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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981

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2020 SVBCC Officers

President: Wes Maupin

V. President: Sam Koogler

Secretary: Mary Ann Harris

Treasurer: Bill Krzastek

Membership: Michael Brittingham

Webmaster: Michael FitzGeorge

News Editor: Ev Gorman

Historian: Bob Vitrikas

Car Show: Ev Gorman

In This Issue of "On Your Marque"

SVBCC—People Page

Newsletter Index and Information 1

President’s Message 2

Member Spotlight 3

2020 Membership RENEWAL Info 4

Where We're Going

SVBCC Calendar of Events 2020 5

Other Events of Interest 5

SVBCC Planning Meeting for 2021 6

Where We've Been

SVBCC Annual Biz Meeting Report 6

Historian’s Viewpoint: One Good Turn Deserves a Turner 7

Information for Members

The Simple Stuff: Brake Rotors! 10

Advertisement Info - 4 SALE: Riley Saloon RMB 15

Back Editor Page and Mailing Address 16

The Shenandoah Valley British Car Club Ltd. (SVBCC) is dedicated to the enjoyment and preservation of British automobiles.

ON YOUR MARQUE

DECEMBER 2020 Website: www.SVBCC.net

REMINDER—For one reason or another, many of us change our email address, and email is our primary method of keeping you informed of events and what is going on with SVBCC. If you change your email address, please let us know so you will not miss out on any important events. Update your Contact Information by emailing [email protected].

Volume 33, Issue 12

SVBCC PLANNING MEETING

VIA EMAIL

Send 2021 Event Ideas to Wes Maupin at

[email protected]

HAPPY

HOLIDAYS

mailto:mailto:[email protected]



PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: MAY, 2020

Dear SVBCC members, Until we meet again, Cheers! ~Wes Maupin

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: DECEMBER, 2020

Dear SVBCC members,

Greetings to all! I trust that everyone had an enjoyable, albeit smaller, Thanksgiving gathering. Due to the recent CDC recommendations on gatherings, our original collective of eight family members dwindled to two. The 20 pound turkey we had originally bought was kept in the freezer and a replacement ten pounder thawed in it's place. Guess we'll use the larger of the two for our traditional day-after-Christmas dinner. So glad to see 2020 fading farther into the distance of our rearview mirrors! No wonder toilet paper and paper towels were in short supply. Seems like every time we tried to flush 2020 down, it repeatedly backed up in the toilet bowl and ran out onto our bathroom floors! So, please, remain vigilant. We're not there yet, and unfortunately, I suspect these next few months are going to be our most difficult, if that's possible. We held our Annual SVBCC Business Meeting in November where we voted on approval of club leadership for next year. Thanks to each 2020 Club Officer who agreed to carry over their positions to 2021. I know personally, my "duties" were few and far between this past year and felt it necessary to continue as President. A full report of the meeting is on page 6 along with the slate of 2021 Club Officers. Our December SVBCC Planning Meeting where we invite ideas and sponsors for next year’s club events will be ONLY VIA EMAIL this year. Please consider sponsoring an event in 2021. See page 6 for more details. Alas, our traditional kick-off event each year, the Annual Winter Party, typically scheduled for late January, has been cancelled out of concern for the welfare of our membership in these trying times. Let’s think outside the virus box to FUN in ‘21! Hopefully, as we turn the calendar to 2021, there will be more to do with SVBCC in the upcoming months, and we'll have many more opportunities to gather and renew our enjoyment of each others company and to drive in the cars that hold us all together… even if they often do not! So, Merry Christmas… Happy Holidays… and Happy New Year, I hope. Cheers! ~ Wes Maupin


MEMBERSHIP SPOTLIGHT While cooped up due to Covid-19 restrictions, many of you may have tackled that pesky problem under the hood or rumbling in some other body part on your British Car. SVBCC member Dave Eames shares his experience….

“Braking” News

Well, I will spare you the latest breaking news on COVID-19 or the election results, but I did recently discover an unusual benign brake failure on my 1976 Triumph Spitfire 1500. During the last few drives, I had noticed several symptoms indicating that there was a problem. It started after the car had not been driven for a while. When reversing out of the garage, it was obvious that the rear brake shoes had developed an affinity for their drums and would come unstuck with a loud “clunk”. I did not think too much of it at the time as the car drove normally once they freed off. Then more recently, I noticed that under heavy braking, the car would veer off to the right. Then later, during the same drive, a couple of unexplained loud bangs emanated from what could have been the transmission or the rear brakes, so it was obviously time to investigate.

