Postby Hasbeen » 01 May 2009 06:29
No Beans, we are in total agreement, I was only joking. I too, want
excelent brakes, in mint condition on my cars. There was 180 man
hours put into the brakes on my F2 Brabham, to get the best braking,
along with no drag, to use up its small horse power.
Still, I can detect no improvement in the braking capacity of the 8
since I fitted the discs to its rear end. Of course, as a white
haired, elderly gentleman, no longer competing, who scrupulously
observes the speed limit, no matter how low our Bl@@dy stupid
##$@%^^$@#!!*# politicians set the thing, [Ha] I am unlikely to test
the rear drums to the limit.
In defence of drum brakes however, I will claim to having the best
brakes in the Bathurst 100, in 1966. This race was second only to
the Australian GP in importance in open wheeler racing in Oz back
then. It was a race for F1, F2, & selected faster FJs, & other
racing cars. The FJ had only a Cosworth Ford 105E, 1100cc pushrod
engine, but was getting over 140 MPH down conrod.
My Lotus 20 Formula Junior was 6 years old, & had Alfin drums all
round, very well set up for minimum drag, & maximum braking. From
start to finish of the race, I could outbrake all the late model
F1s, & F2s, with their discs all round. At the bottom of conrod, [no
chase to slow you down back then], I could brake at least 80 yards
later than the F2s. I could slipstream them down the straight, &
pass them into Murrays corner. The fact that the car weighed only
860 LBS probably helped.
It is a matter of record, that I finished third outright in the
race. It would have been pretty hard to do that, if my brakes had
not been good, I was giving them 400cc in engine capacity.
Hasbeen
