big brakes translates to better track times but not really pertinate to the street. Why? You may save weight with lighter rotors and such, but are they really much better than O.E.M.? and we know O.E.M.'s suck. Your theories, hypothesis(I know big word) are appreciated.Let'r rip argue on.By the way the answer is one word. Thanks for your time. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Well I was posting this on the same question on another thread.... but He goes again "steal horsepower?" they are bigger and heavier, thus are more wieght that must be overcome to move..... (barely significant, unless you're drag racing or something...) "Big brakes translate to better track times but not really pertinate to street." a track vehicle has to speed up and slow down alot, it probably has to do with bigger brakes grip more and are less likely to suffer brake fade. And a street vehicle isn't usually driven that hard by comparison. "You may save weight with lighter rotors and such, but are they really that much better than O.E.M?" Some people like slotted rotor. It can make a difference. I just use regular rotors and good pads. I talked with someone and he had slotted rotors but found the severe duty pads(which must be warm to work) didn't work well because they were being overcooled. Therefore that pads need to be factored in, and I also think the thicker, larger, heavier rotors have a longer and more reliable service life. "And we know the O.E.M.'s suck." It depends which O.E.M.s you are talking about, The up grade for both the front and rear are simply upgrading better OEM brakes for better/safer stopping. I find the rear upgrade far more advantages that the front. It is a much more reliable caliper, with a much better parking brake and with far less drag on the rotor. certainly the 93- rears are far worse than the 94+(excluding 94 lumina) I love this link! how to: http://www.tpsgarage.com/TGP/brakes/rear_brake_upgrade.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey b Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 They don't weight much more to have much of an effect on 1/4 mile times. And although it is rotating mass, the diameter is small enough to not have an extreme effect when we consider the moment of inertia. The mass is concentrated enough in the center of rotation rather than spread out 15 to 20 inches like rims may. the center of inertial for a solid rotating mass is 1/2*mass*r^2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technics Posted December 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Bullshit baffles brains Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutlessSupreme Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Bullshit baffles brains WTF in God's name are you talking about!? The only ways brakes could possibly "steal" horsepower have already been mentioned, by increased weight and increased moment on inertia of a rotating mass, NEITHER of which, especially in this particular case, is anywhere near significant considering how much the benefits outweigh the cost, and how little the increase of mass really is on these already 3400 pound cars (usually with fairly heavy wheels, anyway). The only other thing is that it increases upsprung weight but as said the mass increase really is insignificant. Most people on here don't ever bring their car to a track, so that's not even usually the key reason for the upgrade. Most upgrade simply for increased safety in normal street and emergency conditions, because any pre-'94 brakes tend to be awful. Even those who do upgrade them for track purposes, never in my life have I heard of somebody refusing to upgrade their brakes because it could "steal horsepower" Most people agree that upgrading brakes should be the FIRST mod before any type of power mods, for reason of safety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badassoldspower Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 heres food for thought, with our fantastic back brakes, anything even bigger will increase our horsepower esecially if you have seized calipers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z284pwr Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Here is a little tid bit if you are SO worried about horsepower, my dad swapped front disc brakes to drums on his drag car and gains .6s of a second on E.T. yeah the brakes went to shit but HEY, you want to go as fast as possible, at all costs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbtk2 Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 I don't know what you would do to our brakes to make them lighter. They are pretty light to begin with, especially considering that they are 2 piston calipers. On my dads GTP he switched his front calipers to ~'00 GA GT calipers because they bolt right on and are aluminum instead of steel saving him ~10lbs. per side (obviously a total of 20lb. weight savings). Since its unsprung weight this obviously provides a large gain in the 1/4, IIRC it was about a tenth. With our cars, and are brakes as shitty as they are, and our cars not even really being very quick, I don't think I'd worry about the weight of the brakes. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badassoldspower Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Thought I would start abit of a thread. Big brakes are cool to have but they actually steal horsepower.Why? Big brakes translates to better track times but not really pertinate to the street. Why? You may save weight with lighter rotors and such, but are they really much better than O.E.M.? and we know O.E.M.'s suck. Your theories, hypothesis(I know big word) are appreciated.Let'r rip argue on.By the way the answer is one word. Thanks for your time. Mike Your an idiot. How, exactly, do they steal HP, according to you? Your engine is still putting out the same amount of power. The larger brakes will add more frictional area for better stopping and better breaking response. As stated above, even the bigger moving rotational mass is hardly enough to even slow a person down. The only way big brakes would harm performance is if they weigh tons more, or are completely seized together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwmin Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 the farther you put the weight out (ie larger diameter rotors), the more it takes to turn them. this is where you could lose some power, but its probably negligable esp if the new hardware is lighter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pabz Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 Thought I would start abit of a thread. Big brakes are cool to have but they actually steal horsepower.Why? Big brakes translates to better track times but not really pertinate to the street. Why? You may save weight with lighter rotors and such, but are they really much better than O.E.M.? and we know O.E.M.'s suck. Your theories, hypothesis(I know big word) are appreciated.Let'r rip argue on.By the way the answer is one word. Thanks for your time. Mike Your an idiot. How, exactly, do they steal HP, according to you? Your engine is still putting out the same amount of power. The larger brakes will add more frictional area for better stopping and better breaking response. As stated above, even the bigger moving rotational mass is hardly enough to even slow a person down. The only way big brakes would harm performance is if they weigh tons more, or are completely seized together. :werd: By the way the answer is one word. NO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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