[GaryDempsey]

...does anyone run "alloy" discs for Elise S2....

...if so how much does the weight saving add up to....

...does it improve ride and handling significantly ?...i'm thinking about an upgrade....exhaust saved me around 10kg....but alloy discs must be more...

...it is possible to get S1 Elise alloy discs but not sure if anyone does them for S2...

...i believe some original S1 cars had alloy discs...does anyone run an S1 or S2 with alloy and would comment on this..??

 

[drac]

MMC ie alloy discs only for S1 (different wheel bolt spacing)


Alloy belled discs save approx 1kg (2.2lb) per wheel but unsprung weight so more important.

Will it improve ride handling? - yes theoretically by a very small amount

 

[F40]

Original S1's discs (called MMC for metal matrix composite) had some aluminium in them and were very light and long-lasting, indeed, as well as giving unbeatable brake feel.
But on the other hand they were prone to "cook" or even crack under track use, they were deadly in the wet 'cause of the water trapped between pad and disc surface requiring early braking to be wiped off, and, first of all, the company which produced them went out of business and they are currently unobtainable.
They don't fit S2's, too.

 

[GaryDempsey]

Yes...MMC discs were a great idea and promised a lot but through one reason or another the idea has gone out of fashion....

...pity Lotus has not picked up on this idea again and re-introduced it for 2007 model...

...it's another selling point to add to Elise technology "firsts" although some of the "other" car manufacturers have similar technology...

...actually i think the company who originally made the first alloy discs were US based...

 

[MMCBRAKE]

MMC Brake Disc's

Read the posts and have some answers concerning the MMC disc's.
I am the process engineer who worked on the manufacturing of the original MMC brake disc's. As I recall, (From around 1995) the brake system was designed by AP racing and the Disc's were cast by Lanxide Corp. of Delaware and machined by Brake Parts Inc. in McHenry, Illinois
These alloy disc's were made of high SiC aluminum with 30% silicon carbide added for the wear properties. Back then we were told the disc's should last approximately 100K miles. Only poly crystalline diamond or diamond coated tools could cut this material since the silicon carbide particulate made it like machining a grinding wheel.
If anyone is interested in obtaining some of the original rotors, I have at least one set of never used 2nd (Hat type) generation disc's and 2 sets of the 1st (Non-Hatted) generation used for testing double-disc grinding the brake surfaces.
Pictures can be sent if interested. Reply via email.

 

[murcielagoGTR]

.... wouldnt carbon/ceramic be the best? do they even make such items for the elise? another thing, what about carbon fiber rims? if i recall corectly there is a Co. that is making them, wouldnt they drasticlly improve the handling, braking, etc...?

 

[choi0706]

carbon wheels are a joke..

 

[murcielagoGTR]

really!? why is that? are they not functional or something?

 

[choi0706]

If I remember right, you can buy forged race wheels which are lighter.. Carbon wheels are simply all bling..

 

[Dietrich]

yes, carbon wheels are a joke.

 

[murcielagoGTR]

im still not understanding :shrug: ... unless you have anything over (ideal 18in) wheels or have somthing spinning in circles how are they just bling? ... to me saving weight and improved handling is about as counter bling as possible :thwack: Are they a joke because of structural integrity,are they not solid carbon or are you basing on the fact that they are naked carbon fiber and thats too "bling"? if the later is the case, there is this great stuff called paint that can correct that -poke-

 

[Buz]

CF wheels weigh more than good forged wheels. Magnesium is better until carbon wheels are perfected. I had a race car with MMC rotors. One third the weight of iron but they warped easily and pads lasted 1 to 2 days. Maybe with floating rotors and better pads. Lotus did not recommend them for track use even with 118hp.

 

[syf0n]

the carbon wheels are decent but only good for race application. uneven road surface and holes ruin them quickly, they are much more prone to cracking. as someone else said the best all around solution right now is magnesium, they are all astronomically expensive. That type of stuff is used in race cars and fancy road cars like the Enzo.

carbon ceramic brakes are very hard to justify on the elise/exige because of cost/performance. As long as steel still performs properly, it will always be preferable because it's so much cheaper. Ceramics really shine on heavier, overpowered cars that need more stopping force consistently -- it is very hard to overheat ceramics...the Elise/Exige does not really weigh enough or go fast enough to generate the braking forces and heat which justify the cost of ceramic. in this power bracket, steel (with proper fluid and pads) does just as well. Perhaps for serious endurance racing on a competition spec exige like the one-off sport exige they might be useful, but even that has steel rotors.

carbon also requires a lot of tech. to make it work well in a road car. Porsche's ceramics (called PCCB) are through several revisions and only just now are they really usable. The original ones had problems generating good friction at low temperature and in rain. so in a car like the exige you'd have to really beat the hell out of the car to extract optimum brake performance from ceramics...even driving and braking hard they might not heat up enough to be as effective as steel at regular speeds.

I have never seen them for sale at a size that would work on an elise, although I'm sure they exist in custom applications...probably openwheel racing.