Hi,

I've been looking at an ex-police T5 850 and the brakes aren't setup as they should be, according to a mechanic friend of mine the front discs are 302mm discs off a V70 rather than the 280mm discs that should be fitted.

Does anyone know how much effort it would be to get 302mm front brake discs (I think US call them rotors) to fit a 95 850 T5 and more to the point get the 280mm discs back on?

Would this "upgrade" give a significant performance upgrade given that it uses the same pads and wheels/tyres as before (16" "fan" wheels with 205/50/ZR16 tyres).

I'm starting to get a little nervious about this car as if it's brakes have been upgraded what else has and how will it affect my car insurance premiums as a moddified car?

Many thanks
Iain

 

Hey now,

Larger rotors give more braking contact/surface for the pads. This in turn allows for better heat dissipation which in turn allows for firmer contact and shorter stopping distance.

This is usually a good thing. Why would you want to go to the smaller rotors? Is it the cost of replacement that has you concerned?

Bigger better brakes, especially on an (ex) police car, are kind of expected as the car has to out perform almost every car it might come across and being able to out brake the next guy means there's a better chance that the clown being chased might heat soak his brakes and wipe out.

Most folks like the idea of bigger brakes as a safety benefit.

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The worry is more about the insurance. You have to tell the insurer that the car is not standard and then they add on huge amounts of money for the premium.

The last time I looked at uprating the brakes on my current T5 it was going to be about £250/yr extra on top for £600/yr for the insurance.

At a guess it's to put off the max power brigade but I was just wondering whether it would be worth changing the discs back (they're pretty scored and pitted) to 850 standard for the cost of the insureance.

Cheers
Iain

 

Woudn't the 302mm disks be considered standard on this car? In the US our police cars come from the maufacturer with a police upgrade package (not available to the general public). Would you have to tell them that the car was a police car? How would they know that the disks were different?

 

Hey now,

I, personally, would not answer any questions that they do not ask.

They don't need to know what type of brakes you have as brakes are kind of essential to a car and the only time they need to know about them is when they fail causing you to crash or if you are driving like Mario Idreaddi and find the rhubarb in the ditch that you weren't looking for or smack into a tree that jumps in front of you . They CAN be pesky like that.

I have never heard of any insurance company that asks what type of brakes you have on your car.

As mentioned before by Lister99, the brake package that is currently on the car were made/standard for the car and changing them out for a smaller set will only diminish the stopping power/distance of the car, and I have never heard of ANYONE who wants a longer stopping distance.

Kind of defeats the purpose of stopping don't you think.

My advice is leave them and replace them as necessary. Most people pay to go BIGGER not smaller.


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I wish my car had the 302mm rotors. I´m always on the highway and the extra stopping power can be the difference between life and death in some occasions.

 

" I, personally, would not answer any questions that they do not ask."

Lol - I'm far too honest to do that. I would be tempted however I'd just worry about getting into trouble if I crashed. Insurance companies over here don't ask what brakes you have but they DO ask if your car has been modified.

I didn't realise the large discs would make much of a difference if the tyres and pads were the same. I would have thought that even if the brakes stopped quicker (although I can't see how is the friction surface is the same - ie same pads) the tyres would give up grip before you got any enhancement in an emergancy stop.

I didn't get the car anyway - the AC wasn't working and the AC/Rec lights were flashing on startup, I've got enough problems with my current car's AC not working without getting more headaches.

 

Hey now,

"Don't Crash"


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Lol - I have a problem with that. I managed to crash twice in the same month (both were my fault).

Luckily since I've had my current Volvo though I've had 3 crashes but none of them were my fault or involved insurance companies.