MotoIQ Article on Performance Friction 135i BBK

[BerkTechnology]

MotoIQ.com just posed a really good, in depth article on the new Performance Friction 135i brake kit tested and developed on our time attack car. A good read for the technical minded or for those that want to learn a bit more about what separates brands like Performance Friction from other BBKs....

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_artic...t-durable.aspx

[Black Sheep]

Those are NICE!!!!

[macleod135]

Berk, I am thinking about a BBK for my 135i and I was wondering if you could offer your thoughts on the Performance Frictions BBK. Right now the main kit I am looking at is the StopTech kit, but I want to consider all options before dropping that much money on them.

[BerkTechnology]

The PFC kit is fundamentally different in many ways from the StopTech/Rotora/Greddy/AP kits that I have seen.

PFC's two best defining qualities are their 2pc direct drive rotor which is very different from the way most rotors attach to the actual hat. The PFC rotor & hat fit together kind of like axle splines inside a tranny and that is how the torque is transfered. Instead of using the bolts to transfer the torque the actual body of the hat is the load patch. For any engineers out there they know that bolts don't always like being loaded in a shear load path. Secondly is their 1pc caliper. The caliper body is a 1 pc assembly that is much stiffer and lighter than having a 2pc caliper that is bolted together.

There is a detailed writeup on PFC's process and facility here:



http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_artic...g-systems.aspx

[macleod135]

In terms of real world performance, how are the PFC brakes? Are they standing up to the beating on the track?

Also, my 135 runs double duty as my daily driver and track car, so will these have to perform well on the street as well as the track. Are the pad choices incredibly limited due to the unique 4 pads per caliper design? And if so, are the only compounds ones that would screech unbearably during my daily commute?

Any information about the performance you have experienced with the PFC kit or other input would greatly be appreciated. I plan on making my purchase later this winter and I just want to make sure I make the right decision.

[BerkTechnology]

Originally Posted by macleod135

In terms of real world performance, how are the PFC brakes? Are they standing up to the beating on the track?

Also, my 135 runs double duty as my daily driver and track car, so will these have to perform well on the street as well as the track. Are the pad choices incredibly limited due to the unique 4 pads per caliper design? And if so, are the only compounds ones that would screech unbearably during my daily commute?

Any information about the performance you have experienced with the PFC kit or other input would greatly be appreciated. I plan on making my purchase later this winter and I just want to make sure I make the right decision.

They can make you a street pad, PFC makes great semi metallic street pads that you can use anything from a truck to a Ferrari. We run their PFC01 compound that is a race compound that I would not recommend for the street.

We had lots of problems with too much heat transfer to the fluid using a conventional piston/caliper. The PFC piston is also a unique design that keeps the actual piston further inside the body of the caliper to isolate it from heat. Their piston caps and rotors both use patented technology to shed heat.

We have tested this setup at one track event and their heat capacity was far superior to anything else we have used. We need to take it back to Spring Mountain in Parhump NV to do a true comparison with our old braking system and give you guys an empirical review using hard numbers.

If you have engineering questions specific to the kit I might be able to put you in touch with the engineer that designed the kit for the 135i.

This car uses the same caliper we use and have abused them for 3 years now (pistons are sized per application obviously).

[BerkTechnology]

Yes we have the front & rear brake kit installed on our 135i. Caliper pistons have the dust seals and integrated parking brake drum for the rear.