I removed the rear wheels and assumed I would find that the shoes on the RHS were binding. Actually, as you can see from these photos the opposite was true; the linings on both shoes on the LHS had delaminated! I have never seen a failure like this, but it does explain what was going on; one of the linings was nowhere to be found! These photos show the remaining lining resting in the LHS drum and the shoes with no linings! I can only suppose that the remaining lining had been ground up, pulverized, and disappeared. Just for reference, I bought our Spitfire twenty-three years ago in March 1997 at which time I performed an extensive mechanical restoration and an engine rebuild. I checked my files and the shoes were purchased from Victoria British, and they had 16,263 miles on them when this failure occurred.

Since owning the car, I have used many sources for replacement parts, but have come to rely on Rimmer Brothers in the UK. When I replaced the differential in the car, it was actually more cost effective to have them ship one to me. Then on one of my business trips to the UK, I took the old one to their facility in Lincoln in order to collect my £100 core charge! So for this repair, I decided to take advantage of their 12.5% off November sale on Triumph parts, and I ordered a complete rear brake overhaul kit which included everything outboard of the backplate. I assume that many of our members have used Rimmer Brothers before. If you have not, I highly recommend them! I placed my order on their web site on a Friday afternoon and by Tuesday noon (3½ days), the parts arrived by DHL carrier!

So after assembly, this is what the finished job looks like…. ~Dave Eames


MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME

December 31, December 31, December 31 – What happens on December 31? What happens is that your membership in SVBCC expires! No more email updates. No more SVBCC Newsletters. No more Facebook access. Avoid those pesky emails from your Membership Chair (me) reminding you to renew. Do it now! Make life easier for you, (and for me!). It’s so easy to Renew. Simply go to http://www.svbcc.net/membership.htm, update your information, and use PayPal, Visa, or Mastercard to cover the cost. It’s a bargain at $20 for a whole year! ~ Michael Brittingham, Membership Chairperson

MEMBERSHIP IN SVBCC

W E W E L C O M E N E W M E M B E R S !

PLEASE SHARE our sign-up info below with interested potential members!

And RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP TODAY!

To join the Shenandoah Valley British Car Club, membership application is available online:

To join online, go to http://www.svbcc.net/membership.htm and click the “Join/Renew Online” tab, which will take you to Eventbrite where you will be able to join and pay dues using PayPal, MasterCard, or Visa.

http://www.svbcc.net/membership.htm

http://www.svbcc.net/membership.htm


SVBCC CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2020

December Planning Meeting BY EMAIL Sponsor: Wes Maupin

OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST

We list here a number of other events that may be of interest to our members or that other clubs have asked us to publicize:

NO ITEMS AT PRESENT

*********************************************************************************

SVBCC CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2021

January Annual Winter Party CANCELLED Sponsor: Sam Koogler

OTHER EVENTS… TBA! We WILL drive!

ONGOING MEETINGS

1st & 3rd Sat. Mornings CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Charlottesville Cars & Coffee Barracks Road Shopping Center

https://www.facebook.com/groups/455829684443357/about/


SVBCC ANNUAL BIZ MEETING REPORT BY WES MAUPIN

On Saturday November 7th, we held the Annual, and required, Shenandoah Valley British Car Club Business Meeting. Attended by eight members, we voted to accepted the slate of 2020 officers for a continuation of positions for 2021. Bill Krzastek provided the Treasurer's report, and we ate the customary slices of pizza. The meeting was conducted in McDowell at the Stonewall Ruritan Club. Thanks to each who made the trip over the mountains. Luckily, the weather was perfect.

