Tuesday, October 6, 2009

ULTRAlightweight - ULTRAdiscs

ULTRAdiscs have proven themselves on and off the track since 2005. A key reason for the success of the ULTRAdiscs is the gain in performance they bring, especially through weight reduction.

These ULTRAlightweight two-piece, floating rotors will save you 10 lbs of unsprung weight (weight not supported by the suspension, i.e. wheels, tires and brakes) by using strong and light materials and an innovative design.

ULTRAdisc’s two-piece design allows the hats to be made from strong and lightweight anodized aircraft 6061 T-6 billet aluminum. The floating rotors themselves are made with a high-carbon iron that is perfectly balanced for strength and lightweight.

More weight was taken off by designing each ULTRAdisc to be corner specific - we can claim to be the very first to develop this innovation for the Elise/Exige. As many of you know, Lotus uses one part number for all four brakes. The front and rear brakes are the same rotor even though the brake pads are of different size. The ULTRAdisc rotors are tailored to match the swept area of the smaller calipers in the rear and the larger calipers in the front. This correction eliminates 3/8” of heavy unused rotor surface per rear wheel. This alone saves 6 pounds of rear unsprung weight!

Adding power will make your faster in a straight line but reducing weight, specifically unsprung weight, enhances nearly every performance characteristic. By sticking to Colin Chapman’s philosophy of “simplify and add lightness,” you can improve acceleration, braking and cornering grip at the same time.

ULTRAdiscs will not only give you greater stopping power, but the loss of unsprung weight will give you more precise steering inputs and better turn-in characteristics.





All of this weight savings and durability has made ULTRAdiscs a favorite of the fastest Lotus Challenge Series drivers. Brent B.'s high-power, high-aero, race-winning Exige to our low-power, no-aero Project Nirvana Elise run ULTRAdiscs with excellent results. Reducing unsprung weight will improve your Lotus's performance no matter how it's setup.

Sector111 Podcast- Martin from Girodisc

We spoke with Martin, Principal at Girodisc, about our ULTRAdiscs and all sorts of other brake-related issues in the newest Sector111 Podcast. Martin talks about how and why he started Girodisc, the history of cross-drilled brakes and why manufacturers still offer them & what makes ULTRAdiscs so good!


CLICK HERE to listen to the Sector111 Podcast

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