Okay so this has long since been a question/thought of mine but if you're not racing or running a large amount of HP why would you need to switch to rear disk brakes instead of drums? Do you stand to gain anything in everyday driving? How about in AutoX or Drag for that matter?

 

i would do it just because it looks better. it is safer to be able to stop faster. but how much faster? not enough to spend the money. brakes usually dont fade stopping as fast as u can once. its the 100mph repeated stops that kill em.

 

Do 4 wheel disk brakes stop an average car, I.E. someones fancy little ricer mobile with a body kit and a standard engine any faster tahn front disks and rear drums? why? I guess what I'm really doing is trying to learn more... Basically here's my understanding/viewpoint of the whole thing... If I'm a daily driver, no race/high speed application and my rear drums grab enough to lock up my tires why would I switch to 4 wheel disk? What do I stand to gain besides looks for everday driving? Can anyone backup their statements with documentation?

 

To me it felt much better...brakes being more responsive...plus you KNOW when you're due for a replacement with disks...and drums puzzle the crap outa me

 

the biggest upgrade of discs is that once the brake pad material gets hot, it loses its ability to stop the car. on a drum, it just holds the heat in, wheras on a disc, the disc surface is open to the air, and can dissipate heat faster. If youve ever done more than one high speed stop in a row (like, 80-0-80-0) then you might have noticed that it didnt like stopping on the second hard braking. I noticed that drastically on my stock brakes in some back-country good-old-days drag racing with a guy I went to school with. on our second run, I overshot where my friends were standing by about 100 yards with my 4-wheel discs (all integra brakes) with good pads, I have never had a problem with them overheating (AKA, "brake-fade"), and that includes quite a few drag runs, and a lot of auto-x.