Wilwood 6-piston upgrade.

[M coop]

I look forward to hearing about this upgrade! 

[bolus]

You know that Tom's uprights will accomidate alcons on both sides you know.  They are made to be used on either side of the car so they have mounting holes that would work for the Alcon caliper on both sides (probably the willly-woods as well)

[Bottoz]

FYI: With the Track Brake Package (Wilwood 4 pot on each wheel) most of the braking was done from the rears. I had my brake bias set more rearward that neutral. It alwas seemed odd to me to see the Big Alcons up front when the rears did most of the work.

[nickpoore]

[quote="Bottoz"]
FYI: With the Track Brake Package (Wilwood 4 pot on each wheel) most of the braking was done from the rears. I had my brake bias set more rearward that neutral. It alwas seemed odd to me to see the Big Alcons up front when the rears did most of the work.
[/quote]

How do you tell where the mid-point of the brake bias is?

[Alec]

[quote="Nicholas"]
I think that BOLUS would like this:


[/quote]

If you think that's shiny then how about these? 

[nickpoore]

Pretty Rotors.

But at least Wilwood were smart enough to polish the bit that doesn't get rubbed by the brake pad.

(Seeing the R8 - is this on an Audi?)

[Alec]

[quote="Nicholas"]
(Seeing the R8 - is this on an Audi?)
[/quote]

Yes, but it was the Audi R8 cutaway at the Paris Motor Show in 2006 so not intended to be driven. 

I just thought Bolus could drool over them.

[dingo]

Hi Bottoz:  
How would you determine this statement:

"most of the braking was done from the rears"

to be true \ supported ?

I would take issue with that claim.  
I've never known an Atom where the rear brakes are doing 50+ % of the work.    
Having owned three and each of them with a differnt brake set ups, also with brake bias bar experimentaiton, I can assure you that my Alcon all round
set up now still has more braking taking place up front. Weight transfer dictates it, even with all that weight over \ ahead of the rear axle.  

If there was more than 50% of the braking being done at the rear one might expect them to lock up and you'd be spinning as you can't see them when they lock.
It's safer to have a front lock up first.

Interested to know if you actually have support for that comment then.  

Not trying to be provocative, just interested.

[RichardR]

As the Atom's wheel's can already be locked easily under braking, surely the larger calipers would only allow more heat dissipation i.e. braking consistency  - which isn't an Atom problem either. They will however add more unsprung weight,

[benyeats]

[quote="RichardR"]

As the Atom's wheel's can already be locked easily under braking, surely the larger calipers would only allow more heat dissipation i.e. braking consistency  - which isn't an Atom problem either. They will however add more unsprung weight,
[/quote]

But you don't want to lock the wheels, you want to be on the verge of locking them up to get the best stopping power, otherwise the heat of braking is dissapated via the tyre to the road which is not as efficient a transfer as the pad / disk interface. 

Having bigger brakes means the heat transfer between the pad / disk is better so you get more feeling in the brakes so can avoid locking up.

Ben

[RichardR]

I stand corrected - I know little about mechanics/physics

[Bottoz]

Nicholas  - I turned the Brake Bias knob all the way in one direction... then turned it 10 rotatoins all the way to the other side. The mid point is 5. (if I remeber correctly)

Dingo - With the Brake Bias knob set mid way (50/50), and after a few good warm-up laps (heat in the tires and heat in the brakes), the fronts would lock-up waaaay sooner than the rears. To get the fronts to lock up only a tad bit before the rears, I had to add about 1.5 to 2 turns of rear bias. This was all done on a track day with minimal traffic... pretty much had the track to my self. I was on Hankook Z211 R-compound - 205/50R15 Front & 225/50R16 Rear and the Wilwood 4 pot brakes on each wheel. And... I think... 63% of the Atoms weight is on the rear.

I never had the Atom spin out under braking. YMMV!

[shinoo]

We're using the Wilwood Dynapro 4 pots on our Lotus BBK.  They are a very nice caliper.  They are a serious upgrade over the Base/Sport/Track packages.  Our brake supplier has developed a nice kit for the Atom that we soon offer as an upgrade.  See pic below.  The biggest problem with the Base/Sport packages is that they suffer from too little brake in the rear. 

[nickpoore]

[quote="Bottoz"]
Nicholas  - I turned the Brake Bias knob all the way in one direction... then turned it 10 rotatoins all the way to the other side. The mid point is 5. (if I remeber correctly)

Dingo - With the Brake Bias knob set mid way (50/50), and after a few good warm-up laps (heat in the tires and heat in the brakes), the fronts would lock-up waaaay sooner than the rears. To get the fronts to lock up only a tad bit before the rears, I had to add about 1.5 to 2 turns of rear bias. This was all done on a track day with minimal traffic... pretty much had the track to my self. I was on Hankook Z211 R-compound - 205/50R15 Front & 225/50R16 Rear and the Wilwood 4 pot brakes on each wheel. And... I think... 63% of the Atoms weight is on the rear.

I never had the Atom spin out under braking. YMMV!
[/quote]

You know, I was all set to argue with you.
I mean, how the hell can you be right, and my thoughs be wrong.

It stands to reason that the front brakes get more work, since the weight is transferred FORWARDS to the front wheels when you brake.  Therefore, it stands to reason that the front brakes will wear more.

I have a simple explaination with regards to your brake bias argument - your brake bias knob does not transfer from 100% front to 100% rear, so there is no mid-point arguement.

BUT.

I just took apart my brakes.
My REAR pads are more worn than my front pads.

Which makes you right, and me wrong.
Damn, I hate that.

[Bottoz]

Dang Nicholas... sorry to disappoint.

Originally, I also thought that the fronts would do most of the work. But after being on track and playing with the bias I'm convinced that the rears are in charge. Plus, it's hard to challenge your pictures!