[DeTomaso] Vented versus solid brake rotors???

[Ken Green]

Thanks again to everyone for their comments.  
 
I did some homework and read some from an SA Design book on high performance brake systems.  Regarding rotors, they talk about thermal mass and the conversion of kinetic energy to heat during braking.  No real rocket science, just basics.  Anyway, they seem to say that you have to have enough thermal mass to have an acceptable temperature increase during worst case braking.  So if you are hauling down a ling straight at 160, and have to brake hard for a slow turn, all the kinetic energy of the vehicle (not counting deceleration due to wind and rolling resistance) goes to heat the brakes.  They said the real world is 50% to 70%.  The math isn't too bad, but you can take the weight and specific heat of the rotors, and estimate how hot they will get.  I'll try to find time to do the math this weekend, but I suspect you need big rotors to handle that scenario with a 3,000 pound car.
 
Just as a side note, he doesn't talk at all about the cost of unsprung weight, and talked about the 14 inch rotors on new Vettes.  They must be heavy?  
 
Also, I wonder how the light weight factory (Porsche and others) carbon ceramic rotors fit all of this?  Does this material have a really high heat capacity, or are the systems able to operate at maybe 2000 deg F?
 
Ken

--- On Tue, 5/26/09, MikeLDrew at aol.com <MikeLDrew at aol.com> wrote:


From: MikeLDrew at aol.com <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Vented versus solid brake rotors???
To: kenn_green at yahoo.com, detomaso at realbig.com
Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 3:05 PM



In a message dated 5/23/09 23 40 48, kenn_green at yahoo.com writes:


>  
> Does anyone use solid rotors on road race cars?
> 

That is a totally hilarious question.

Although the quality of Tyler's machine work is probably excellent, his 
understanding of the dynamics of high-speed automobile braking versus extremely 
low-speed off-road braking leaves much to be desired. :<(

Mike


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