Brake Upgrades 

Upgrading the brakes is one of the most important things you can do to get that competitive performance package, also as you add more power to your car's engine; having the braking force to harness this power becomes more and more important.

Jackie Stewart from F1 once said that the last thing a Racing Driver learns to do properly is brake, yet the ability to race and to overtake another racer has a lot to do with being able to brake really effectively.

So what can we do to get the braking

 performance of our Race or Road vehicle to the desired levels? Well like most things in the world of cars; it depends on the type of performance required and the exact goals of the application. 

There are a number of different materials, a huge difference in price of the parts/ Components and also the type of desired effects or goals required. Even if we had a unlimited budget, just throwing the most expensive parts at the problem isn't always going to reap the desired goals. We first need to identify, the desired goals and objectives and what steps are required to achieve them.

Brake Discs/Rotors

When you increase the engine power, more and more development work will be required to the brakes to help harness that extra power on the track or road. The next steps which will need to be reviewed, are  are Bigger discs/rotors and possibly uprated lighter callipers.This is the easiest way to get serious performance gains over standard equipment. But you have to bear in the mind what performance levels your starting with, hence the reference to Budget.

Not only will the uprated caliper increase braking efficiency, but will also help achieve better cooling for the braking system. More cooling efficiency, equals better braking performance. But another effect will also be to reduce the vehicle mass and even the unsprung weight of the suspension. This will slightly increase cornering and acceleration abilities along with the desired braking increase performance. 

From the Disc/Rotor sections on the brakes page, you can see the different options available and like wise possible advantages gained. But if you on a budget, or going to undertake some of the work yourself and if you are starting with a standard road car. Why not look at the more powerful models in the range for suitable performance donors if your not driving a top of the range model. 

As some professional braking systems can cost a small fortune and if you have that sort of money, your most likely will have your own mechanic and maybe race engineer, along with that corporate sponsorship deal. Well there is always wishful thinking.

Brake Pads

So the next logical step will be to look at the brake pads, but as specified at the beginning of this section; we need to identify what the pads are going to be used for and what type of strains and stresses they must under take. 

There is a huge difference in the optimum operation temperature of performance brake materials, with cars competing on short hill climb or low lap races wanting the pad to be effective from cold straight away. While others competing in endurance races will most likely have wear rates and longevity as their top priority. 

Also with disciplines where the Braking system has more prolonged use and with higher temperatures, having a pad which is better suited to these higher temperatures and with the main focus to reduce brake fade over long repeated use. There are multiple different applications so a well thought out plan is required.

Some of these types of pads will most likely need to be warmed up prior to use, but with all car upgrades it is best to ask the expert manufactures for their advise on the exact component match for your goals and needs.

 Another point to bear in mind is that new brake pads will need a bedding in process to help get rid of the volatile chemical's normally coated on new pads. 

The process involved is gently application of the brake pad to bring it up to working temperature and then cooling down. In everyday driving it is advised that no harsh or strong braking application is to be used as this could score the disc and cause uneven braking in the future life of the Pad. Also due to the design of the pad, until this outer coating is removed, the pad will not work at optimum braking performance levels.

 Drilled Brake Discs/Rotors.

Drilled brake discs are viewed as a good performance upgrade compared to standard OEM equipment supplied with many of todays cars. In the world of profits and service revenues for manufacturers, performance is viewed as a premieme and normally reserved for the flagship or performance models. 

Fitted as standard equipment on many high performance machines though, this brake design has a number of key advantages compared to standard components and have been used in Rally and Racing for some time now.

The main advantages are as follows:

• The added holes allow for better cooling of the disc, by drawing more air into the internal vanes to lower temperatures.
•  The edges of the holes clean pad surfaces, which can provide increased brake bite. Also increased brake pad friction materials can be used.
•  The added holes prevent gasses/water from collecting between the pad and disc surface, also in wet weather performance is increased due to less surface water building up. 
• The holes reduce the weight of the disk, and therefore its inertia and the unsprung weight.
• The downside of this design, is when the disc is repeatedly used to full capacity. The disc could crack due to the constant overheating and cooling effect. Basically unless the disc is forged with the holes (an expensive process reserved for high performance cars), this could be a neagative attribute for endurance or road use. But with new materials and research being undertaken, this is becoming less of an issue.

 Cross Slotted Disc/Rotor. 

These cross slotted Disc/Rotors are quite similar in their goal of trying to increase the initial bite on initial brake application. Similar benefits of removing gas, dirt, water and debris from the disc/rotors and also maintaining parallel pad wear throughout the Disc/ Rotor surface. Compared to Drilled Disc/ Rotors.

This is one of the biggest advantage of slotted rotors, rather than allowing ridges to develop on pads and disc/rotors. One of the most common issues of "drilled only"  disc/rotors applications. 

By preventing these ridges, brakes stay more consistent throughout the pad lifespan of the disc/rotor. Also cracking is not a issue and this is more suited to endurance application.

 Crossed Slotted and Drilled Disc/Rotor 

Extra benefits of a drilled and cross slotted discs/rotors include the effects of the slots have on maintaining a flat smooth pad surface during the pads wear life.  You could look at this design to be a good comprise of the above two designs and is a good comprimise between the two.

The slots encourage the pads to wear with a more flat pattern and the "Ribbing", common with non slotted disc/rotors doesn't occur here. This normally removes the "Record groove" effect of pads on standard plain discs. Particularly around the outer edge and also helps pads maintain better contact area with the disk through their life.  

There is a good selection of discs to choose from and normally the purpuse and the budget will determine the final purchasing decision.

Brake Lines

Another overlooked area is the flexible Brake lines located right near the calipers, these when old are prone to ballooning. This is effectively pumping up the brake lines instead of clamping the Disc/Rotors and will again yield a spongy feel to the pedal with dented performance.

If your going to invest in any brake upgrades, then replacing these with steel braided outer, Teflon inner construction designs will yield good returns. Also provide a more direct feel.

These will not only look professional and last longer then standard equipment, but also gives back the firm pedal feel with sharper response. This is before we have even really started to fit bigger Discs/Rotors or uprated Pad materials.

Brake Cooling and Ducting

Another area I would like to cover before finishing off this section is air cooling and ducting, normally in Car and Racecar design this is factored into the equation from the very beginning, but if your uprating then we need to consider the options. As brake efficiency and maximum performance is not always factored in normal production models.

A braking system is basically a way to convert Kinetic (movement) energy into heat and friction to slow down the car's mass down. During this process heat is transferred to the air, similar to air cooled engines or radiators. 

Buy improving the performance capacity of a car, it is logical to think with greater stopping power comes heater heat levels. Having a good feed of cold air directed to the braking system and vented in a even fashion not to cause in balances of either side of the disc/rotor will greatly increase the performance efficiency. 

Ducting or specially tubing, ran from the front of the vehicle to the wheel arches can be a effective way of helping to solve these issues and will work in a similar way to a cold air feed on an induction system in a way.

Some Racecar designs have used air from the

radiator ducted to the wheel arches, in a bid to help cool the braking system, also specially designed vents in the front bumper can also be used in a bid to keep things cool under braking loads.

Bear in mind vents taking hot air away from the brakes might be a good idea to help maximise the whole system design and make the whole system as efficeint as possible.