Re: Al rotors

[Glen Powell <gpowell@acacianet.com>]

>	I never meant this to be a big heated argument.  

That's what this list is for! We can't just talk about broken window
regulators and pearlescent paint repairs week after week....how 'bout some
Quattro race results or something.....? 

>I was merely 
>stating what I heard from Team Prowler.  I didn't do the test myself, nor 
>was I in attendance when the test was done, so take it with a grain of 
>salt, not a Congressional seal of approval.

Understood! Please take no offence! I just think these team prowler guys are
fullahsh_t on this point..... Congressional seal of approval? I'd throw it
out on its face!

>	My point was that the ALuminum rotors reduce the rotating inertia 
>of the wheel/rotor assemblies, and that has a profound influence on the 
>braking of the car.  

Here is where your assumption is wrong, *profound*, and you have, no doubt,
been grossly misled by these team prowler guys. Who are these team prowler
guys anyhows? Marketing Slime (Tm)? Sure, the Al rotors reduce the rotating
inertia, but, it's just *not that big* of a factor. As someone pointed out,
Al rotors of the same size actually hurt braking efficiency. As someone else
pointed out, you could, no doubt, just stab at the brakes and instantly stop
the rotors/wheels/tires totally, Al or iron, but you still have to bring
that big ol' viper chassis mass to a stop, and those fancy, light Al rotors
won't do diddly to shorten the stopping distance in this case, it's all
tires & overall vehicle momentum. (yeah, the linear momentum of the stopped
Al rotors is a *tiny bit* less)

>	I'd love to run the numbers, but being a lazy engineer, I don't
>have all the formulas memorized, and I would have to go back to my texts,
>and look up the formulas. 

We're getting closer to actually being able to run the numbers. If you have
any info of the weight of the viper and prowler rotors that would be a big help!

>Later,								
>Graydon D. Stuckey								
>graydon@apollo.gmi.edu								

-glen