v8kid
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 01:23 PM |
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Hi-Spec Brakes
Any forum members have any recent experiences with this company?
An internet search shows they had bad reports around 2000 - 2005 and I wonder if they have solved the problem.
On the other hand Radical fit Hi-Spec as standard so you would imagine the quality is good and the price is reasonable.
The reason I ask is they sell calipers and 280mm discs that fit inside 13" rims and the only other company I can find that does that is AP who
are expensive.
Still all the old bad reports are offputing but how valid were they? It may be a case of knowing someone who knows someone.... and so the tale
grows.
Experiences would be appreciated.
Cheers
David
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matt_gsxr
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 01:30 PM |
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no experience of hi-spec.
Regarding 280mm and such inside 13inch rims. Not all rims are made equally (different size inside, different offsets etc etc.) so you might want to
check that these will work with yours before you hand over the cash.
You can guess how I might know!
Matt
[Edited on 17/12/08 by matt_gsxr]
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omega0684
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 01:39 PM |
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i've got hi-spex ultra light 4 pots on the front of my dax, they stop the car on a 5 pence piece, very good, but if i recall there service was a
bit shoddy, i had to make three casing up phone calls and wait 6 weeks for my calipers.
imho, products from the company where top notch even tho one of mine didn't fit properly, but they replaced it without question and within 7
days. but ive had no other problems with them what so ever!
as for the service, when i was actually speaking to someone who knew what they were talking about it was good, but the receptionist was a right bimbo,
i just had this picture in my mind of a big fat women scoffing a cake whilst she was answering calls!
just dug this out, im running 240mm on the front of mine with 15" rims and there is about an inch of space around the disc, so i reckon that
fitting 280mm on 13" will either be EXTREMELY TIGHT or not possible, imho you dont need to run 280mm unless you are running a boosted engine
etc, like i say my car stops very effectively running 240mm vented,grooved and drilled on the front with 4 pots and i run a 215 solid grooved and
drilled on the back with cosworth rear caliper.
i know that picture isn't ideal but you can see the space im talking about
hope this helps
Alex
[Edited on 17/12/08 by omega0684]
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jimgiblett
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 01:43 PM |
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I have the Ultra lights on my Fury. Product is fine but no better than my Outlaws were on my old Phoenix
Hi-Spec sales service is alledged to be second to most.
- Jim
[Edited on 17/12/08 by jimgiblett]
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britishtrident
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 02:02 PM |
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The biggest disc size that can sensibly be fitted inside a normal alloy wheel is 13" and allow rom for decent caliper is 10.25" ---
just a lick over 260mm.
I ran 10.25" discs with Girling alloy Caliper and it was a neat fit inside a standard 4 spoke Revolution competition wheel.
You might get away with slightly bigger by using ultra thin wheel rim but these wouldn't be suitable for road use.
But I would also point out if you narrow the air gap between the disc and rim brake cooling will be impaired and more heat transfered to both wheel
and tyre.
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PAUL FISHER
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 02:15 PM |
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Ive delt with hi spec when building my last two cars,in 2004 and again in 2007/8,service was poor on both occasions,just be prepared for a long
wait,so if your not in a rush your ok.
The Hi spec great quality gear though
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Russ-Turner
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 02:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by v8kid
Any forum members have any recent experiences with this company?
An internet search shows they had bad reports around 2000 - 2005 and I wonder if they have solved the problem.
That's a long time to have bad reports for IMO.
quote:
Originally posted by v8kidOn the other hand Radical fit Hi-Spec as standard so you would imagine the quality is good and the price is
reasonable.
Anything that has anything to do with Radical is usually cheap, nasty and built down to a price IMO. We ran a Radical with the so called 'high
spec' brake package and it was just avaerage. On other sports cars when ever we have strayed away from AP we always end up back there.
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nstrug
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 02:48 PM |
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Lots of reports on the Dax forum saying that products are good, but service is awful. Rallye Design service is supposed to be very good.
Nick
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AdamR
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 05:11 PM |
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What about Wilwood? Don't know about the specific disc size, but they are certianly available to fit under 13" wheels.
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bob tatt
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 05:46 PM |
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i tried to contact them for two weeks to get some calipers and after leaving several messages never got phoned back ordered some wilwoods from rally
design instead and they were here two days later would not touch hi spec in a million years. can you imagine what would happen if something went wrong
with p..s poor service like that. just my opinion
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scootz
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 08:25 PM |
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Good product, but AWFUL customer service!
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v8kid
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| posted on 17/12/08 at 10:19 PM |
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Thanks for the input guys from what you say there still appear to be issues with Hi-Spec service.
Although the nice people at Compomotive gave me full size drawings for their rims its a good point that all manufacturers are not the same and I guess
I'll have to confirm fit before purchacing rims.
Both Hi-Spec and AP produce calipers which will fit under 13" rims with a 280mm disc (278 actually) and 280mm discs are standard fitting on F3
who run with 13" rims. The problem is AP are £1k more expensive to fit out all 4 corners and I need to spend my money wisely - hence trying to
convince myself Hi-Spec are OK!
F3 don't have a cooling problem I'm aware of because of proximity to the rim perhaps it only affects shrouded wheels hopefully the locost
open style will not be subject to this?
I had not considered that Radical built down to a price and it certainly throws a new light on Hi-Spec's provenance by association!
Can I fit a smaller disc and use other less slim calipers like wilwood? Well I'm hoping to get -1.4g with Avon tyres so every little bit helps
and as the braking torque is directly proportional to the diameter od the discs going down from 280mm to 260mm is a drop of 8% which is one hell of a
distance when braking from speed.
The concencus seems to be it is a fairly good product but quality control and service are iffy.
God knows I've bought some shite in my time and regretted it but I just can't decide here.
I think I'll wait untill after the racecar show in January and decide then.
Thanks again for the comments
Cheers
David
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procomp
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:10 AM |
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Hi
The last time we fitted an AP F3 type brake setup to a Westfield with 13"rims ( a few years ago mind ) we had to run 3pc split rims to gain the
small clearance to run them. We where effectivly running sprint races 15-20 minutes so never encountered any over heating problems at all.
And to be honest even with 300 bhp in the that car it was deemed that the brakes not entirely necessary as there was not a huge difference in
performance over a well setup Std cortina disc and M16's combination. But it will depend upon the aplication and use of the car if the larger
setup will be of real value.
Cheers matt
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