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Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 2nd, 2009, 6:29 pm
by Towona
I'm looking to fit my E-mod autocross car with very wide 13" wheels in order to cut down on the cost of race rubber. Does anyone know if one could swap out the front brakes from a 93 RS for something smaller, say from a 323 or Protege or something which has 13's?

Thought: I know normal offset 13" wheels wont fit, but I'm not entirely sure it's because of the size of the caliper. Perhaps I can get around the problem by fitting a low offset wheel?

Similarly, I am also wondering if 13" wheels will fit over the rear brakes if I do the GS rear disc swap.

Thoughts?

Re: Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 4th, 2009, 3:03 pm
by Nd4SpdSe
I don't know man, but autocross is as much about braking as it is acceleration and handling. It's probably not worth sacrificing the braking power for better tires.

Re: Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 4th, 2009, 4:28 pm
by Mnemonic
I haz thoughts!!!

Your willing to reduce braking power to cut cost of some rubber... So let me get this straight, your life is only worth a few 100 at most?

Re: Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 4th, 2009, 4:33 pm
by hppwdn
I fit a 13x8 Rota RB on my stock GS brakes. You could also look into shaving the calipers slightly to clear other wheels.

Even with that said, I would be looking into bigger brakes that might fit under 15" wheels. 15" race tires are one of the most popular and highly produced sizes.

Re: Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 4th, 2009, 10:35 pm
by Mooneggs
as others have said... downsizing brakes and autocross should not be in the same sentence. we don't want this ending up in the FAILED thread... :roll:

Re: Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 5th, 2009, 9:56 am
by projectzemx3
ya thats just stupid..... if anything pick up some 14's

Re: Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 6th, 2009, 2:11 pm
by Towona
Silly gentlemen... :confused2: this car is strictly race-only and is already down to sub 2000lb weight. The stock rotors and pads (with drums in the back mind you) are more than enough stopping power for the car as they are (locks up the r-comps) so slightly smaller calipers/rotors with upgraded rotors/pads/fluid/lines + a rear disk swap will not present a problem.

Where were all of these comments when people did big-brake upgrades only to find out their car doesn't stop as well as stock? :crying:

Re: Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 8th, 2009, 1:50 pm
by Nd4SpdSe
Racing requires more braking than just regular driving. I'm actually an advocate of upgrading the stock brake system over putting in a big brake kit, but some have said they've got significant fade even in that case, but I don't really believe it. But in your case, stopping power may not be the issue, but the significant lack of material to absorb and disicpate the heat from braking.

However, you're not doing this for performance reasons, but to make it cheaper for tires. You also need to think about the offset in cost; what you'll be saving in the cost of tires in comparison to what you will spend to downgrade your brakes.

323 and Protege I believe uses the same front brakes; reason why the front calipers are cheap to replace, as opposed to how expensive the rear calipers are.

I remember asking a while back about putting the stock 14"s on a GS and I was told they wouldn't fit....

Re: Downsizing front brakes to fit 13" wheels?

Posted: June 9th, 2009, 3:34 pm
by Towona
The performance advantage will be the reduced rotational mass. At auto-x events that I frequent the speeds don't reach 60mph (not in my car anyways) and run times are sub 60 seconds. If I were running solo 1 or something I wouldn't bother.