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I'm planning to buy a performance set of rotors and pads for my 98 Contour V6 ATX, OE's are 260 mm, and I would like to know if I can go to 278mm without changing the calipers?
Please advise
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Sure, you just need different caliper brackets. And of course, wheels that will clear the upgraded brakes. The brackets from later SVT's as well as for SOME FWD Cougars will do.
FWIW,
TB
"Seems like our society is more interested in turning each successive generation into cookie-cutter wankers than anything else." -- Jato 8/24/2004
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Bigger rotors will be pointless unless you get calipers/pads that can make use of the extra contact surface.
1999 Silver Frost SVT
#609 of 2760
Quaife, lightened SVT Flywheel, SPEC stage II clutch, removed resonator, k&n drop in - various other goodies too.
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Originally posted by TheGreatOne:
Bigger rotors will be pointless unless you get calipers/pads that can make use of the extra contact surface.
You get increased lever arm and more heat capacity, even with the same pads.
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Yes, the larger rotors should have greater heat capacity. So, if everything else is the same, I believe (although I do reserve the right to be wrong, LOL) that it will take longer to heat the rotors to a point where the brakes fade.
Now, if the pads, caliper and brake fluid take longer to heat up (I suspect they do, but am not sure) is another question.
Do we want to discuss tires, LOL?
TB
"Seems like our society is more interested in turning each successive generation into cookie-cutter wankers than anything else." -- Jato 8/24/2004
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Webmaster
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Going to 278mm rotors is a great, cheap upgrade for non-SVT vehicles.
You do, however, have to have 15" wheels to have the calipers clear and you cannot use the spare on the front anymore.
I have the upgrade, and I like it a lot.
-Lance
Lance Kinley
CEG Webmaster
95 SE, "Cassandra"
10 years!
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Just a short addition to Lance's post. The late SVT's and most 99 and up Cougars have the 278mm front rotors with the same calipers and pads that you now have. I have driven cars with both braking systems and find very little difference in braking ability. If it is good enough for the late SVT it must not be all bad. I believe that the bigger calipers and pads are a little bit better, but as close as they are to each other, it is hardly cost effective to swap to the big calipers too.
Jim Johnson
98 SVT
03 Escape Limited
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Maybe the thing to do is go straight to 300mm rotors. Those should fit inside 16s, right? I wonder if there's an affordable way to do this... I think BAT is coming out with a kit for this, but as far as I can tell in their catalogue so far, it's only with expensive four-piston calipers.
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Originally posted by tboner:
Do we want to discuss tires, LOL?
TB
Now, just thinking out loud here, but what would the real effect of a larger pad be?
1) Well, having a larger friction interface with the rotor, it would generate heat faster, given the same pressure.
2) But, having a larger area, it would take more pedal force to generate the same pressure.
3) But, having a larger friction surface, less pedal force would be required to generate the same "stopping power."
I suspect that the caliper would heat up the same as always, and that Big Jim's driving impression would stand up to the number crunchers.
I, too, reserve the right to be wrong.
Function before fashion.
'96 Contour SE
"Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998
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How does the friction area change?
We are talking about using the same calipers and simply increasing the rotor diameter?
I don't really think the E0 calipers and pads have a greater surface area than do the E1 (standard Contour front calipers) on larger rotors.
I'm curious what the stopping distances are on a V6 Contour and an SVT Contour.
Let me pop over to Edmunds and check these out for the 2000MY.
TB
"Seems like our society is more interested in turning each successive generation into cookie-cutter wankers than anything else." -- Jato 8/24/2004
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