Corvette Forum : DigitalCorvettes.com Corvette Forums banner

1st Impression - J55/GS Big Brake Upgrade

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  383_BluByU 
#1 ·
The extra 7 lbs on each wheel from the thicker and bigger rotor is VERY noticeable on the responsiveness of the car.. Also, its odd but the pads dont sweep the whole rotor.. the inside inch isnt used..:crazy:


The braking dosent seem that much better overall.. but that could be because I changed pads.. I went from the EBC green stuffs to the Hawk HPS+ on the new set up.. the inital bit is MUCH less.. But the EBCs wasted a pair of rotors with normal street driving in 1.5 years.. I heard the HPS+ are little more rotor friendly..


Also,, I watched as someone hit the brakes and you can physically see the calipers flex!! I image this is where people get the top to bottom pad taper.. :crazy:

BTW:it should be noted low speeds (under 40mph) braking is drastically improved..

Setup: BRand new GS calipers, Brembro Rotors and HAwk HPS+ pads all four corners. Brake fluid flushed with Synthetic high temp fluid..


I'll post more after a few days of driving with them..
 
See less See more
#4 ·
Also, its odd but the pads dont sweep the whole rotor.. the inside inch isnt used..:crazy:
The pads don't have to sweep the whole rotor. The advantage of bigger rotors is twofold: the larger, heavier rotor provides more mass to heat. In it's simplest terms braking is the conversion of kinetic enery to heat. The other purpose of a bigger rotor is that it provides more leverage since the pads sweep an area farther away from the center of the wheel.
 
#5 ·
Hey! I have the same brake calipers...they're nice aren't they? I got them with some slotted/cross drilled rotors but I have ZR1 wheels on mine so you can see all of them.
 
#6 ·
Also,, I watched as someone hit the brakes and you can physically see the calipers flex!! I image this is where people get the top to bottom pad taper.. :crazy:

Did you see the calipers flex, or did you see them move? The caliper is one piece of solid metal, if there's any "flex" in it I don't think it could be seen with the naked eye. When the brakes are applied the inner pad is forced against the inside of the rotor and the caliper slides towards the center of the car, appling the outer pads to the outside of the rotor. This is a floating caliper as opposed to a fixed caliper used in the C3, where the caliper remained fixed and both the outer and inner pads moved into the rotor.
 
#7 ·
I agree moving the pad out helps.. but would think so would increasing the swept area.. If you look at the comparison of the C4 to C5 brakes you can see the difference in the swept area.. (rotors are about the same size.. pad is MUCH bigger)..


It was my perception that the caliper flexed..With brand new rotors and pads there isnt a whole lot of movement in the caliper on the slides.. it physically flexed under the pressure.. I really think this is the reason alot of folks note top to bottom pad taper at track events with these pads..


BTW: They do look really COOL!!! ;)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top