What do you suggest as a reasonable front suspension set-up? Is it worth bothering with vented discs or will original grooved and drilled cortina discs do? (if so, where can I buy them?)

I want to upgrade the (frankly poo) M16s to a 4pot caliper. Is there any better than the Wilwood calipers?

What do you guys recommend?

They may seem poo. But they will stop a locost quicker than you think they will A car weighing only half that of the orginal car only has 1/4of the engery, so the brakes only have to work 1/4 as hard to stop in the same distance

When I asked a similar question I was told to fit good quality pads (Mintex fast road pads) and use normal discs. Depending on your budget you could fit drilled and grooved discs which are about £40/pair. Pads and discs are available from www.rallydesign.com.

Cheers,
David

[Edited on 24/4/06 by flak monkey]

So you really think the M16s are OK?

Personally, yes i think they are fine. I am even using drum brakes on the back....

Really it all depends on your budget. If you have upwards of £300 to spend on some front calipers and discs, by all means do so and there will be a difference. I am just not conviced theres enough difference to warrant the expenditure.... Maybe if you want the car as a track car it would be worth it, but not on the road.

Just wait for everyone to disagree now

David

[Edited on 24/4/06 by flak monkey]

and it would take you £50 over budget

I have had M16's and standard Cortina discs on the front of my car for three years now, and have done quite literally thousands of trackday miles. I have never had any worries about braking power, and I have only once got the brakes so hot that they started losing effectiveness - and that was with OE spec Ferodo pads. Last year I fitted some 'decent' pads, and got rid of that problem too!

Having said that, I am presently upgrading to Hi-Spec 4 pot calipers (if they ever turn up!). The only reason I am doing so is too shed weight, rather than improve braking. If they do improve the braking, that will be a bonus to me...

Vented Disks = Massive Overkill IMHO

retro ford mag did a back to back test of hi-spec 4 pots against princess 4 pots and found improved braking performance, as mentioned though with around a quarter of the work to do on a 7 , the difference would be minimal.

didn't someone on here swap m16's for wilwood 4 pots and find no performance difference, can't remember who it was

quote:

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Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
didn't someone on here swap m16's for wilwood 4 pots and find no performance difference, can't remember who it was

---

if you are looking to upgrade to a more powerful engine in the future then a brake upgrade may be a good idea. if you want fancy calipers why not give hi-spec a call and talk to geoff. hi-spec do a lug and radial replacement for the M16 caliper, i think that they are about £90 +VAT (each), like dave (flat monkey) said get yourself some decent pads (mintex or EBC green/red stuff) and you will have a great breaking system. (you will be able to stop your car on a 5 pence piece let alone a 50)

Again it depends on your budget, i prefer the look of the hi-spec calipers (you can have them in bronze,silver or gold) to the dull black wilwood one, again its down to you. i have heard good and bad reports on both hi-spec and wilwood but again its down to personal preference

here is the hi-spec site
http://www.hispecmotorsport.co.uk/

Thanks guys.

I think I've been persuaded to stick with the M16s for the moment. It is a tad expensive to uprgrade to the 4pots just to save a few kilos - I think I'd rather keep my £200 and cut down on puddings.

I think you'll find there's slightly more than just a few kilos to be saved and remember where those kilos are - the worst possible place - unsprung and some of it rotating.

Like you state though, they're not cheap but definitely worth bearing in mind for future modification.

[Edited on 25-4-06 by Hellfire]