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-   -   The Next Brake Upgrade! (https://www.germanlook.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7731)

Astromic July 21st 2006 10:30

The Next Brake Upgrade!
 
Hi guys,
I'm in building my 1776 engine in my superbeetle, it will be a daily driver, and mostly a highway driver in a road with no speed limits :D , so a ~90 m/h will be my cruising speed most of the time.
but all i did now is engine upgrade and suspension and i will start upgrading my brakes after that to handle the high speeds, my bug is a '74 super beetle with a stock front discs and stock rear drums,...
now i have some question i need u guys to help me in;

First of all, i searched in couple of sites for a bolt-on system, i found on aircooled.net that they got an upgrade kit to the superbeetle wich contains mostly gia stock parts and they say that it is a conversion upgrade from drums to discs :confused: and that confuses me, becase all i know and all i saw is that the superbeetles come stock with front discs(including mine), and i thought i just missed somthing but what is it...

My second question is about taking any system from any other common car(for easy spar parts), not porsches or somthing fancy like it, because where i live there is not much porsche around, so i thought that i could take a brake system from any other widely common car like Civics, Collolas or BMWs(for easy spare parts and easy wheel fitting too, as they are mostly 4X100, so i'll have a wide range of wheel to choose from) , and build the adabtor beackets myself, any tips and advices?.

My last question is why we all need to upgrade to a bigger system with bigger calipers and wider rotors, and why couldn't we just add a servo(vacume assist brakes), and save of the headache ;) ...

The reason i asked this questions because i know nothing about brakes, just engines and engines :( , so please support me with any tip or advice i might need.

Thnx in advance, any help will be appreciated...

Michael

beetle1303 July 21st 2006 10:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astromic
My last question is why we all need to upgrade to a bigger system with bigger calipers and wider rotors, and why couldn't we just add a servo(vacume assist brakes), and save of the headache ;) ...


The reason for bigger brakes arise from the increased need for braking power and not a matter of drivability. A certain brake combo (rotor and caliper) can handle up to a limit. This limit has to do with car weight, max velocity, weight distribution, aerodynamics, gearing and a few other factors that im missing now. Thus the stock beetle traveling at 100km/h with stock brakes will brake suffiently, the same beetle traveling at 200km/h will need bigger brakes due to increased velocity.
Another thing is that the more pots there are in your calipers the more linear is their performance. Think of a 4pot caliper. the first set of pots is small, because you dont need all this braking power at low speeds (less pressure on the pedal), but when you would need to make an emergency braking or serious braking (track day, spirited driving) you need all the power. What happens is that the wheels will not lock easily.
Try to descent a mountain, while braking slowly through the whole distance, and doing "spirited driving" and braking hard only when is needed while using engine brake as well. On the second test you will see that at the end you will have bit of brakes left. This means that the first way exceeds the braking capacity of your brakes, simply they are overheating, pedal travel will increase due to overheating brake fluid and before you know it you are left with no brakes.

Fitting a servo will make things worse because you would lock the brakes more easily. I would say if you want a servo, you can fit it, but use bigger brakes. There is also a matter of space in the humble beetle, but there are some ways to get past around it.
sorry for the long post. Hope its abit more clear now...

Chris

Astromic July 21st 2006 19:14

Thnx Chris for ur effort,

any more ideas ppl, especialy about fitting a bmw or civic system and the adaptor assembling????
thnx,

Michael

Astromic July 22nd 2006 22:57

Come on guys :( , i really depend on you because where i live there is no much experience...
is there any good workshop where i could order a custom made adaptor brakets to fit any big system for easy conversion...
thnx,.

Michael

LLVWGL July 23rd 2006 03:22

where do you live, there has to be a 944 rotting in a field near you somewhere!

Astromic July 23rd 2006 07:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by LLVWGL
where do you live, there has to be a 944 rotting in a field near you somewhere!

Egypt :(
and believe me when as say that there is only 12 porsches in all egypt, yes only 12 :o , and they are all 2005 boxters and cayennes, and you really don't want to know how expencive there parts are here, almost 10 times more that the retail price in usa or germany :D ...
so porsche will be my last option and if i have to, i will order it from usa or germany, but the spare parts and usual maintanance items will be an issue then...
we have here a lot of hondas, bmw, mercedes, lancers, corollas, 4x4 jeeps and opels, so they are the easiest option that i've got.
i guess any heavy car's brakes will do(SUVs for example), because they are big enought, and i want to know is there any way i could make the adaptor custom made :confused: ???
any more thoughts??
thnx,

Michael

beetle1303 July 23rd 2006 21:44

I would say talk to Lanner (VdubCustoms-link in the link page). Havent done any buissness with them, but from what i hear he is a very experienced guy and willing to help. Only problem is that he is in Canada...

Dont take my words for granted since i dont know Lanner and havent dealt with him...Im telling u what ive read here...

Chris

Mikey July 23rd 2006 23:00

Lanner is da man! :cool: If you have those types of cars there in abundance. Go with those type of brakes.

I've seen his work and met him in person. Good guy with exceptional work. :)

wrenchnride247 July 23rd 2006 23:07

Lanner can help like Mikey said. I used him and the service, knowledge, and work is tops.

Astromic July 24th 2006 12:42

Thanks' for your replys and help guys,
Lanner's site "www.vdubcustoms.com" seems to be down from here, i tried to open it with many broweser like explorer, firefox and even netscape but still couldn't be opened, i don't know why but maybe it's a problem here in egypt in our internet service broviders...
so i will have to contact him by email, so please i need his email if someone have it...
thanks'

Michael

wrenchnride247 July 24th 2006 17:09

Sorry, forgot it's now www.vdubengineering.com.


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