Tell me about brake rotor development....

[harpon]

If you know anything- what have been the trends? Are those ribbed surfaces new and what's the scoop? Did I hear something bout carbon fiber? Is there such a thing? Alloy? Do these have to be soooo heavy?

Saw a Porsche drive past today- bright red brake calipers showing through the wheels on disk brakes front and rear. Some cars have them on both ends. Why?
If I recall old old cars had only drum brakes- when did that change? 50's? 60's?

now's a chance to show your internet expertise!


below- Honda 13 alloy wheels 4 X 100 4.5 width

[bravekozak]

There are posts where rear disks have been installed. Too much bother for me.

[harpon]

No = Festy brakes are adequate- I just want to know about any new trends

[Studebaker]

Studerbaker was the first American car maker to use dics brakes up front (1963). A Jag design.

Rear dics started in the 90's?

Trend now is ever increasing stopping power. Calipers, pads, and rotors get bigger. Thats why there's no more 15 inch tires. Takes a 18, 19 or 20 inch wheel to fit over the rotor caliper. Because of the increased stopping power. Tires have to be wider.

[mikemounlio]

If they would stop making cars so damn heavy the need for stopping would be lower.

[Studebaker]

Cars have gotten lighter. I remember Cads use to weight 3 tons. Lighter cars have gotten faster. Smaller engines have gotten more powerful. Traffic has gotten denser. We demand more. All these factors, not weight, determine braking performance.

[TominMO]

If you know anything- what have been the trends? Are those ribbed surfaces new and what's the scoop? Did I hear something bout carbon fiber? Is there such a thing? Alloy? Do these have to be soooo heavy?

Saw a Porsche drive past today- bright red brake calipers showing through the wheels on disk brakes front and rear. Some cars have them on both ends. Why?
If I recall old old cars had only drum brakes- when did that change? 50's? 60's?

now's a chance to show your internet expertise!


below- Honda 13 alloy wheels 4 X 100 4.5 width

Do a Google search on "brake development trends". There's info out there.

[Advancedynamix]

Rear discs have been an option on consumer cars since the late 1960's. They didn't become common though until the mid to late 1980s. My 1986 VW Scirocco had rear disc brakes standard.
The holes and ribs are for cooling and have been used on cars for the last 3 decades. Slots are to allow hot gasses to escape from between the pads and rotors.
The newest technology in friction loss braking is probably the use of composite materials (carbon and ceramic) for the rotors. These rotors are extremely light weight. The most ground breaking thing in the recent history of braking is probably regenerative braking. This uses electromagnetic resistance to slow the vehicle while it stores that energy in batteries that help to power the car. This technology also has plenty of cooling fins and is also quite heavy. Lol.