Superformance Brakes (or not)

[wanab5150]

More riveting information.............I received a phone call from Steve Cornelius, sales manager at Wilwood. Steve stated that there is no reason he is aware of that the current 34mm piston Wilwood on newer Superformance cars should not lock up the back ends of these cars easily! He said he is currently working with Steven in Reno, Dennis Olthoff, Barry Block and others seeking a solution. Why a solution has not been found yet is a mystery to me at this point. Steve Cornelius stated it may be a mis-matched M/C not allowing enough pressure to flow to the rear brakes as the volume (amount of fluid the caliper holds) is very different to the old 4 piston caliper.
I know Steven in Reno is busting his A** on this issue but the problem is....Steven is NOT related to Superformance in any way other than being an independent shop doing installations and repairs. He does not have unlimited parts and recourses like the factory but has done a great deal of the R&D work on his own dime. He has added belt driven vacuum pumps, electric vacuum pumps, and tried other calipers to no avail. He does believe as does D. Olthoff that a vacuum pump is necessary on big cam engines i.e. Roush 427R's. This will help with pedal feel and make it more drive friendly. It in no way repairs the problem, but it does help feel.
Olthoff is also working the actual caliper problem which he indicates is absolutely the problem but also states a vacuum pump should be added to allow the cars brake booster to function properly.
I heard from some of you that you don't run a booster and think those that do are just lazy and don't want to have to use a lot of BOOT to stop the car. I've received several E-mails from these studs. What you "no booster" boys don't realize is a "booster" brake system has a MUCH LESS leverage between YOUR FOOT and the booster plunger because THE BOOSTER provides the leverage. Without a booster on your system, the leverage ratio is increased so you will be able to use reasonable pressure on the pedal to stop. So...you can't just yank the booster off the firewall and expect to have the same brakes as a non-booster car. This is why there is so much talk of vacuum pumps and canisters. Roush "R" motors don't pull anywhere near enough vacuum to allow the booster to function properly. My Roush 427R pulls 8 lbs. of vacuum at idle while boosters require between 16 and 24 on average to work properly.
Here's a simple demonstration.........Pull the vacuum hose off of the booster of your wife's car...Call AAA to follow her! She will explain that she pushed as hard as she could but couldn't stop the car.. ....Sometimes drawing a picture helps.
About 100 or more of us with these newer cars are facing the above issue. Maybe that's why we seem to be a little on edge.