Big Reds

[Chris Burson]

I have an 89 S2 and am putting on a set of Big reds from an 97 911 TT on the front. I was told that I can take the exising front calipers and put them on the back. I was told that this would work with out having to get a byass valve or any other modifications

Has anyone done this? Does it work well? Any feedback would be great.

[TorqueTube]

So you're going to go with Big Reds on front and little blacks in back? I would be concerned about screwing up my front/rear braking distribution (bias).

[majorwoody]

I don't think you really need to swap the rear brakes. Just send me those fronts for my 84 - but seriously -- The rear brakes should be OK, but you do need to install an adjustable bias valve to dial them in. Look at your wheels after a track event and see where all the brake dust is. It's all up front. The S2 already has pretty healthy rear brakes, so unless you are have done a lot of upgrades for more top end you should be fine.

My $.02 anyway.

[mmmbeer]

We have tried that with the 968 brakes which are the same as the 944S2's. We used the front caliper and pads on the rear discs on the back of the car. It will fit, but it does not work well!

The front calipers have much larger pistons than the rear calipers, this is because the front brakes need to brake harder than the rear brakes because of general physics. Even with 996GT3 brakes up front and a adjustable brake pressure regulator the car got WAY to much rear braking power with the front 968 calipers used on the rear discs.

Give or take 75% of the braking power is provided by the front brakes. The rear brakes are WAY more than large enough even when using 996GT3 brakes up front, the only reason for changing the rears would be cosmetics.

Regards:
Eirik Kvello-Aune
www.944968.com

[TorqueTube]

Eirik,

That's a really cool website with some great upgrade ideas for the 944/968 crowd.

How harsh is the suspension setup on the 944?

Matt

[mmmbeer]

Thanks!
Its not as harsh as one might think. The comfort is all in the shock settings and they are adjustable...

Regards:
Eirik Kvello-Aune
www.944968.com

[Z-man]

Chris,
Why would you go through all the trouble of putting the fronts on the rears when the rears are virtually identical to the fronts? They use the same brake pads, and both are 4-piston calipers. Makes no sense to me.

Also: the stock brakes for the 944S2 have more than sufficient stopping power. What are you using your S2 for? If it's for street driving, Big Reds are overkill. If it's for autox and DE, Big Reds are still overkill. If you use your car for club racing, then I can see the need for more braking power, but I believe those Big Reds would put you in a higher class where the S2 would not be competitive. In my experience, most S2's that are track driven use the stock brakes & calipers, even cars that run in the upper run groups!

This is just based on my experience as a DE participant and autox enthusiast.

If you're getting Big Reds just for looks, then save yourself some $$ and buy a can of paint and paint them bad boys yourself!
-Z-man.

[bryanthompson]

How about red powdercoat? Is that something you can do yourself? I've got dreams when i get my teener of putting bmw 320i brakes on them and getting them red powdercoated... mmm...

[350HP951]

The front calipers are not virtually identical to the rear.

Erik is dead on, it is too much bias in the rear. Use stock rears and Big Reds up front. I also agree with Z-Man, they are overkill for the street but then again, you can never have too much braking power :>)