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| My 2.0 litre, 5-speed hardtop. |
Any Holden Commodore forum you can find will explain how rubbish standard VN to VP series' brakes are. Even the anchors fitted to the 5.0 litre V8 variants cop a bollocking for having under-sized rotors, coupled with puny single-piston callipers, neither of which is anywhere near being able to bring GMH's finest to a quick stop after a sustained hammering.
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| I couldn't resist a squirt of calliper paint! |
Everything's relative, though! What's underwhelming on a 1,300 to 1,500 kg Commodore turns out to be pretty trick on a 970 kg Galant hardtop, especially when they're coupled with a set of beefier rear drums from a Galant station wagon.
The maths are pretty simple: a VN's 290 mm vented rotors, matched with finned alloy calipers and largish pads, versus solid 230 mm Galant discs with callipers of heat retaining cast iron and medium sized pads. It was never really a contest! The wagon drums out back are similarly over-specced for the lighter hardtop, featuring shoes that are both wider and of greater circumference (230 mm -v- 203 mm for hardtops and sedans). This makes for a nice front / rear balance, too.
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| Finned alloy calliper. |
Of course, it would be possible to fit a set of Willwoods or other after-market twin-pot callipers, and to simultaneously upgrade to drilled and / or slotted rotors. But why? Again, I refer you to the maths.
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| On the car. |
Standard Galant brakes are surprisingly adequate, generally able to bring the sub-one tonner to a halt at anything short of a full-noise-flogging on the twistiest of twisty bits or during a frenzied track-day attack. For sure, they'll die in the a*se if they get too hot but, honestly, how often does that happen away from a Targa road or a circuit?
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| The kit, complete with new lines. |
That's where all that extra friction surface comes into play! With a standard brake booster and master cylinder, there's no more pressure applied to the brakes than occurs with the ex-factory Galant units. However, the pressure that is applied occurs over a greater area, with more surface to slow the car and dissipate the heat generated, meaning there's less chance of cooking the system.
The front brake set-up on my hardtop was supplied by well known Galant aficionado Jamie Cruz and comprises of new rotors, pads and lines, with reconditioned callipers. Jamie has the rotors re-drilled for the 4 x 114.3 Galant hubs and supplies a simple but effective mounting plate that allows for an easy bolt-up to standard Galant struts, obviating the need to source GK Sigma versions. I run 15" wheels that allow lots of air circulation but the components supplied will fit behind 13" alloys, if required, but won’t if your Galant has standard steel wheels.
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| Looking quite tasty behind my 15" wheels. |
Of course, the big question is how do they drive? So far, so good. The pedal feel is indistinguishable from the standard Galant brakes, with the same amount of travel. Heel-toe braking is easily accomplished, requiring very little pressure to wipe a bit of speed off and they respond strongly when the pedal's pushed hard. The balance between the front and rear seems good; there's been no indication that either end's likely to lock-up before the other does. I haven't yet been able to induce any brake fade at all but I promise to keep trying to!
U M P H
(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)
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