On Tue, 24 Jun 2003, Ri wrote:

> 1. Do the big disc's work much better than drilled rotors?

There was some discussion about this on the list a while back.  I think
the consensus was that drilled rotors don't have any real benefits in
non-race applications.  *Vented* rotors (not the same thing) would, but no
one offers them for Vanagons that I know of.  Cross-drilling just doesn't
add enough surface area to really help the cooling.

> 2. What about that rear disc brake setup at
> http://www.smallcar.com/brakekit.htm Seems with this kit, and vented front
> rotors, one would have a pretty strong brake package. What about that
> emergency brake system built into the caliper?

The rear brakes only do something like 30% of the work, so rear brake
upgrades probably aren't going to help a lot.  IMHO there are two main
benefits to rear disc brakes: they're easier to service, and they look
better with spoked alloy wheels. ;)

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si