# Litchfield Braking News



## Litchfield (Feb 26, 2008)

We are delighted to announce we have received our first batch of the huge Alcon 400mm R35 replacement brake discs :clap: These discs have been specifically designed to offer the very best braking performance whilst retaining the original Brembo Caliper.










You may remember a few months ago that Alcon came to inspect the setup on the 2011 GT-R, specifically the way the calipers had been spaced to accommodate the new 390mm discs. It was during these investigations that we proposed the idea of using a similar spacing technique to fit a larger, specially made, 400mm disc which could be retro fitted to all R35s.










As ever, Alcon have achieved exactly what we were looking for in fact it has turned out even better than we thought  The new disc is much larger than the original which increases it’s thermal efficiency so it is capable of dealing with the demands of fast road and track use. Amazingly the new Alcon 400mm disc is actually lighter than the original part! :thumbsup: This has great benefits in unsprung weight which improves steering and suspension response especially when the disc mass is spinning.










The combination of cutting edge design, Alcon’s uniquely developed Iron Alloy disc and an Aerospace specification alloy bell have kept the weight down. For reference the standard disc weighs 10.6kg, a new AP rotor with standard bell weighs 11.8kg and yet incredibly the new 400mm Alcon discs are just 10kg! 










As with our current Alcon discs, these feature the unique crescent grooves on the faces of the disc which provide the bite usually associated with drilled discs, but without the related durability problems.
The Alcon floating disc system has been designed to allow thermal expansion of the disc throughout its life while minimising the tendency to judder.

Because these new discs have been highly anticipated and pre-ordered the initial availability is extremely limited so please contact us to get the latest order lead times. The price for these is £532.50+vat each and includes the caliper fitting kit. We also have a different kit for the 2011+ GTR's that run the 390mm disc as standard.

*Who Are Alcon?*










Alcon are a premium brake and clutch component manufacturer which we have enjoyed working with for many years, firstly with Subaru and more recently with the Nissan GT-R. The company and manufacturing processes are all based in the UK at their HQ in Tamworth. From this base they can do everything from concept feasibility right the way through manufacturing/testing and everything in between. Early this year Litchfield supplied Alcon with their Nissan GTR development car which has seen constant use on both road and track in order to improve their products. We are proud to be their UK distributor for the Alcon GTR brake upgrades.



















Their motorsport involvement reaches from F1 to WRC to Nascar and every Indy Racing League title won from 2003 onwards has been won with Alcon brakes.

Other Alcon OEM customers include Ariel, Audi, Bentley, Brabus, Jaguar, Noble and Land Rover.

Feel free to contact us with any Alcon braking questions you may have. Trade enquires welcome 

Regards

Iain


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## bhp (Sep 13, 2008)

i saw these over the weekend, and thought to myself that disc is huge!! i actually thought it was a customers race spec disc, i looked around and then it just vanished into thin air  very nice and a decent price too!


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

What is the offering for the rear brake disc, particually for the MY2011 Iain?


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## Litchfield (Feb 26, 2008)

We have the Alcon replacement discs for the rear as well  These are £395+vat each.


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

Iain

I'm very interested; call you later.

How do these items compare with the original big brake kit, which is a lot more pricey?


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## bobel (Jul 26, 2010)

These look the bizz, as soon as I need a new set I'm going for the 400mm. Well done Ian on your part advancing the GTR development as ever!


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## tomgtr (May 24, 2008)

I'm interested in having the Alcon set fitting on oem callipers front and back. Would you be able to supply a set of carbonetic C pads with them?


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## Alias23 (Nov 25, 2010)

Excellent work Iain and reasonable sale price compared to the standard and aftermarket options and price range.

As pet tomgtr's comments it would be awesome to hear you also stocking carbonetic pads.

Im sure ill be in touch to discuss a 400mm Alcon disc + Carbonetic R brake setup in the next month


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## Litchfield (Feb 26, 2008)

The Alcon Superkit with their CNC Calipers and thicker version of these discs is still the best upgrade I have done on a GTR but these new discs fill the gap perfectly 

I have not supplied Carbonetic before but we can look into it. In the meantime we are speaking with Padgid about a new RS29 which we have alway been impressed with on track.


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Can't wait to try these out Iain, well done on pushing Alcon to get them made!