2021 SVBCC OFFICERS

President: Wes Maupin

V. President: Sam Koogler

Secretary: Mary Ann Harris

Treasurer: Bill Krzastek

Membership: Michael Brittingham

Webmaster: Michael FitzGeorge

News Editor: Ev Gorman

Historian: Bob Vitrikas

Car Show: Ev Gorman

SVBCC ANNUAL PLANNING MEETING BY WES MAUPIN

At the Business Meeting, I decided to not schedule an in-person December Planning Meeting. Instead, I’m asking club members to submit 2021 event suggestions for consideration VIA EMAIL. Hopefully, should the vaccine for Covid-19 be out and distributed by Spring, we can feel better about gathering and once again having enjoyable times in our cars and in each other’s company. Fingers crossed! Please think about "sponsoring" an event and email your suggestion to me at [email protected]. I will await other member suggestions and try to once again schedule a month to host a picnic at Sherando Lake. I have a few other ideas, but want to hear from others first. So, put on your thinking hats and let me know what you'd like to do, where, and when, even if you don't feel up to sponsoring your idea(s). Cheers! ~ Wes Maupin



HISTORIAN’S VIEWPOINT: One Good Turn Deserves a Turner

By Bob Vitrikas

Perhaps you’ve never heard of a Turner? Well, let me fill you in on this vintage race track terror!

Founded by Englishman Jack Turner in December 1951, the Turner Sports Car Company Ltd, turned out Turners until April 1966 when Jack Turner’s heart attack forced the firm to close its doors. In total, approximately 670 Turners were sold as kits or as complete cars. In kit form, Turners qualified for a tax break, making them popular with the British DIY crowd. Like so many British sports cars, significant numbers of left-hand drive Turners were sold to U.S. owners. The first recorded U.S. sale was in July 1957, when a Turner A30 Sports was sold for just $2,000 by the European Motor Mart in Springfield, Ohio. By 1963, the price had risen to $3,000. Meanwhile, on the other side of Ohio, Turner enthusiast Dale Smith and owner of Tai-City Sports Cars, was appointed as the U.S. importer/agent heading a coast-to-coast sales network.

Like many of his now well known compatriots, Jack Turner got his start after World War II, putting his wartime aircraft tool making experience to use building one-off MG-based race specials, preparing customer’s race cars, and building his own engines. This gave him the confidence to begin building his own line of cars. His first efforts were pretty bare bones. Based on one of his specials, the kit consisted of just the chassis, front and rear independent suspensions employing transverse leaf springs, and Turner’s proprietary design alloy wheels. Customers were left to their own imagination for engine, transmission, and body. Just eight of these were sold before Turner production began in earnest. Jack Turner’s vision was an inexpensive, simple, entry level sports car.

In October 1954, the Turner A30 Sports started things off using the Austin A30 engine which displaced a mighty(?) 803 cc, as well as the A30 transmission and suspension. The frame was a simple large diameter steel tube ladder construction with an open two seat fiberglass body. British singing star Petula Clark took delivery of her Turner A30 Sports in June 1956. It was the first of two Turners the pop star would own, adding a bit of glamour to the Turner name. Her second Turner was a shocking pink 1958 Turner 950 which stood in stark contrast to her previous Old English White A30! Her license plate was fittingly “PET 1”. Ms Clark went on to have a spectacular career as a singer, actress and composer whose career continues today, spanning an incredible eight decades! Her many hits include “Downtown”, “I Know a Place”, “A Sign of the Times” and … well the list goes on and on. Records sold to date, 68 million! No wonder she is often called “The First Lady of the British Invasion”.

The Turner logo features two heraldic-style beasts representing the Welsh origin of Jack and Molly Turner. The horseshoe and anvil symbolize the origins of the company at the Old Smithy, Selsdon.

Jack Turner proudly holds a drawing of the Turner GT coupe.


HISTORIAN’S VIEWPOINT:… Turner cont.

In 1956, the BMC 948 cc engine became available, thus the Turner 950 Sports. This drivetrain also powered the Austin-Healey Sprite which makes it ideal for vintage racers on a budget looking for something different. At the suggestion of the U.S. importer, Dale Smith, small tail fins were added. For the first time, the Turner 950 offered optional front disc brakes. Definitely a “must have” for the racers in the crowd! Please see article on disc brake rotors in this issue of “On Your Marque.” The British motoring magazine, “Motor” tested an Alexander tuned cross-flow cylinder head Turner 950 Sports. The performance was not exactly headline material, but the Turner managed a 0-60 mph time of 13.6 secs enroute to a top speed of 95.7 mph while averaging around 30 mpg. In comparison, a 1960 MGA 1600 did 0-60 mph in 13.3 secs, a top speed of 103 mph and averaging 28 mpg. Considering the MGA had a 60% larger engine, the Turner acquitted itself nicely.

