Reply to "Rear Brakes"

I had a couple of Lotus Esprits at one time, a '77 and a'78. I think they had inboard disc brakes. That was 17 years ago and my memory may be wrong. I was at some F-1 and CART rases at Long Beach, CA around 1980-1987 and they were using inboard disc brakes at that time. The current set-up are outbard, and it may be for the cooling ducts or aerodynamic designs. They change the brake ducts for each race track because each requires different braking loads, but the ducts cause big aerodynamic drag, so they always keep them as small as possible. Incidentally, they change the disk (rotor) type for each track (some ventillated, some solid) thay also change the calipers for each track and the brake pad material. I visited the Galles CART Shop in Albuquerque, NM in 1991 (before they went to the IRL League) and they coat the calipers with this gree liquid and flouresce them under special UV ights to look for cracks after each race, and they rebuild each shock after every race, etc.-very impressive)

The Lotus Esprit used many Ford parts (including a very much underpowered engine), so you may investigate Lotus Esprit to confirm this and maybe find a salvage situation where parts may be available. Even just a view of the Lotus Esprit on the 'net may be a good starting point for info, followed by a view of an Esprit at a dealer so view the set-up.

Those F-1's in those early years at long Beach had half shafts that were about 5/8" diameter and they REALLY PEELED OUT!!! I mean, they laid rubber down for 100 feet, which was visible for months or even years later on the city streets. (CART never had standing starts. So, it wasn't those guys who laid the rubber.) (I saw Mario Andretti running an F-1 there.) (I saw a guy do a complete 260 degree turn and never hit the concrete barrier on Pine Street, on Lap 1, on cold tires, just before they all took a right hand turn and got airborn beading down onto Shoreline Blvd.) (Man, that was an exciting day, they were hitting about 14,000 RPM only back then, and did it ever make the adrenalin pump in the crowd. Shrieeeeeking noise!)

Interesting question, keep us informed what you find out!