Seems there is quite some demand for Carbonetic pads too, looks like it will be worth stocking them.


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## Alias23 (Nov 25, 2010)

David.Yu said:


> Seems there is quite some demand for Carbonetic pads too, looks like it will be worth stocking them.


:clap:


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## Litchfield (Feb 26, 2008)

I have just sent a email to Carbonetics about becoming a dealer  I hope they are good


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## Blow Dog (Sep 4, 2001)

Braking News. I like what you did there.


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Litchfield said:


> We have the Alcon replacement discs for the rear as well  These are £395+vat each.


Are these the same as the "old" replacement discs Alcon offered or a new version to go with the 400mm fronts?


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## CasperBxl (May 17, 2010)

I'm a bit confused, do they also fit the pre-2011 model?

You state, quote: "400mm disc which could be* retro fitted to all R35s*."


Thanks for the feedback


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## Litchfield (Feb 26, 2008)

Yes these new 400mm discs will fit 2007-2010 Models and the latest 2011+ models. The only difference is the amount we need to move the caliper. It is all included in the kit.

Hi Eddie, we are currently just using the one Alcon replacement disc for the rear. We don't belive running the larger disc on the front will upset the balance of the car. As we have discussed the early cars run quite a lot of front brake bias anyway and the 2011+ cars seem to have only slightly more brake pressure to the rear.


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## Aerodramatics (Feb 10, 2008)

Hi Iain + Litchfield team,

I'm with Blowdog, nice pun! Made me smile. 

Then the news that you can offer an intermediate bigger Alcon brake set-up as well as the ultimate Big Brake Kit made me grin a mile wide! Great stuff.

I'd be interested in running a full set of balanced front/rears plus pads. I'd like to do the lot when I bring my GTR to do the Forge Cooler magic, when you can next fit me in.

Currently I run the standard size replacement Alcons+RS29s on the front, and the ucky OEMs disc/pads on the rear. Keen to ditch this set-up.

One question, I've promised to test the EBC Bluestuff NDX pads once the R90 certificate comes through for road use, would these fit the set up or are you needing to spec. new pads with Pagid to make it all work?

Apols for the numpty quezzy in advance.

Dom. :thumbsup:


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## Henry 145 (Jul 15, 2009)

Good work Iain...I fancy the 400mm discs...will get them fitted when I bring my car up for a service


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## Litchfield (Feb 26, 2008)

Dom, the new discs will work with all the replacement pads so you should have no problems with the new EBC pads  Will be interesting to see how you get on with these. Give me a call or send an email and we can have a chat about what you would like done next :thumbsup:

Henry let me know when you are thinking of and we can make sure we have some put aside  Like the last Alcon discs we plan to always have them on the shelf but initial demand is high and the factory is flat out with new race car orders so we are having to plan everything carefully. The more notice the better :blahblah:


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## MidLifeCrisis (Apr 29, 2011)

Very good work Iain, and nice to see a fairly priced R35 part for a change :thumbsup:


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## Rich-GT (Apr 2, 2008)

Now I am liking these a lot, but I need to be educated....

If these discs are using the standard sized calipers & pads why does having a larger disc improve things?

Pad contact area and pressure must be the same, so where is the benefit and can any numeric value be put on it?


Rich


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## sumo69 (Mar 31, 2008)

Rich-GT said:


> Now I am liking these a lot, but I need to be educated....
> 
> If these discs are using the standard sized calipers & pads why does having a larger disc improve things?
> 
> ...


I was thinking the same thing - I wonder if its due to the fact that a lower proportion of the disc is being "heated" at any particular moment and so it will remain cooler when compared to a smaller disc which has a higher proportion subject to friction at any moment?

David


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Rich-GT said:


> Now I am liking these a lot, but I need to be educated....
> 
> If these discs are using the standard sized calipers & pads why does having a larger disc improve things?
> 
> ...


You will win on three fronts Rich:

1) Less weight than OEM, so less un-sprung weight and better steering response etc

2) Larger disc will offer better cooling due to increased surface area.

3) Increased stopping performance for the same pedal pressure and pad due to the increased leverage ratio the larger disc offers.


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Rich-GT said:


> Now I am liking these a lot, but I need to be educated....
> 
> If these discs are using the standard sized calipers & pads why does having a larger disc improve things?
> 
> ...


