What the heck is this.....

[tb1999]

OK, see if you can figure out what's happening here?





So what?



A couple of pictures of somebody's Mazda.....



But is seeing believing?



Can you trust your own eyes?



I swear, I don't even own a copy of photoshop!









What the......















This is just a mock-up session, more work to come.

When the final versions are done, the area below in red will be cleared out to provide a place to duct fresh air directly into the tophat.



These will be my new brakes for this years racing season. This conversion uses our stock rotors (11" for 2005 onwards). I'll probably go with a cryo-stop, or other quality rotors if the generic motorcraft replacements don't hold up well.

The 2 big bonuses here will be saving about 4-5 lbs of unsprung weight PER WHEEL, and improving the brake cooling performance. The finned aluminum calipers will cool better than our stock brakes, and having a good option for a direct cooling duct connection which is not possible on our stock set-up, my overall braking will be considerably improved. (And for a VERY LOW COST! I paid $65 for a pair of these calipers on e-bay, and I'll have to fabricate a few simple brackets. I don't expect to spend more than $250 on the entire swap!)


Wait till you see what I might be doing with a set of aluminum control arms from a 944! SCCA STU class rules allow for alternate suspension parts, you just have to retain the stock suspension type. Same goes for the brakes, any 4 piston caliper is allowed.

To round out these upgrades, I'm also getting some 15X7.5 (or 8) Rota Slipstreams, helping save even more weight.

[jmiller_1974]

Well now, that is neat!

[theheat]

looks nice man, are 15's going to fit on those? they look huge

[tb1999]

Originally Posted by theheat

looks nice man, are 15's going to fit on those? they look huge

Those ARE 15" Enkei's on there, fits perfect!

You can read the tire size in the second pic.

The rims in this pic are about 16lbs, and only 6.5" wide. These will be kept for my rain tires, and the R-comps will go on the Rota's which only weigh about 11 or 12 lbs.

Between the brake swap and lighter rims I'll be saving a total of almost 9-10 lbs of unsprung weight per wheel......

[jmiller_1974]

Shaving 16-20lbs is a considerable reduction, especially considering the larger calipers.

[tb1999]

Originally Posted by jmiller_1974

Shaving 16-20lbs is a considerable reduction, especially considering the larger calipers.

Weight is the enemy!

These calipers only weigh about 5-6lbs, the stock calipers/brackets are tipping the scales at about 10 -10.5 lbs.

Since I've already upgraded to SS brake lines, I'll just need to get the correct fitting for this caliper with 3-AN male fitting for the SS line to attach. So that's going to be a piece of cake.

The final set of brackets will be laser cut from some sheet stock, probably a 3/16" steel plate on the outside due to clearance restrictions. But I'll probably use something a bit thicker, either steel or alum for and inner bracket, making a big sandwich out of the whole thing. Of course this will use all grade 8 HW, and there will be some welding done to get bolts and nuts permanently connected to the outer bracket. This will have to be installed first, then the rotor, then the caliper fits over and the sandwich plate and HW bolts in from the rear.

The extra long bolts on the inner positions will be used to bolt on the cooling ducts/nozzle.

[theheat]

thats great man!!!!

i have some old 15x8's with azenis for my autox wheels, and they barely miss the caliper... its super sexy!!!

[norcalfocus01]

Very nice! We will need a full write up please.

[tb1999]

Originally Posted by norcalfocus01

Very nice! We will need a full write up please.

Yes, indeed I will.

Chances are also good that I will be making 2 or 3 extra copies of the brackets and hardware once I work out the details, so I can sell them to offset the cost of my project.

[wrc_fan]

Can't get the pictures to load for some reason

Where are the calipers from?

Nevermind, they loaded now, but... what mazda are they from???

I like the idea, they bolt on to the stock knuckle w/o any modification???

I'm interested, street prepared rules for autox allow for different brakes, and saving weight is good.

Question, how are you going to adjust propotioning to maintain appropiate balance between front and rear?

[tb1999]

Originally Posted by wrc_fan

Can't get the pictures to load for some reason

Where are the calipers from?

The front axle of a 2nd Gen RX7

[tb1999]

Originally Posted by wrc_fan

Can't get the pictures to load for some reason

Where are the calipers from?

Nevermind, they loaded now, but... what mazda are they from???

I like the idea, they bolt on to the stock knuckle w/o any modification???

I'm interested, street prepared rules for autox allow for different brakes, and saving weight is good.

Question, how are you going to adjust propotioning to maintain appropiate balance between front and rear?

You have to remove about 3/16" from the webbing on the mounting lugs on the caliper, but the webbing is very meaty so I'm not concerned with the amount of material removed.

I will create a full how-to with pics of the caliper before and after the mods.

I already have a wilwood lever type proportioning valve, the hydraulic circuits have to be restructured to a front/rear split instad of the stock diagonal split.

I have to see how the braking feel and pedal travel is after the system it installed/bled/tested. These calipers will have a smaller overall piston volume, which will reduce pedal travel, but require more pedal pressure to create the same clamping force.

While this might not be the best option for street driving or even autocross, I'm hoping that this will give me a higher pedal height to facilitate heel/toe easier on track. (that was a tough job last year, the pedal height dropped after doing the SVT rear disc swap)

And with the slight increase in pedal pressures, I should have better feedback for braking modulation. Everything on the Focus is such a marshmallow from the factory, suspension, brakes, steering, they all need to be tweaked to provide a crisper response and better driver feedback to allow effective driving near the limits of grip.