Brake upgrade
Brake upgrade
Author
Discussion

pullingpower

Original Poster:

260 posts

264 months

Tuesday 21st February 2006
quotequote all
On reading this months Sprint, I see J.Ellison comments on his Tuscan AP CP6600 callipers and larger 300mm discs on the front of his LS6 Chim. Apart from these looking very smart with TVR logo on the callipers, I need more stopping power than the standard brakes allow.
Does anyoneknow where to get these brakes and is it a straight swap?
Thanks

Steve_T

6,356 posts

302 months

Tuesday 21st February 2006
quotequote all
I'd contact Jon through his profile, I know he'd help you out.

poorpeet

837 posts

275 months

Tuesday 21st February 2006
quotequote all
Dont know if this is of any use to you but 283mm discs from the 2wd Sierra Cosworth with the Calipers from the 4wd Sierra Cosworth are a straight swap & can be bought from any motor factors.
last time I checked the whole lot came to less than £200

Sharky500

413 posts

259 months

Tuesday 21st February 2006
quotequote all
pullingpower said:
Apart from these looking very smart with TVR logo on the callipers, I need more stopping power than the standard brakes allow.
Thanks


Apart from the aesthetics, can I ask why you feel you need more stopping power? You look to have comparatively recent 450, which would have the same spec brakes as the 500 I run. For on road use, I can easily lock up my wheels, and they have never even got near to fading. Equally, in my recent Ride Drive session, which involved 90 mins at Kemble Aerodrome which involved repeatedly slowing to standstill from increasingly high speeds up to 100mph, the brakes were nothing other than super-effective. They did admittedly smell a little "hot", but I concluded that other than looking a little weedy, the Standard Chim brakes are fine.

Or are you using it on the track?

stegefal

196 posts

261 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2006
quotequote all
There are all the usual considerations of improving the rbakes with better pads/discs, change fluid and bleed system and fit braided hoses.

An overhaul can often have a substantial effect. Although if you've already done that and are still not happy, I'd agree with an upgrade. I always upgrade my brakes before any engine mods on my bikes.

markh

2,781 posts

305 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2006
quotequote all
Have the AP 'TVR' calipers on my chimaera, what differnce! much better stopping and not too expensive either.

Mark

pullingpower

Original Poster:

260 posts

264 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2006
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies.
I have had engine modifications, these being a wilder fast road cam and ported cylinder heads, and will be getting it all custom remapped in the near future. I have previously noted some fade on more spirited drives and recently went to the Rob Gravitt driving course day and noted significant fade after 4 to 5 laps. The emphasis on technique there was however on hard braking to achieve maximal grip on the turn in, so the fronts were worked pretty hard.

Steve_T

6,356 posts

302 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2006
quotequote all
Suggest you talk to Ian at Godspeed brakes (www.godspeedbrakes.fsnet.co.uk) provided you're not in a rush.

markh

2,781 posts

305 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2006
quotequote all
Steve_T said:
Suggest you talk to Ian at Godspeed brakes (www.godspeedbrakes.fsnet.co.uk) provided you're not in a rush.



Hmmm good luck

I got my discs from www.hispecmotorsport.co.uk/ they arrived the next day

GreenV8S

31,020 posts

314 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2006
quotequote all
markh said:

I got my discs from www.hispecmotorsport.co.uk/ they arrived the next day



Hmmm, good luck. My spares didn't turn up after 18 months of weekly promises that 'they'll be with you next Monday'. I got my current brakes from BG developments, and their customer service is excellent.

Steve_T

6,356 posts

302 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2006
quotequote all
It took a while for my kit to arrive, but it was a custom kit, not something Ian had done before and I've no idea what other commitments he had on at the time. In the end, I had part ex'd my Chim' for the Cerb by the time the kit was finished. I therefore passed the kit on to a friend who was replacing his discs at that time at cost. The kit was well made, worked a treat with great feel and stopping power. I've not seen anything close to it since in terms of value, so from my perspective it was worth the wait.

All I can say is if you are in the process of upgrading brakes I'd heed what Steve H and Pete H say regarding suitable sized upgrades. Unless you're a track monster, four pots and a 285mm disc are plenty and avoid the need to replace the front wheels with a 16" setup.

Steve.

Graham

16,381 posts

314 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
GreenV8S said:
I got my current brakes from BG developments, and their customer service is excellent.


Another Vote for BG, they did most of the brake upgrades on the tasmin challenge cars and I get all the bits for my tuscan from them. they did have a complete ap kit for a chim on the shelf a while ago, an uncollected order that i think was open to offers.

I live about 15-20 miles away, and they've even dropped stuff of at my house for me if its urgent.

chassis 33

6,194 posts

312 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
I'm in the middle of developing several kits with Works Motorsport/WMS, to be fitted to my Chimaera racer, and to fit under the OEM 15" TVR alloys. The first set is a one piece rotor at 283mm running a 4piston alloy caliper.

In the next few weeks I hope to be testing a 298mm two piece rotor with alloy bell, with the ideal being a 310mm rotor, but that will be a bloody tight squeeze under the OEM 15" TVR alloys.



We're looking to distribute them through a fairly well know supplier in TVR circles, more details to follow as and when we have production models.

Regards
Iain

900T-R

20,406 posts

287 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
chassis 33 said:
a 310mm rotor, but that will be a bloody tight squeeze under the OEM 15" TVR alloys.



310 mm on 15s? Wow - Speedparts Sweden offers a 314 mm Brembo kit for my Saab at a good price, but the UK importer says you need 17"s (which I don't want) to fit them...

On early Chim/Griff models, I'd want to upgrade the fronts for the benefit of a better brake balance (for road use) alone, if that makes any sense. The ones I've driven and others I've heard about do have atendency to lock the rears before the fronts under some circumstances

chassis 33

6,194 posts

312 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
The difficulty is getting the space around the shoulder of the alloy, by offsetting the disc inboard you can gain a bit more room, but then you start to foul on the track rod end, we're also looking at modifying the caliper design to help matters.

I've got a set of alloy 2pots in the mix too for my rear calipers, but they don't have a handbrake so useless for road use.

Regards
Iain

Graham

16,381 posts

314 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
310mm Im sure mine are only 300mm on the chim and i ended up changing to 17" wheels as it kept taking tha balance weights off....

M@H

11,298 posts

302 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
markh said:
Steve_T said:
Suggest you talk to Ian at Godspeed brakes (www.godspeedbrakes.fsnet.co.uk) provided you're not in a rush.



Hmmm good luck



.. I was going to send my Cossie 4pots to Godspeed for reconditioning, is this not a good idea..?

Cheers
Matt

chassis 33

6,194 posts

312 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
Graham said:
310mm Im sure mine are only 300mm on the chim and i ended up changing to 17" wheels as it kept taking tha balance weights off....


Yup, it's one hell of a challenge, but I'm sure your know me well enough to not let that stop me from having a go!

Regards
Iain

GreenV8S

31,020 posts

314 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
I ran 300mm in 15" rims, it was very tight but just barely fitted as long as I kept the bearings tight.
Now I'm running the same in 16" rims and there is loads of space. If it doesn't fit, you must have some huge calipers or fat rims.

Steve_T

6,356 posts

302 months

Thursday 23rd February 2006
quotequote all
Ian (at Godspeed) was not the always the easiest guy to get hold of, but he did deliver what he said he would for me. I found email was the best way to reach him. As far as I could tell he was a one man band operation and therefore had to let the answer phone deal with callers, while he got on with machining. He certainly did seem to know his stuff and his prices were very good. If you're patient, it may well work for you.

Steve.

>> Edited by Steve_T on Thursday 23 February 15:39