wow attacking character here huh? It's far from my driving style.. its happens to most brakes when you go from 100+mph and stop constantly while going through traffic... the brakes get hot.. and you can feel them become weaker then what they were till they cool down...

 

Nope, not attacking character at all, then again... maybe I am. I would also go on to say, "it is at the very least definitely your driving style".

"...when you go from 100+mph and stop constantly while going through traffic... the brakes get hot.. and you can feel them become weaker then what they were till they cool down..."

Take a look at a few key words in your statement:

100+...
stop constantly...
while going through traffic...

I'm not trying to play traffic cop with you, be your momma or daddy but I'm glad, very glad you're not driving anywhere near me at 100+ and stopping constantly through traffic. If I was unfortunate enough to see you while playing boy racer, I sure the hell would call 911!!!

It's okay if you want to check out your car on a "lonely" stretch of highway once in awhile but what you describe is just plain *** stupid and dangerous. Do you see what I'm saying yet???

 

lol... wow...

so no one else here has taken their Xfire over 100mph on the highway?...

thats very surprising... and the comment wasnt meant as in im going that fast THROUGH traffic... it was meant i use my brakes through HEAVY traffic... I commute to classes during the summer and I get hit by heavy rush hour every drive...

Man AZ... I don't know what i did too you but I guess you really like to tear into me... so please calm down ... and please don't call me f'ing names when you dont have the slightest idea who I am... :roll:

If someone is going 100+ through traffic they probably would be dead...

ANYWAYS back to the brakes which this topic is about...

Has anyone painted their calipers before? and does the paint last long? or is it not worth it at all...

 

I don't think paint is going to make a big difference in your braking, maybe you should have a chute installed!PS sounds like your brakespads are glazed you might try new ones!

 

Okay... when you put it that way, not a problem and you have done nothing to me to cause me to tear into you. I would have said it to "anyone" if they were driving in the context I took it.

I'm still wondering what kind of heavy traffic driving are you doing to get brake fade???

 

Eastwood sells a brake caliper coating system for $36. It's a urethane coating that should work better than spraypaint, but I've never seen it in use so I can't vouch for it. They have several colors available.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/p...emType=PRODUCT

You might also want to check with someone like HPC about getting the calipers powder coated. You'd have to take the calipers off and send them in, but there is probably someone in your local area that can do powder coating as well.

http://www.hpcoatings.com/appearance_coatings.htm

 

A few people here have changed pads primarily due to excessive dust, myself included. Some of us went with EBC "GreenStuff" pads. You'll need to do a search on brakes to see what other brands people used... again primarily because of dust.

 

Thanks for all the info C_Plunkett!!! I'll check around at some local places

 

Look for metal shops in the yellow pages. Places that do fabrication work. Those who do custom work in stainless steel are most likely to offer powder coating. Should be available in practically any color they can mix up.

It is an excellent finish, but it's a mother to clean it. Use too stiff a brush and you can flake the powder right off the metal.

 

LOL....what a long discussion just because Bobba wants to improve the economy :-)
Ok the brakes in the Xfire are exceptionally good, right out of the box. As both the magazine and personal numbers can attest. 113ft from 60 is a pretty darned good number.
As far as the brake fade issue goes.....I am still stumped on that one. If you run the car at high speeds and then slow down once to make an offramp even the brakes on a Yugo would pass that test. If you are in stop and go traffic the workload on the brakes should be relatively small as well since you are probably not going 75-0-75-0-75-0 hundreds of times but rather 45-15-45 or there abouts. Even in hot LA and let me tell you we have our share of traffic :-) I have never managed to detect any fade on my Xfire.

On a recent VERY spirited drive through the San Berdu mountains they had a VERY hard workout. More than you could ever re-produce on a freeway and I was very pleasantly surprised how consitent the brakes were in feel and effectiveness.

I have tried a few highspeed runs down "my runway" at my airport and then really had to get on the binders to avoid having to buy a new fence ;-) and even at very high speed the brakes were capable enough to invoke ABS which means they provide more stopping power than the attached tires can transfer to the road :-)

So now that I have added my 2 cts to this long post, and in no way did you need my permission Bobba, go ahead and spent as much money as you want on those brakes :-) I'd spent the grand towards my twin rating :-D

 

Let me know how much HP you lose after upgrading your 14" braking system...

Unless you are doing multiple laps on a course and are worried about break fad then I would not worry about it.... your stopping distance will likely not get better, most of the stopping distance is a due to a limitation of the tires...

-marc

 

Hi marc,

why do you think there would be a loss in HP due to the brake upgrade ????
You have a slight increase in rotational mass, but I doubt you'd be able to feel that.
I am not ******* you...just asking technically ?

 

you got it... the best analogy is that of an ice skater that is spinning in circles, they push out there arms and slow down and pull them back in to speed up. When you push the mass farther from the whell you will eat some horsepower to move it at the same speed.

There was a show on speed channel not long ago where they upgraded the brakes and the exhaust and lost 7 horse power. they put the old exhaust back on and were down 15! So they even though the brakes weighed the exact same they lost some power. The track times where better for autocrossng becasue the brake fade was gone so they kept them on.

-marc

 

CTD do an uprated brake system with Cross Drills (new on their web site), but it will only work with 17" rims. Seems an expensive option to upgrade already excellent brakes, but I'm sure one of us will do it. Details below:

CTD Front Big Brake Kit 322
CTD big brake kit for your Crossfire made by Mov`it. 2 piece 322 x 32mm drilled rotors, 4 piston painted calipers with CTD logo, brake pads 75,5cm, stainless steel front brake lines. Comes with all needed hardware and install instructions. Please Note 17inch wheels and some times wheel spacers required.

Group: Performance
Product No.: CTD-C-P11236
Info: New Item

EUR 2.799,00

Seems expensive to me. Maybe someone who knows about these things could provide an assessment of the potential gain????

 

But Crossfires' front are 18" so why would you need 17"

 

Dan,

Either a typo (which I doubt) or you need smaller rims for these new brakes. Seems a bit daft if you ask me.

Maybe someone who buys a set could let us know the braking performance increase.

 

hello,

please note: you need a minium wheel size of 17"

so i think this is not the problem for the crossfire

tino

 

Maybe you should clarify the statement on your site then to include the "minimum" word.

On another note, have you got a US distributor for your parts yet???

 

Dah, now it makes sense, for the sensless.I think its useless though for better stopping you'd probably get more from lighter wheels and a little more tire in the rear (just like the SRT)

 

well for now I ordered my Braided brake line hosing! and I will have my dealer fix my brakes since they made them EXTREMELY loose feeling.... maybe a bubble in the hoses? ... either way they need to do something about it... and while they are doing that ill have them throw my hoses on there also!