Rich I'm surprised at you, I thought you were highly technical! Having a larger diameter disc means the torque applied can be greater as the calipers are obviously moved outboard slightly to accomodate them.

Plus the aforementioned larger surface area improves thermal capacity.


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## Adamantium (Jun 24, 2002)

Plus, the larger volume of metal and potentially a better specific heat due (not sure if that would in theis cae mean higher or lower) will mean the same energy being dissipated by the brakes will potentially heat the disc less than before.

The mass will make it heat up less, but the specific heat capacity of using a different alloy could send it either way depending on what Alcon want.

While we might assume that cooler is better, this may not be the case, but either way a larger volume of metal will give them more options with regard to keeping temps down.


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## Rich-GT (Apr 2, 2008)

Thanks guys, thats what I thought, but always worth asking...  However areas of technical expertese vary and this is not one of mine, so can anyone put any figures on improved braking performance relative to the standard Alcons?


Rich


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## Litchfield (Feb 26, 2008)

We fitted another pair of 400mm discs to a customers car today  This Stage2 upgraded car was recently run on a Vmax day and his standard discs did not like the shock going from cold to full heat at 190mph! 


















We have seen the standard discs last really well on cars driven gently/normally but these are the worst cracks we have seen on a "enthusiastically" driven GTR. Impressive effort :thumbsup:

These should be a little better on the way home


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## bobel (Jul 26, 2010)

Now that's a crack


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## Aerodramatics (Feb 10, 2008)

Litchfield said:


> Dom, the new discs will work with all the replacement pads so you should have no problems with the new EBC pads  Will be interesting to see how you get on with these. Give me a call or send an email and we can have a chat about what you would like done next :thumbsup:


Cheers Iain. Been meaning to ping you an email, but been mad busy this week. Forge cooler + Alcons all round, with the front bigguns + EBC NDX pad fit is what I'd like to do next. I'll fire off an email and make my musings official and we can take it from there. Whenever it fits in with a spare slot your humming workshops! :wavey:


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## Chris956 (Apr 11, 2010)

Iain , have you got any pics of the calliper spacer in situ ?


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## 007 (Sep 30, 2009)

Litchfield said:


> We fitted another pair of 400mm discs to a customers car today  This Stage2 upgraded car was recently run on a Vmax day and his standard discs did not like the shock going from cold to full heat at 190mph!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks Iain they are bang on!!

I went via Castle Combe on the way home and powered round at over 150 mph with no shirt on!!!


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## enshiu (Aug 20, 2010)

Ian, How much are these front discs + carbonetic pads?


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## R35Bren (Apr 4, 2008)

Defo got to get me some of these!

Iain - Any more news on the brake cooling ducts we spoke about a while back?

Combination of these new rotors and cooling ducts will be top of my xmas list!


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Looking forward to trying these to match the new Alcons Iain fitted to the rear at my 2 year service and new Carbonetic Rs all round!

Now to book a track day to try them...


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## Stevie76 (Dec 17, 2009)

Were those discs cracked before the VMAX event or did that happen entirely there?


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## 007 (Sep 30, 2009)

Stevie76 said:


> Were those discs cracked before the VMAX event or did that happen entirely there?


I did all that damage at marham mate.


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## Wheels (Aug 15, 2009)

Bringing back this old thread...

I note that the 2012 GTR with track pack will have cooling ducts to front and rear...

Have i missed something but im not aware of anyone creating cooling ducts in the aftermarket arena for GTR...

Having been witness to the massive heat soak generated on a track day i would have thought cooling is a primary development area for litchfield et al....but ive not heard anything.

Xtreme at dudley used to make some directional vanes fixed to susp legs to aim airflow at discs which worked well on evo's. Is anything similar around for GTR???


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## Wheels (Aug 15, 2009)

Also anyone know if the rear disc is the same size on 2009/MY2011 GTR. Or is it different spacers/size etc on the later car...

not much in search about rears.


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## GRowsell (Feb 6, 2007)

Wheels said:


> I note that the 2012 GTR with track pack will have cooling ducts to front and rear...
> 
> Have i missed something but im not aware of anyone creating cooling ducts in the aftermarket arena for GTR...


Whilst having these brakes fitted, Iain mentioned a new front splitter that incorporates ducts to the front brakes... But I'm not sure they're on the shelf yet!


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