Aspire swap ?

[Gomez]

I have seen everyone do the Aspire brake swap because they are more powerful. I have seen pics showing rotor sizes side by side and they are very similar in size. Is the power difference because of the caliper or is it something else?

[htchbck]

Has to do with the "swept area" of the rotor. The more swept area, the better stopping power. Therefore if rotor is only a 1/4" larger radius, then you have that much more area (1/4" times the circumference, very roughly speaking). Also, if you do the auto aspire fronts, you get vented rotors which help keep the brakes cooler. Other advantages include the much more common 4x100mm bolt pattern and easy to remove/replace rotors which simply pull off the hub by hand rather than having to press apart the hub and unbolt the rotor.

And if you don't care about any of the above and size is what matters to you, and you really just want something that looks bigger, check out the rear brakes side by side

[bhazard]

Don't even question it dude...there's no comparison.

[TominMO]

The Aspire brake pads are bigger too. IIRC they are the same as the Escort GT pads, according to Rock Auto.

[Safety Guy]

All Aspires have vented front discs; the autos are thicker and weigh about 1.5 pounds more per side (I weighed new rotors of each once).

Plus, rear stabilizer bar on Aspire axle. All win-win.

Perhaps the only reasons you'd want to stay with stock Festiva pieces would be for an MPG record setter or an Absolutely Cheapest Ride.

Karl

[htchbck]

All Aspires have vented front discs; the autos are thicker and weigh about 1.5 pounds more per side (I weighed new rotors of each once).

I had a set of solid rotors once that I pulled of a manual aspire at the yard... perhaps they weren't originally from an aspire? Never used them just used the knuckles and hub with auto rotors and calipers. Interesting.

[Safety Guy]

Yep, that's interesting all right! I have never seen one like that. I wonder if it came off another car, like a late eighties Golf or something? Golfs were pretty heavy (about 2200 pounds, IIRC) for having solid front discs. It's possible something like that could slip onto an Aspire hub, but I've never tried.

Found this:

http://forums.kilometermagazine.com/showthread.php?5012666-DBC-Tuning-Brake-Rotors-Pads-Drums-and-Packages-for-VW-MK2-s

Does "Mk2" mean the A2 Golf, I wonder?

It probably does. Here's another picture:

http://www.halffastvw.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_11_30&products_id=22

The bolt pattern (4 X 100mm) would fit. Not sure of the hub, but it looks like it could, doesn't it?

Karl

[htchbck]

Since I never tried to run it I can't confirm that it wasn't maybe just put on there to make the car a roller. I don't know if it worked right, just that it was on the hub. Ya never know, I've found stranger things in junkyards. Someone may have just been checking fit of a rotor from another car and then left it

[perucho]

...Therefore if rotor is only a 1/4" larger radius, then you have that much more area (1/4" times the circumference, very roughly speaking). ...

Interesting math. The difference is that the linear increase in the radius correlates to an exponential increase in the area. A= pi*r^2

For the front rotors at least (since the op mentions calipers)

[htchbck]

very roughly speaking

There's a reason I put that disclaimer on there. I'm too lazy to get into the actual math that you did, all I did was "theoretically" stretch the gain in area out into a "theoretical" rectangle . Lol, wouldn't make any sense for a large increase, but for 1/4" increase in radius, I think my explanation serves to make a point (though not to give any actual calculations)

[Gomez]

Don't even question it dude...there's no comparison.

Trust me I am not questioning because I trust you guys. I have a project car that has the Aspire front and A rear Disc set-up that I am assuming came from an EGT because of the 100mm pattern. The larger pads is, I guess, what I was kinda thinking. And yes the slightly larger dia. of course adds to the gain as well. All I have to do is assemble it. Thanks for the help guys.