[Deev]

I'm looking at buying a set of brake discs and pads for my Tourer as I have a bit of a judder when braking (and it can't really hurt to replace the set), but I'm a little confused as to the difference between ABS and non-ABS discs. I'm searching for the discs on the EuroCarParts website (as they're currently running a 25% off all braking parts offer) using my reg number to identify the car, but all I'm offered is "with ABS" discs. Now I'm sure my car doesn't have ABS (and nor did my last Tourer, despite most spec sites claiming that all Tourers came with ABS!) but I'm confused as to what the actual difference is with them anyway. And if there is a difference, how do I figure out the right discs for the job?

[RoverRevival]

There is a thickness difference, look in your engine bay for something that looks like this:

abs module


can't find a pic of the Honda engine version.

[Deev]

Nope - definitely don't have one of those...

[GTiJohn]

There is a thickness difference, look in your engine bay for something that looks like this:

abs module


can't find a pic of the Honda engine version.

It's not quite as simple as this......

There are two types of factory-fit front brake discs on R8s - 'solid' and 'vented' ( the latter are thicker as they have cooling vents in the brake rotor - hence their name)

Solid discs were fitted to 1.4 petrols (and possibly non-turbo diesels) as standard

Vented discs are fitted to 1.6s and above petrols and turbo diesels 1.4 petrols (and possibly non-turbo diesels) when an optional ABS system is fitted.

As you've got a Tourer, you can't have a 1.4 or a non-turbo diesel, so my money is on 'vented' , or 'ABS' as they're calling them.

You should be able to tell which you have by :-

- looking for the vents on your current discs
- looking for the ABS modulator under the bonnet (photo show Bosch type)
- looking for the ABS dash warning light coming on and going off again during the first few seconds after ign on


As an aside.....very few 1.4 were fitted with ABS due to the fact it was a £900 option but in addition to getting slightly larger front brakes, you all got rear disc brakes too.

This was all down to the fact that it was twice the engineering effort to develop an ABS system for 2 different sizes of brake discs so we just commonised on the big ones. At the time nobody had developed ABS with rear drum brakes, so the rear discs came as part of the set-up.

You could ask why there were 2 different ABS systems on the car (Bosch 2E and Honda ALB2) but that's another story....

[Deev]

Okay well I'm sure I don't have that unit, and I definitely don't have an ABS light on the dash, so I'm going to assume not - therefore if I examine my discs to see if they're vented, and see if I have drums on the rear, I guess that will confirm. However that still doesn't help the fact that ECP's website seems to assume my reg has ABS (and indeed offers me rear discs as an option).

Clear as mud then :P

[threelitre]

One more point: Late K-series cars (new dash type) can have a different offset of the disc compared to the older Honda engined ones. Our 1990 216GSi had vented discs at the front - same as the 1997 Tourer in diameter, but a slightly different offset. For these late cars it is useful to look for compatibility with the bubble shape Rover 216/218vi.

Regards,

Alexander

[Deev]

Hmm I did consider looking at 200 model discs as the "normal" 400 had turned into a completely different car by 1997... Actually manually entering a 1997 200 1.6 gives a very similar specification of (vented) disc to the one specified for my reg, only the disc thickness is 1mm less (21mm as opposed to 22mm) and it does specify "without ABS", whereas entering a 1997 400 1.6 gives a default choice of a wildly different spec of disc - only 10mm thickness and unvented but stating for ABS, and also a completely different diameter. So I'm inclined to think I need the very slightly thinner disc from the 200. I guess I'll have a better idea when I whip the old discs off for a look (hello, spring?) although I'm not sure how I'm going to measure the thickness of a worn disc!

This is a minefield!!

[E_T_V]

There are two likely options - (I'm assuming you have a 416)

262mm diameter and vented with an overall height of 47.2mm (usually fitted to earlier pre-95 cars)

262mm diameter and vented with an overall height of 44.7mm (usually fitted to post 95 cars)

[Deev]

Yeah that sounds like the ones I was thinking of - but listed as being for a 97 216. Yes mine is a 97 model 416 Tourer with the bubble dash.

The ones I THINK I need therefore are (no idea if this massive link will work...) :

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Rover ... a45&000027

[GTiJohn]

There are two likely options - (I'm assuming you have a 416)

262mm diameter and vented with an overall height of 47.2mm (usually fitted to earlier pre-95 cars)

262mm diameter and vented with an overall height of 44.7mm (usually fitted to post 95 cars)

I'm pretty sure the discs from R8 carried-over without change onto R3 at 96MY

The solid disc is quoted as 13mm thick but with a 'height' of 44.6mm - so they are probably using 'height' as the dimension between the mounting face and the centre-line of the rotor

I still can't see why this of would have changed by 2.5mm for the vented disc and be different to the solid disc, even by only 0.1mm . .......

The sliding piston caliper should compensate anyway but I'm still confused.