Hi,
If you want to help your braking, the first thing is to upgrade the tires.
The best brakes in the world won't matter if the contact patch can't
handle the load.
If you've upgraded the tires, the next best thing to do is the rear
cylinders. This is cheap at about $75 from Vicky Brit. (including
shipping).
The next thing to do is upgrade the pads/shoes. I agree with Irv K. on the
carbon kevlar pads - they make the brakes awesome in most condtions, but a
tad "hairy" in the rain (e.g. they become more 'binary" than easily
modulated).
If you've done all the above, you will have the best braking that you can
get from the stock setup. Any changes from this point going foward will
cost lots of $$$ and result in tiny incremental change in the performance
of the brakes.
Because the marketing mavens are successful at what they do, we all tend
to think that we can bolt on a couple parts and make our cars into
supercars. Of course reality dictates otherwise. The truth is - the stock
system was pretty darned good to start with - how many '69 cars had
2-piston calipers? Not many - like Porsche, Ferarri and other high-end
cars. As I recall from an old Consumer Reports article titled "The under
$3500 GT", TR6 outbraked the other test cars - a 914 and a 240Z. The
article was published in the 1971 timeframe. Lee Jansen's tests related to
the 4-pot _and_ larger rear wheel cylinders "upgrade" has similar numbers
to what I recall from those tests, e.g. around 200 foot 60-zero stopping
distances. Actually, the Jansen numbers are more like 70 to zero and that
takes a lot more work (even though it's "only" 10 MPH more than 60 to 0).
And I agree that the changed brake bias by going with the 7/8 rear wheel
cylinders is a really good thing. You'll appreciate that change much more
than you will by installing 4-pot calipers.
Trust me - contact patch, brake bias, pad material and changes to the
hydraulics... do it in that order only for best results. Note that changes
in the hydraulics is the last resort, not the first.
Oh - and the al-fin drums help reduce "fade" if you beat on your brakes.
If you want oooh-and aaah for your car, go with slotted and drilled rotors
and go with 4-pot calipers and all that stuff. If you want it to _stop_
then repeat afer me - contact patch, bias, pads and only then do we change
the hydraulics.
Regards,
rml
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