Ferrari Mailing List: Car & Driver on brake upgrades

[Dennis Liu (bigheaddennis]

>From the Oct 2007 issue of Car & Driver, letters page in back:

"What's with all the braggin about bigger brake discs, multipot calipers,
carbon discs and pads, and so on?  I mean, we all know that every car on the
road today, even humble econoboxes, can lock their brakes or activate ABS
with no problem.  So it seems logical that, given the same surface, stopping
distances are only a function of the tire package.  What, then, is the
performance advantage for stopping distances of bigger or better brake
components?"

--Guillermo Pinto, Santiago, Chile

C&D EDITORS REPLY:

"Your point is annoyingly valid.  As with acceleration and cornering, a car
can only brake as much as the grip of the tires allow.  The main advantages
of better brake components, then, are to resist fade and improve braking
feel.  Larger discs have more mass to absorb the heat that's generated from
the friction between the disc and pad.  This prevents - or at least delays -
the brakes from overheating, so they can perform repeated stops before
reaching the stage when they can no longer lock the tires."

============

Vty,

--Dennis