[FT@SGP]

We had the chance to take few pictures today of our STi and customer's Evo (Wojo) in good weather today in front of Kearney Racing's shop near FedEx field. The STi is on street ride height. I'll give the final height #s once we do the corner balancing tomorrow.

[FT@SGP]

Couple more pics...

[FasStAsS_sTi]

how much were those drops??? on the sti?? i do like that drop height...now does it handle really good without the sacrfice of ride comfort???

[M]

Whoa!
Look closely at the brake caliper positions in this pic:



On the STi, the caliper is on the trailing side of the brake disc; but on the EVO, the caliper is on the leading edge. Calipers are more effective at stopping when they're located on the leading edge of the brake disc though it makes them more prone to locking up and puts them under more stress. This might explain why "the Brembo stoppers (a system nearly identical to that of the STi) halt the EVO from 70 to 0 mph in an impressive 157 feet. - C&D"; while the STi takes 166 feet to stop from 70 mph.

Any other ideas?

*Edit* - The car in my sig (the Mercedes/McLaren SLR) uses front calipers at the trailing edge, but also uses carbon-ceramic brake discs, same as on the Ferrari Enzo and Formula 1 cars. While the STi and the EVO both have the rear calipers at the trailing side of the disc, the SLR has the rear calipers at the leading edge. The rabbit hole deepens, eh Alice?

[FasStAsS_sTi]

hmmmmm :roll: that is a good point....I thought it would be better to have it on the trailing end....but i guess i can be wrong...I thought that with the law of inertia and what not would be less friction force if the caliper is located on the trailing as its so called....but good catch ill have to ask some pro's on this topic!

[Rev]

Well, check the Prodrive/Alcon massive brakes on the WRC car:



They're on the trailing side as well...

[HeyDan]

Ceramic and carbon fiber composite brake kit for the GT2. These suckers are on the trailing side.

[sciolist]

Oh yeah! Save me a seat, I am on my way!

[gtpark81]

SVEEEEEEET!!!!

[bitabur]

I can't see a single reason other than convenience one way or the other why it should matter at all.

There's no difference in inertia, or anything else, between one edge of the rotor and the other. It's perfectly circular, so either side should make no difference.

[Rev]

I bet there is. But you're wrong in mentioning inertia. Brakes convert kinetic energy into heat. Inertia doesn't stop the car.

As to positioning the caliper on the front or rear of the disc, it has more to do as to how the brake is cooled. Cooler brakes, better braking efficiency.

[bitabur]

I only mentioned inertia because someone else did - I can assure you that I quite fully understand the operation of your brakes. As for cooling - that's my point. Either method could be prefferable based on different brake cooling systems.

[FT@SGP]

Originally Posted by FasStAsS_sTi

how much were those drops??? on the sti?? i do like that drop height...now does it handle really good without the sacrfice of ride comfort???

The drop in the those pictures are about 1 1/2" front and 1 1/4" rear. That is changing however as we are corner balancing the car. This past Sunday, we did part of the corner balancing, but could not complete it fully yet; still some work to do.

The ride was not harsh the first week we drove it. However, as we were doing corner balancing, I tightened the spring perches just a little more and harshness trippled literally. This morning driving into DC again, at some point the car came off the ground few millimeters going over a sharp bump at 80 mph. So, I will be loosening the spring perch just a tad.

Originally Posted by sciolist

Oh yeah! Save me a seat, I am on my way!

LOL, you got it buddy

I cannot comment much on the brake caliper location frankly, but I know that Porsche claims to improve brake cooling when the caliper is placed in the trailing edge. However, that type of cooling depended on aerodynamics, so I cannot tell if it works the same way on the STi. The other hypothesis one can think of is the unsprung weight location within the wheel; but who really know....

[ValvetrainEngineer]

I vote for cooling being better with a trailing caliper. This way it's not blocking the rotor from the incoming airflow from the front. Aside from this consideration, I'm on the fence as to which is better. Obviously some very good engineers at Subaru and Mitsubishi had different opinions, so I doubt us enthusiasts can sort it out in this discussion!

[sciolist]

The ride was not harsh the first week we drove it. However, as we were doing corner balancing, I tightened the spring perches just a little more and harshness trippled literally. This morning driving into DC again, at some point the car came off the ground few millimeters going over a sharp bump at 80 mph. So, I will be loosening the spring perch just a tad.

This is with the 8/8's, right? I will definitely be interested to see how the adjustment plays out. Swapping springs is one thing, but I want to get the valving right the first time.