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[sjc]

Regarding the braking "power"... I've had 3 x 3L V6s, a '95 Elite, a '98 MV6 and my current car is a '99 MV6.

The perception of braking power on the 2 earlier cars was poor - i.e. compared to other cars, it felt like you had to stand on the pedal to get it to stop, but when sufficient effort was exerted, it would pull up swiftly.

On the current one, the brakes "feel" much more powerful but I'm convinced it's the efficiency of the brake servo that is the difference.  Why do I say this?  Because I swapped the disks and pads between them all at various times (initially expecting this to be a factor) and found that it made no difference to the individual car.

Don't know if the later servo has been improved, or if it is a case of the earlier ones being faulty in some respect but there were no air leaks or other obvious problems.

[TheBoy]

Can the discs & calipers be retro fitted to 2.5/3.0 ?

Yes, but what would be to gain? Solids give well enough of braking power

nothing on Omega gives anywhere like enough braking power. The braking performance I find truly shocking.

the vented rear setup is of the same dimensions as the non-vented, with the following exceptions :-

wider disc
wider spacing between the two halves of caliper
bigger diameter caliper pistons ( 42mm instead of 40mm )

I single, one-off stops, I'd have to disagree.  However, the discs clearly aren't big enough, or able to dissipate enough heat quickly enough, for sustained abuse.

I'd say the standard setup is OK for road use. But would last about 1 lap on a track.

[Brikhead]

Can the discs & calipers be retro fitted to 2.5/3.0 ?

Yes, but what would be to gain? Solids give well enough of braking power

I guess Vx. thought differently otherwise they would have stuck with the solid rears.

[Andy H]

My perception is that the front brakes are OK but the front wishbones & bushes are too puny to cope with serious braking.

Going to polybush mine, hopefully that will stop the front wheels flopping about under braking.

Raised painted bands on the approach to roundabouts are what I hate.

I don't understand the switch to vented rears, if they were going to change anything they should have changed the front discs to 320mm diameter IMO.

Eureka moment...... facelift V6 2.6/3.2 can apply the rear brakes as part of the traction control. That would explain why they need to be vented

[TheBoy]

My perception is that the front brakes are OK but the front wishbones & bushes are too puny to cope with serious braking.

Going to polybush mine, hopefully that will stop the front wheels flopping about under braking.

Raised painted bands on the approach to roundabouts are what I hate.

I don't understand the switch to vented rears, if they were going to change anything they should have changed the front discs to 320mm diameter IMO.

Eureka moment...... facelift V6 2.6/3.2 can apply the rear brakes as part of the traction control. That would explain why they need to be vented

Tyres can seem to cause that as well... ...cue gayboy gixer and a Falken rant....

[b4ndit]

My discs on the rear are solid. car is a 2003 is this normal or have they been changed at some time. its a 2.6

[Kevin Wood]

My discs on the rear are solid. car is a 2003 is this normal or have they been changed at some time. its a 2.6

Make damned sure that it has the caliper for the unvented disks! At 2003 I'd expect it to be vented.

If someone has scrimped on the disk and fitted unvented disks with the wider caliper, the pistons will pop out of the caliper once the pads have worn down and your brakes will fail.

[TheBoy]

Yeah, what Kevin Wood says.  We've seen it before where a garage had skimped, and fitted the cheaper discs, and the resultant drama a few weeks later...

[b4ndit]

Thanks for the heads up, have been driving the car for about 7 months and not had any problems yet but will check on monday at work. how can i tell if the calipers have been changed? what is the difference between vented and solids thanks? 

[2woody]

the only calipers fitted to rear vented cars as standard will have a "42" cast into the outer face of the caliper.

Other Omega B calipers will have a "40" instead.

[Andy B]

..... how can i tell if the calipers have been changed? what is the difference between vented and solids thanks? 

Solid discs are around 3/8" to 1/2" thick and err ............ solid  Vented discs are nearer an inch thick & are like two solid discs fastened together with a web in between. If you have vented calipers with solid discs there'll be enough room to get your fingers inside the caliper along side the disc. 

[Elite Pete]

I fitted some to my mini facelift estate a few years ago, can't say I noticed any great improvement in the braking but they look good

[Kevin Wood]

..and in Pete's picture above is the key to identifying calipers designed for vented disks. The caliper is in 2 parts, sandwiched together. You can just see on that photo, where the 2 halves meet, that there's a spacer between them. Calipers for solid disks don't have it.

[Elite Pete]

Standard disc and caliper

[b4ndit]

Oh dear i have solid discs and vented calipers will get them changed asap thanks guys