Thread: are ventilated discs batter than solid?

DBA Land Rover vented discs were (are still ?) Brembo castings finished here, and as such aren't 'Kangaroo Paw' rotors, but straight vaned.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

One of the most interesting comments I've seen on brakes was during the first London-Sydney marathon in about 1970. When the cars arrived in Perth the two leading cars were Citroen DSs - only a few points apart. During the preparation for the next leg, across Australia, one of them had the fifth set of pads fitted since London. The other had the pads replaced for the first time "even though they didn't need it". The cars were identical, over the same roads, at the same speeds - but the drivers weren't identical. Obviously drivers vary enormously.

I tend to agree with Scrambler though, and with the cost of fuel currently, those drivers who use brakes extensively should remember that you paid for the energy you are using to heat up the brakes to cause fade.
John

Yes, in a situation like that, totally different driving styles emerge, particularly if one of them uses a left foot brake technique to balance/negate the understeer inherent with FWD. He'll chew pads at a faster rate.
Even driving a turbocharged car some drivers left foot trailbrake through the corner and load the throttle pedal at the same time, keeping the turbo spooled to negate any lag. Again, a pad killer and also a legitimate driving technique.

FWIW, the only times I've experienced fade in the Landy it was deliberately induced to see how much the pads/discs could take. Down a nearby mountain pass, one gear too high (third instead of second), moderate braking into each corner left me with a reasonably unresponsive pedal at the bottom. All things considered, not too bad a performance, and no locals would come down there that quickly, but someone that didn't know the road could quite easily come down a gear too high, hence why I feel good brakes are a safety issue.

A good rule of thumb I was taught "Always go down in the gear you use to go up". Mostly, it holds true, and will save having any fade. In an auto, manually pull it back a gear