Titanium rotors

[HondaKilla]

Well I did a search and came up with NOTHING! Well pretty much I've used titanium for some military work, and bridgestone/firestone (father owns a machine shop) and was tinkering with the idea of machining some titanium rotors. That would greatly reduce unsprung weight and compliment light weight wheels very well but I'm not totally sure how they will hold up as far as breaking. I know of one company (ZMI Brakes) that uses titanium rotors but imo are flakey and look like ****. I wouldn't think that continuous heating and cooling of the brakes would effect a high grade of a pure titanium. So I was wondering if anyone has had/heard of someone with titanium rotors and how they work or if anyone has any ideas on how well they might actually work?! The only thought I can come up to as to why its not widley used is due to the costs. Any help would be great!

 

[greenmachine97]

ok, i know these exist. i cant remember if they make them for our car or not. or where my friend said he was buying his(BMW E30), but i know titanium rotors exist.

 

[HondaKilla]

Well I guess I'll start machining and hope for the best! If it turns out good with some nice results and anyone is interested in some hit me up and we can work something out for a small fee : ) ([email protected])

 

[greenmachine97]

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here they are. A company called ZMI makes them. Front and rear kit for only 8000 dollars. no typo, eight thousand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HondaKilla]

Yea I already found those, note my first post . Personally I dont think those are worth the money and are ****. Between them being thin and having so many slots I can't beleive for one second they would hold up. Thanks anyways!

 

[greenmachine97]

i understand that, but for 8000 dollars, i cant imagine why they wouldnt. For 8000 dollars, they should last forever. i mean, they do have a warantee and people do use them on the track. so that design has been proven. true it looks goofy, but i am sure it is that way for a reason.

 

[HondaKilla]

Yea true for that price it should last forever and i understand that the design of them is to regulate temps (lower the temp) but with it being so thin and having that many slots all the way through the rotor, and having an aluminum cap I just cant see it being all that sturdy. I also understand that it couldnt have been machined from solid stock of titanium because there would be so much wasted material it wouldnt be worth it so they slap on an aluminum cap. I think it would have been better to get round stock and turn the caps in titanium to accent the rotor better. Now I know from personal work experiance that titanium is a GREAT material when it comes to strength and weight but being mutilated like that any material would be weak! As far as the brake lines, now those are great brake lines! The calipers also look like nice but I just wouldnt totally trust the rotors but thats just my oppinion.

 

[Todd TCE]

Intersting thought on the hat. But I'd guess the rotor comes from flat sheet material. One piece would be do able however.


I posed this q to Wilwood not long after these parts came out. Granted some might not find their opinion as relative as other companies, but in this case their data seems pretty sound.

The comment was the Ti is great for rejecting heat. That's great. But the down side is that the heat has to go somewhere. And in this case it's into the pad. Ultimately it's into the caliper. They cliamed to have worked a few set up like this on sprint cars and for low temps the weight savings were convincing. It was on the heavier cars where the heat became an issue in keeping caliper temps down.

That being said I know of a Cobra kit/racer which has Ti rotors on it and they claim to love them. And at this price you should love them daily too!

 

[HondaKilla]

Yea the rotor came from flat stock and the cap im not sure how was made, it could have came from flat stock, or round stock and turned, or even pressed/stamped like that from a flat sheet. I'm almost positive that those arnt a casting though. I *think* it said on ZMI's website that they are machined. The price of trying to machine that thing in one peice would be crazy! But I think they went quite cheap for the cap as far as going aluminum. If that rotor was thicker I wouldnt see a problem with it but its just mutilated . I'm sure the caliper issue can be resloved though. It would take some serious R & D but if u had titanium calipers/rotors (for example) that would be crazy! Expensive but if your going to spend the money on lightweght wheels and go cheap on heavy brakes well then what was the point of going with light wheels?! Catch my drift.... I also own a 240sx and they make brake coolers for them, pretty much its just a guide that gets mounted in there and directs air to the calipers, if something was designed for the eclipse like that it would help temps out also. There has to be a great way for lighter brake systems!!!