quote:Originally posted by 1Rocketship:
oHello Doug; The Trans-am Mustang going through that many sets (4) of pads & rotors would indicate to myself that the current braking configeration is woefully under-designed, also worth noting is the intense heat build-up of the current system makes the brakes extremely "Fade Prone"....it would be the same if the car was blowing up transmissions, or snapping drive shafts...the brakes are over-stressed/taxed....brake fade into a hair-pin turn does NOT equate into the Checkered Flag.....Markquote:Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
One of my criteria is getting away from the original rotors just because of replacement costs.
I saw a Trans-am Mustang go through 4 sets of rotors and pads in "practice".
That is just not affordable with stock Pantera rotors.
It is a result of too much practice for a 20 minute race. 3 sessions a day for three days, THEN the race.
It was also on the Full 2.5 mile course at Virginia International Raceway. The course they normally only use for the motorcycles.
The course is fast and when you are running with the Ford MkI's and II's flat out, you tend to use up your brakes a little?
Pantera's would have a tough time with this because of the rear disc setup on the car.
The race trailer has a lift and an on the car rotor machine but you need to have something left to cut.
If you look at the pictures of the Gp4 cars they have 12 x 1.25" vented rotors all around. That helps some.
Those are also the Lincoln/Thunderbird rotors, at least originally that was the source, so they are as economical as you can get. Throw them away when you are done with them.
They are big enough that you need to micro cut them new on the car and index them to reduce the vibration from them on the car because of the inertia.
A bigger front spindle on the Pantera would help some for bearing longevity. The stock Pantera spindle is the size of the early Mustangs. The Trans-Am Mustang race cars use the 1970 and later spindle which is larger in outside diameter and helps a lot with wider tires and wheels.
There is no such animal for the Pantera.
No one here really wants to hear it, but if you compare the front end components on the Mustangs and the Pantera, it appears that the Pantera components are modeled after the Mustangs.
A lot of current cars use aftermarket 2 piece rotors and hubs. No argument from me on that but Wilwood's are not the preferred rotors of the racers I talk to?