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Uprights, brakes etc


Pembroke Pat

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I have been considering getting the ali uprights from westfields and then 'cause I am lazy gettin the whole blinking assembly from them.  Am I a fool and am I easily parted from my money?

Could anyone let me know what they found to be the best option re brakes, uprights etc?

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Why the aluminium uprights ?? They only save a few grammes and cost an arm and a leg ?  Alloy hubs, yes, but wouldn't worry about the uprights.

Why the Bremsport or Cat calipers  (assuming you can get the Bremsport ones that is) ?

Agree about the discs, but remain unconvinced about the other bits.

*shrugs*

You pays your money, you takes your choice...

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Why the aluminium uprights ?? They only save a few grammes and cost an arm and a leg ?

Do they only save a little? If so, then I agree with you.

Why the Bremsport or Cat calipers  (assuming you can get the Bremsport ones that is) ?

Because they are both direct replacements for the M16's, I've heard from several people what an absolute bit*h the Wilwoods are to fit.

I know there is a major supply problem with the Bremsports at the moment (I think I got the last set in the country earlier on in the year), but they are very nice indeed  :love:  And I've heard that Cat's own ones make even those look cheap and nasty in comparrison!

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Think the Cortina uprights are only about 0.5kg heavier than the aluminium uprights.

The Wilwoods are only a pain to fit to aluminium uprights - they fit fine on the Cortina ones ;)  But yes, I've heard of one or two people who've had problems but nothing insurmountable.

Haven't seen the Cat Motorsport calipers yet either - apparently they had some at Stoneleigh but not seen any piccies.  They also have dust seals which may be handy if you don't want to keep cleaning the calipers.

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Nick - The Cat Motorsport did look the dogs danglies at Stoneleigh  ;)  :D  :)  Tidier than Bremsport  :D  :)  ;)

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sorry to sound even denser but does a car as light as a westie really need four pot callipers? and what would you put on the rears discs?

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The standard M16 calipers are designed to stop a car twice the weight of a Westfield, and so are well on top of the job of stopping our Westfields. One of the main reasons for changing to alloy calipers is the saving on un-sprung weight. The M16’s are a very heavy cast iron caliper. A pair of M16’s weight approximately 8.5kg. Where as a pair of alloy calipers weigh on average around 3.5kg.

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Yes, but it *doesn't* need vented discs.  

4 pot calipers just help redress the rear brake bias that seems to be inherent in an all disc set up and compared to standard M16 calipers you stop a *lot* quicker !!

Rears can remain the standard Sierra 4x4 caliper - it has the handbrake mechanism after all - but Golf GTi 16v rear calipers (mk 2 ones I think) are supposed to work with a suitable mounting bracket made up.

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I thought you had to have the rear brake bias so that the rears lock up first.  If you uprate the fronts too much, don't you run the risk that the front will lock up first?

Or am I just plain wrong? :durr:

smayo

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Locking the rears with the car in gear will stall the engine......if you have a choice, lock the fronts just before the rears.............

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Err, fraid so smayo - you want the fronts to lock up first ideally, otherwise things become, well, exciting when you come barrelling into a roundabout, stand on the anchors, change down, lock the rears and do a couple of pirouettes before stopping somewhere in the middle of the flower bed on top of the roundabout  :D

Front brake bias is, generally speaking, far more controllable, as when you brake you're transferring weight to a loaded axle (the front one) so the chances of them locking are less.  If all the braking effort was on the back axle, which is unloaded, then the brakes are likely to lock up prematurely, with the result that you annoy the council gardeners !!

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I thought that they tested for this on my SVA, or maybe they were just testing that they locked up to prove the efficiency of them.

I've got a standard Speedsport, all parts supplied by Westfield.  Would this currently then be biased to the back due to the efficiency of the standard rear setup?

And from the info above, I take it that it would be better to uprate the fronts in order to improve the overall braking characteristics.

Is this correct?

If I was to uprate the front, is it just a case of unbolting the standard calipers, and bolting the new ones on, or is there more work than this involved (apart from the fluid of course)?

TIA

smayo

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