In 1959, the Turner Sports Mk I was introduced boasting improvements to the chassis and body as well as making front disc brakes standard. Most significantly, the much more powerful and lighter Coventry Climax 1097 cc FWA (71 hp) and 1,216 cc FWE (75-105 hp) engines were offered in addition to the BMC 948 cc (43 hp) motor.

Petula’s first Turner. The PET 1 registration plate, along with the pink Turner, would come later.


HISTORIAN’S VIEWPOINT:… Turner cont.

The very next year, 1960, the Turner Mk II hit the market boasting an improved interior and some minor styling changes along with a front suspension adapted from the Triumph Herald. Engine options were again expanded to include the Ford 105E 997 cc and 109E 1,340 cc engines. In early 1962, the handsome Turner GT coupe was introduced at the London Racing Car Show. Taking a page from the Lotus Esprit, it featured a fibre glass monocoque centre section. A choice of Coventry Climax engines were offered but of the nine coupes sold, it is believed that all were built with the less expensive Ford 1,500 cc engine. GT Coupe production ended in 1964. In 1963, the Ford Cortina 1,500 cc was an option on the roadster. In late 1963, the Turner Sports Mk III sported a tuned version of the Ford 1,500 cc engine identified by the large air scoop on the hood, er bonnet.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Turner really came into its own on the track, often beating much more powerful (and expensive!) sports cars such as Jaguar, Lotus, and Aston Martin. In 1958, 1959, and 1969, Turners won the U.K. Autosport Championships while in the U.S. Turners won the 1957 & 1958 Sam Collier Memorial Trophy races in St. Louis, Missouri and Venice, Florida. In 1959, a lone Turner competed successfully in the Sebring 12 Hour Race. In 1960, four Turners competed in the Sebring 4-Hour Race for under one liter GTs. Entries were painted in U.S. racing colors, white body and blue stripe down the center. They were equipped with Alexander cross-flow aluminum cylinder heads, close ratio gearboxes, limited slip differentials, 13-inch wire wheels, front disc brakes, and topped off with matching white fiberglass hardtops. To their credit, all four Turners finished the race. Twenty-nine cars started the hour enduro and 21 finished. The first two Turners finished a credible 10th and 11th place. Turner also won three SCCA D-Production National races in 1966; and have won a number of SCCA F-Production National Championships over the years. Turners continue to be popular in vintage racing and remain true to Jack Turner’s vision of being simple, inexpensive, and fast entry level sports cars.


THE SIMPLE STUFF: Brake Rotors by Bob Vitrikas

How would you like your rotors, sir or madam: vented, drilled, slotted, or all three? Perhaps you’re a traditionalist and prefer solid rotors without venting? Or maybe you have to be on the cutting edge and prefer carbon-ceramic rotors? So many choices! What’s a person to do?

Perhaps I can help.

First let’s explore the somewhat surprising history of disc brakes. Once upon a time there were only drum brakes on cars and trucks. Then in 1902 Englishman Frederick William Lanchester LLD designed a disc brake system similar to those used today. Lancaster was ahead of his time but the rotor metallurgy wasn’t up to the task and they were abandoned. Successful disc brakes were used in the 1930s and 40s on trains, airplanes and tanks. The Dr. Porsche (yes, that Dr. Porsche) designed German Tiger tank employed disc brakes in 1942. At the other end of the scale, the tiny, inexpensive, American Crosley used four wheel disc brakes in 1949 and 1950 but they ran into reliability problems and returned to drum brakes. Nevertheless, disc braked Crosleys were hard to beat on the track on the 1950s. Did you know a Crosley Hot Shot won the very first Sebring endurance race on New Year’s Eve 1950? OK, it was a 6 hour vs 12 hour race and they won based on the Index of Performance but hey let’s give the little guy credit. Many of our LBCs such as MG T series, TR2s and early TR3s used drum brakes on all four corners. Then Jaguar rocked the racing world with the introduction of disc

Racing improves the Breed! In front is an Austin-Healey 100S with four-wheel disc brakes. It was the first modern production car to offer disc brakes to the public. It is followed by a C-Type Jaguar, which introduced disc brakes to the racing community at the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, forever changing automotive brake design.


THE SIMPLE STUFF:… