[flash]

everybody knows i've been talking for some time now about making some aluminum hat 2 piece rotors for the car - well, i am now at the point where i am ready to do this, and am curious as to whether or not anybody else would be interested

because the primary intended use would be street, pad knock is a very real consideration, and consequently fully floating rotors are out of the question - they are great on the track, but make a racket on the street - these will not be fully floating - they would be two piece with aluminum hats, but bolted together

what i am contemplating is a 4 wheel kit, not a 2 wheel kit - i want to maintain brake balance

weight loss was the primary goal - the new rotors would be about 3 lbs less net each - that translates to an equivalent weight loss of nearly 50lbs in the car, and because it is rotational mass, this is something you immediately will feel off the line

they would be about 1.5" larger diameter, providing approximately 25% more braking

cooling would be improved since they would have more braking torque and therefore not get as hot to begin with

they would be identical thickness to stock - direct fit to pads and calipers

they would use the OEM calipers and pad size - that's right - no big heavy calipers - no big caliper cost - adaptor blocks would be provided to space the caliper outward - this is a VERY common practice

they would be slotted and/or drilled

installation would not take any longer than a normal full brake change - you would NOT need to disconnect the calipers from the brake lines (read as - no bleeding "required" though we would still recommend flushing at the time of changing)

the parking brake would still work - it would NOT be advised that it be used as an emergency brake, but then neither is the OEM one

these will NOT work on 16" wheels

as a reference point, big red FRONT ONLY kits are about $1700 - they also add about 6lbs each

due to the initial cost of the hats, estimating kit cost at about $2400 for ALL FOUR CORNERS - however, unless you trashed them, replacement rotors would use the same hats, so that cost would only be about $200 per rotor after that

interested?

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[biotechee]

I think it is great idea. It would be something I would certainly consider if I was currently not on reduced hours. Given that I am on reduced hours for the foreseeable future, unnecessary purchases are just that, unnecessary.

I hope you go through with it and I hope others are interested. Losing the unsprung weight should feel really nice!!

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[flash]

yup - i can do the same size rotors, and therefore allow 16" wheels to be used, but i figured why not also increase braking and go bigger? the additional cost was not a lot

who knows? maybe i'll do both

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[Anchorman]

Moan...while I'd love these, I don't know that I could justify changing my relatively newly installed Big Silvers!

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[flash]

lol - yeah - i figured i'd get kicked in the teeth by you for this one - sorry - stuff takes time, and i couldn't get to this until now

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[Anchorman]

I certainly understand - the kick was very gentle!

But, I don't think you can count me in until something happens to my current setup - which I'm hoping will be "never"!

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[flash]

lol - no worries - i know you were anxious and i wish we could have gotten to this sooner - just too many projects going at once - knocking them out one at a time though

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[rxter]

ugh - I just put on rotors. Why not in 16's? How big are these things going to be anyway?

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[flash]

assuming i can get the blocks to work, they would be about 13" - i'm not sure yet if there is enough room to do it - we'll see how it works out - it may turn out that it just isn't worth doing in a larger size - again, the main goal is weight reduction, not increasing braking, so if i end up only doing the standard size, and even if i only do them for my own car, so be it

but, since i have 18s, i can do just about anything, and probably will - i'll know more about which direction i will go in a day or so

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[bva]

<!--quoteo(post=75125:date=Jul 7 2009, 05:51 PM:name=rxter)-->QUOTE (rxter @ Jul 7 2009, 05:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I just put on rotors.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

same here

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[Lim Yong]

Hi Flash,
just put on drilled rears. 2 piece fronts (stock size) is a good replacement at some point. Larger size would be greally great but a liitle too pricy for my wallet. thanks for following through with this though.......I'm sure it will be an excellent upgrade.

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[wmuldowney]

Yeah, same boat, dollars, although that will change for me in couple months.

If this happens what would ETA / delivery dates look like? Payment needed to order or closer to deliver

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[flash]

it will take 3-4 weeks to get them made, once i pull the trigger

i am working on better pricing, trying to get the package down to $2k - pretty sure i can get there, or awfully close, but it means a bigger production run - to do this means deposits from people first, at least on the first batch

i have the car in the air now, and will make the determination this week as to the rotor size, which will affect the package price to some degree

there are a couple of ways i can go:

i can make a package that fits just like OEM, but the only gain is weight loss (minimal braking improvement) - the upside is that it will fit all non-M030 car, regardless of wheel - it would likely be about 10% less expensive than the cost of the larger rotor package ends up being

i can make a package that fits 17 and up, with almost the same weight loss, but an improvement in braking

i can make a package that only fits my car, and everybody else can go buy the much more expensive and much heavier big reds, which would benefit me by making my car considerably faster than the "competition" - hehehe

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[wmuldowney]

<!--quoteo(post=75161:date=Jul 8 2009, 10:52 AM:name=flash)-->QUOTE (flash @ Jul 8 2009, 10:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->it will take 3-4 weeks to get them made, once i pull the trigger

i am working on better pricing, trying to get the package down to $2k - pretty sure i can get there, or awfully close, but it means a bigger production run - to do this means deposits from people first, at least on the first batch

i have the car in the air now, and will make the determination this week as to the rotor size, which will affect the package price to some degree

there are a couple of ways i can go:

i can make a package that fits just like OEM, but the only gain is weight loss (minimal braking improvement) - the upside is that it will fit all non-M030 car, regardless of wheel - it would likely be about 10% less expensive than the cost of the larger rotor package ends up being

i can make a package that fits 17 and up, with almost the same weight loss, but an improvement in braking

i can make a package that only fits my car, and everybody else can go buy the much more expensive and much heavier big reds, which would benefit me by making my car considerably faster than the "competition" - hehehe<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->



I like the idea of the 17" and up my self.

I'm just in bind for cash for the next 30-60 from buying the car and just dropped 2k into another AR-17. Too many hobbies LOL.
Trying not to pull too many "honey-need a new (fill in blank) part for the car", so I'm afraid I'm of little help on this for awhile.

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[flash]

i'm working on it - having a hard time making larger rotors fit in 17s without changing calipers, which i absolutely will not do - waiting for some more measurements on cars with 17s

as i said, i'll be happy to merely lose 3-4 lbs per rotor - i don't need more brakes - i can't get them to fade now, even when i've had it on the track - but, if i can get more.............

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[flash]

another added bonus - these rotor will definitely cool better than both the stock brembos and the zimmermans, cross-drilled or not - both of those have straight cooling vanes - these will be directional - they cool much better

so, in the end, between the better cooling, and the weight reduction, they will end up being more effective brakes, even at the oem size - i'm just not sure how much yet

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[firefish]

<!--quoteo(post=75076:date=Jul 7 2009, 06:28 PM:name=flash)-->QUOTE (flash @ Jul 7 2009, 06:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->everybody knows i've been talking for some time now about making some aluminum hat 2 piece rotors for the car - well, i am now at the point where i am ready to do this, and am curious as to whether or not anybody else would be interested

because the primary intended use would be street, pad knock is a very real consideration, and consequently fully floating rotors are out of the question - they are great on the track, but make a racket on the street - these will not be fully floating - they would be two piece with aluminum hats, but bolted together

what i am contemplating is a 4 wheel kit, not a 2 wheel kit - i want to maintain brake balance

weight loss was the primary goal - the new rotors would be about 3 lbs less net each - that translates to an equivalent weight loss of nearly 50lbs in the car, and because it is rotational mass, this is something you immediately will feel off the line

they would be about 1.5" larger diameter, providing approximately 25% more braking

cooling would be improved since they would have more braking torque and therefore not get as hot to begin with

