Ultimate Porsche Brake Upgrade

[Wally]

Originally Posted by Typ Vier

PORSCHE brake mods have been carried out since the 50`s and the biggest available brakes were fitted to Beetles back then, going through until today. PORSCHE brakes have become bigger and Beetles were outfitted with them no matter how big they were.
No one cared if the unspung weight increased as the added safety was needed for high speed Autobahn driving.
My 57 (IRS,Typ 4) had several brake fade problems with normal beetle discs and calipers when driving through the Spessart A3 part.
It is hard when decelerating from 200+Km/h several times sometimes downhill with normal beetle discs and calipers, however they are good for around town driving.

You still missing my point We are all convinced here that the stock brakes aren't enough on performance bugs. No one maybe more than me!
However., the issue at hand is that TOO big a brake isn't helpfull anymore after a certain point on a car as light as a bug: then it only weights more and that hurts performance overall.

Besides, there are 4-pot and 4-pots...Mine are the radially mounted ones which need a 32mm thick steel disk. The disk alone is like lead. Caliper weights around 5 kg!
3-pots need very large diameter disks too boot. Total weight is just not the alu caliper, but the whole thing together: caliper, pads disks. It adds up really fast, especially with big wheels (16/17 x 7/8J, which also can add up to 7 kg per wheel!! Thats rim+tire and yes, I have weighted several of those as well (before you question that as well).
When performance is sought, these things need to be looked at. Again, bigger is definately not better after a certain point.
More weight can hurt more than less performance. Think about it if you will...

Its the perfect balance of gained performance versus the added weight that is what we should be looking for. Not just finding the biggest baddest calipers out there for looks sake...

Walter