brake question
Turbo Mini Forums

hey fellas
was wondering
is it in any way possible to turn down some 8.4 discs to 7.5 and still use the 8.4 calipers and get them to fit under 10 inch revolutions?
the fiesta caliper idea sounds like a bit too much work for me


cheers

tom

Warning:Stig in Training


The Turbocharger:God's Finest Minute

I have heard of this being done with metro 4 pots, but TBH it sounds like a lot more work than the fiesta conversion.

Its the calipers that are the issue really, I have seen a few S calipers go for not alot on ebay recently, like 40 quid a pair. a new set of seals and stainles pistons and your sorted, new S discs and drive flanges arn't that much really.

Stuart Wright did this conversion i believe.

got them on my car, wouldn't recommend anyone doing it unless they knew exactly what they were doing tbh.

do a search i've posted whats involved lots of times in the past.

Speak to Rob (British Open Classic) as he has the Fiesta calipers on his car.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

whats wrong with the calipers?
a caliper is. . . .well. . . .a caliper right?
and finding a set of fiest callys is gonna be very difficult over here

and i cant buy over ebay either

Warning:Stig in Training


The Turbocharger:God's Finest Minute

Hi,
I don't tihnk there's anything wrong with the 4 pot calipers, I've got them under 13"s.
But I believe it's a lot of work to get them under 10"s compared to the Fiesta ones....
Cheers,
Gavin :)

VEMs Authorised Installer / Re-seller. K head kits now available!

WB/EGT gauges. Click here for customers write-up

Visit www.doyouneedabrain.co.uk

My Mini build diary

Oh yes, I've helped somebody with this before and to be honest I don't want to tell anybody how to do it because if you get it even slightly wrong the caliper could fail .... not nice!!

If you have to run 10" wheels then your better off using some of the aftermarket 4pots desinged for the job, far safer.

Why are you fitting 10" wheels? I know I am in the minority on this forum but I'd never run 10" wheels because of the tire and brake problems they bring.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

what tire problems?
im only interested as going as fast as possible round as many corners as possible so 10s it must be

i think i might have to do just that
could you recommend any good aftermarket calipers?

and are the 7.5 inch discs thinner than the 8.4s? might i need to thin down the discs?

sorry if you covered this ground already but i keep getting a lot of conflicting answers and im not sure who to believe

Warning:Stig in Training


The Turbocharger:God's Finest Minute

If you want to go around corners as fast as possible the last thing you want is 10" wheels .... get some 13s and set the car up around them .... proven this on the same car with the same driver (not the owner of the car to make it double fair) on a few occasions.

If there is a good 10" tire with stiff side walls that exists I've not seen it!! If you watch cars at trackdays running on 10s you can see from the trackside the car moving around inside the tire ... no amount of trick geometry will help fix that problem!!!

I would never, never, fit 10" wheels.

Anyway, to answer your other questions the 8.4 discs will just need turning down in diameter, thickness is the same. Minispares calipers come well recomended.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

I've never seen any of these 7" discs though and I don't know anyone that has, so unlikely to come across any IMO.

thanks guys
roger your confusing me now
so if the tire problems are as bad as you say why does everyone say fit 10s for the handling?

Warning:Stig in Training


The Turbocharger:God's Finest Minute

Most people "feel" they can push the car harder on 10s as the car is more forgiving and inspires more confidence.

13s, with the car set up around them, make the car feel very direct and very positive, can also generate a little lift off oversteer due to the comparative lack of movement in the rear side walls. It is a littler harder to drive a car like this but there is no doubt your going quicker once you can! Ok the ulitmate limit is shown up as an immediate loss of grip but if you get used to the car and know it's coming you can control that easily enough (a quick rack does help a little though .. lol). That said if you find the ultimate limit on 13s on the road then your being fairly irresponsible in your driving IMHO.

So basically 10s are easier to drive fast but 13s are ultimately faster ... if that makes sense.

It's like the old 911s .... some people feel realy uneasy with how direct and pointy they are .... reacting instantly to every input ..... put the wrong input in and you got the (unintended) output immediately .... result lots of yuppies dead in hedgerows .. shame.

The (80s) 911 is one of the most comunicative chassis ever to grace our roads but that communication (roughly translated to what do you think your doing you pratt .... where did you get your licence from?????) was seen as a handling problem with the car as most people don't want to admit that maybe they aren't as brilliant behind the wheel as Senna when the oposite is actually true!!!!

I really dislike an vagueness in a cars response, I really can't abide it at all. I know it is (litereally) on a different scale but when people try to drive my RC race cars they usually either spin them at the first corner or go off track several feet in front of the apex as the cars are so pointy ... that is how I like my Mini to be too.

Hope that helps explain what I mean .... I wrote something similar but more involved in a previous thread ... have a look and I welcome your comments.



Tom, I have a set of the 7" discs in the workshop ... took them off a 997cc Cooper a few years back when the prices meant they were not worth saving. I can assure you all that if you ever get offered a drive in one then you need to brake early, real early ..... worse than the last of the line drums by some margin!!!!!

Edited by RogerM on 3rd Jun, 2007.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

makes perfect sense roger
but 13s mean buying noo rims and i already got a set or 10 inch revos so for now they stay

and besides 10s are easier to get spinnin right?

Warning:Stig in Training


The Turbocharger:God's Finest Minute

i have 3 sets of discs that fit 10" wheels. i have "S" discs on the car, 8.4" vented discs turned to 7.5" and the 4 pot metro caliper moved in on the hub, and the 7" cooper discs.

dont bother with the cooper discs, the S discs are good but the vented disc is best. only problem with the vented disc is you cant always fit the wheels you like and the modifications are less than safe.

the only options i would recomend is the S discs or the fiesta caliper although i've never tried it.

ive decided to go the fiesta way guys
a mate promised to help with it so we ll see
thanks anyway

Warning:Stig in Training


The Turbocharger:God's Finest Minute

PM Rob (Bristish Open Classic on here) about the fiesta conversion ... he has run them for a while and really rates them ... a friendly chap too.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...