Performance Brake Upgrades
Performance Brake Upgrades
Depending on what you're driving, at some point you're going to want to install some performance brake upgrades. We've got lots of performance brake parts here at ID-Workz, including products designed to give incredible performance from the likes of K-Sport big brake kits, HEL Performance, PBS Brakes and more.
Why upgrade your brake performance?
We need to know about the components that make up a brake, in order to show how the performance of each might be improved.
The major components of brakes are:
- Brake Rotors, which is the spinning disc rotating with each wheel, and which is used as a source to reject energy into (turning the kinetic energy into heat).
- Brake Calipers: an internal piston which applies pressure to the brake pad when you press down on the brake pedal. Pressing the brake pedal forces fluid into the piston, pushing the brake pad against the spinning brake rotor. This slows the vehicle down (and creates heat as a by-product).
- Brake Pads: This is what gets pressed against the brake rotor to slow the vehicle down. The brake pad is also what gets worn down by continual use.
- Brake Lines: The brake lines are used to supply brake fluid to the brake calipers. Pressing down on the brake pedal creates pressure in the brake lines, pushing the brake fluid down to the four brake calipers, which in turn push the brake pads against the brake rotors, creating friction and slowing down the vehicle.
Brake fade, and how to avoid it with performance brake upgrades
Brake fade is a term which describes the loss of breaking power from a vehicles braking system. It happens when there's no longer enough friction happening between the brake pad and the brake rotor it is rubbing on. This brake fade is caused by the overheating of the brake system, and braking performance usually returns after the brakes have cooled down, as it's a temporary phenomenom. Brakes are designed to work within certain operating temperatures, but work outside of these temperatures (which you may find you're doing if you driving is a little more 'spirited' than normal), then you will likely experience brake fade.
Avoiding brake fade and increasing your braking performance
Braking performance increases under certain conditions:
- Increasing the disc radius allows for more brake torque with the brake pad applying pressure at a larger radius
- Increasing the caliper piston area - either by increasing the size of the piston, or the number of pistons, you'll have more area which will apply a greater pressure between the brake pads and brake rotors.
- Increase the friction coefficient between the brake pad and brake rotor - basically if you can increase the friction that happens through material selection, then you'll increase your braking performance. However, there's more friction, and this means more heat, and this MIGHT mean, brake fade (see above).
Big Brake Kits
Decent big brake kits, such as those from K Sport, reduce brake fade by continually cooling and refreshing the brake pad surface when braking. You'll hear of terms like twin pot, four pot, six pot and so on which refers to the number of calipers or pistons on the brake kit. These are usually an even number (you don't get 5 pot brakes), and the more pistons generally, the larger the brake, but the more effective the braking performance.
Big brake kits give you way better stopping power over shorter distances, even in wet conditions, than do stock or OEM brakes. Aesthetically, they're better to look at, and they stand up to the punishing conditions of the race track really well, providing reliable stopping power with little fade. Often a larger brake means a heavier weight brake, but the extreme light-weight calipers on K-Sport big brake kits (for instance) are machined out of aircraft quality aluminium billet, and weigh just over 2kg each. Innovations like slots on the disc greatly reduces braking noise and expels gas and pad debris faster than conventional slot designs. Every disc is always heat treated and balanced before shipment for the best possible performance.
Take a look at ID-Workz fantastic range of performance brake upgrades from brands like K-Sport, HEL Performance and PBS Brakes.