Originally Posted by
metalhead
Thanks for the info! Not to sidetrack Sams thread too much, unfortunately I'd already ordered some Carbotech pads a few weeks ago, before reading your comments. I'm definitely not afraid of running a more track oriented pad than whatever junk is in there at the moment. The Evo is not a bad comparison, I have somewhere a bit over 500hp at the engine, about 1550-1600kg, and 295 semis on all four corners - so it is a bit of stress on the brakes. The factory brakes are 4 pot calipers and vented 298mm disks on all four corners, so they work pretty well, and should hopefully be up to the task with some good pads, fluid, and I figure some cooling can't hurt. Maybe I'm a cheapskate, but the brake upgrades seem fairly expensive to me, any sizeable upgrade seems to be more than ~2.5k for each end of the car, and any worthwhile improvement will also mean that the stock 15" wheels cannot be fitted - not the end of the world, but still a consideration.
The usual problems, fair bit of weight, small diameter wheels, decent power and a large delta between straight line and corner speed. All of which means the brakes work pretty hard. The 15" wheels usually mean a max of ~310 mm rotors, which still don't give a lot of leverage, so at some point you will probably need to think about 17" or 18" wheels. Willwood do a front kit for the C3 with 6 piston radial mount calipers, 330 mm rotors, alloy hats, brackets, nuts, bolts etc (no brake lines) for around $US1700. The caliper is a Superlight 1120-11778/9 which I have used on a couple of cars, nice, rigid, not too heavy, with lots of pad compounds available. The rotors are spec 37 material, 32 mm, curved vane, slotted and drilled, should be good for combo street and track car. For a 100% race car I'd step up to a slotted (not drilled) GT47 rotor.
Wheels are the necessary first step, then tyres, then the brakes, so unfortunately it's never going to be cheap exercise.
Cheers
Gary
Golf Mk7.5 R, Volvo S60 Polestar, Skyline R32GTST
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