Ok. I know that bigger rotors equals more contact with the brake pad so better stopping power which equals faster stopping and the better chance of locking your wheels.

Now my question is yes you upgrade the rotors but does that always mean you are going to get better stopping distance because of the fact that when you stop your brakes you lock up the tires and slide for 30 feet. Would wider tires (more contact patch help) or is there something i'm missing here?

-garrett

 

wider tires wouldnt help at all, because the brakes (disk) press agaisnt the side of the tire causing it to stop. but locking the tires isnt much of an issue now a days thanks to abs

edit: the only way to get more contact is by bigger rotors, and if you upgrade the amount of pistons in your calipers then youll get more pressure agaisnt the tire which will really start slowing the car down. now all of this will cause a lot of heat, which is why people cross drill and slot their rotors to remove it, but im sure you knew that.

edit edit: ok i just noticed something, i do think that if you had wider tires when they locked it would stop faster, gosh i cant beleive i didnt notice that until reading it 3 times, im just tired as hell

 

isn't abs just on passenger cars (inexperienced drivers)? In like pro scca and shit like that they don't use abs

do they??

 

it's popping up on a few performance cars... and from what i hear, when designed correctly, usually end up with better stops than non-abs cars with even the best threshold braker behind the wheel.

 

You're missing everything. Your braking distance is determined by available grip. If your brakes can lock your wheels (exceeding available grip), then there is virtually no change you can make to your brakes that is going to signifigantly affect your stopping distance. The only gains you'll see by modifying the brake system at that point are the result of better feel which makes the driver better able to modulate brake pressure and keep braking closer to the limit of grip (and to bring the brake system pressure to the limit of grip more rapidly).

Bigger tires won't necessarily mean more grip. You will end up with more contact patch, but with less pressure per square inch of contact patch. Better tire compounds or increased downforce are more reliable ways to increase grip.

Go buy this and read it: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...047660-6311158

 

Not always, some big brakes have the same size pad as smaller stock brakes.

The larger rotor has the advantage of proving a larger radius that gives the friction material a mechanical advantage over a smaller rotor when it comes to trying to keep the wheel from turning, and the larger area of the disk makes it better at adsorbing and dissapating heat.