they would be identical thickness to stock - direct fit to pads and calipers

they would use the OEM calipers and pad size - that's right - no big heavy calipers - no big caliper cost - adaptor blocks would be provided to space the caliper outward - this is a VERY common practice

they would be slotted and/or drilled

installation would not take any longer than a normal full brake change - you would NOT need to disconnect the calipers from the brake lines (read as - no bleeding "required" though we would still recommend flushing at the time of changing)

the parking brake would still work - it would NOT be advised that it be used as an emergency brake, but then neither is the OEM one

these will NOT work on 16" wheels

as a reference point, big red FRONT ONLY kits are about $1700 - they also add about 6lbs each

due to the initial cost of the hats, estimating kit cost at about $2400 for ALL FOUR CORNERS - however, unless you trashed them, replacement rotors would use the same hats, so that cost would only be about $200 per rotor after that

interested?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I am very interested. When you say "will fit stock calipers", are you referring to M030-cars or the regular ones? I'm about to fit 928 S4 calipers (same as M030 in most aspects) and the minimum rotor thicknes is, I believe, around 30,5 mm. Hence a 28 mm rotor will be too thin. Will the hat be M030 or regular? A M030 rotor will fit a regular hub but not the other way around. Or will the hat be M030 and the rotor available in both 28 mm and 32 mm?

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[968gene]

I have a set of Big Blacks sitting on my bench. I am unimpressed with the weight of the calipers. They DO NOT seem to be any heavier than the "Baby Brembo" 968 calipers. What IS heavy is the 928 GTS rotors that they use. An exciting proposition is the Lexus 430 caliper being fitted by a 944 group and they are using a Boxster rotor. This might be very easy to do with a Lexus caliper, Boxster two piece rotor to save weight, and the adapter that is available. 17"s are required. Did I mention that the Lexus caliper, which is a monoblock design, is available for around $75 and the adapter for less than $200? Yes, this would require changing the caliper and bleeding the system. I'm sticking with the Big Blacks since I am tracking the car and a track pad is not available for the Lexus caliper. By the way, the lexus caliper has a large flat surface that could be engraved (CNC'd) with a P' crest or whatever to give a very custom look.

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[flash]

to clarify, any kit i do will be for the standard (not M030) calipers - i don't want to get into selling calipers, or dealing with somebody else's calipers - the entire idea is weight loss - i don't need more brakes - i do need less weight - if i get more brakes, that's just an added bonus

i will not be doing any variants - there will be one setup, and it will fit my car - if i make any others, it will be purely because somebody else wanted exactly the same thing

i expected a LOT more response - there is no point in me going forward with production considerations with a quantity of less than a bare minimum of 10 pre-sold sets, and i don't really feel like waiting around for that to happen

at this point though, i am inclined to just make the one set and be done - no worries - i've done one-off stuff before - at least this way i will get the largest rotors i can - this thing is going to stop on a dime and give me 9 cents change

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[firefish]

I find it strange that interest is so low for this product. I would think that a product like this should be very appealing to all those non M030 riders with need for more braking (and bling). Since these rotors should fit the 944 too I suspect that a kit with the appropriate spacers for the calipers and new big rotors should be quite easy to sell in Sweden in at least numbers of 10 since it is a rather cost-efficient way of upgrading the brakes as one retains the stock calipers and pads (which are expensive).


Questions:

Would you like me to promote this kit on our Swedish 944/968 site)? Perhaps a group buy of kits to share shipping?

For how long time will new rotors be available should they crack/warp et.c? This is an issue since most buyers would like to know for how long time rotors are available before they are discontinued.

For people like me, with non M030 cars, but with other calipers (in my case 928 S4) <i>but</i> the stock hubs, the only thing stopping us from using your planned rotors is the thickness (need 32 instead of 28). The radial mounted calipers, be they S4, big reds or whatever, are easily spaced to match bigger rotors. How much trouble would it be to make rotors for non M030 cars but making them thicker (32 mm)? I assume that the hats would be the same because the offset is the same.

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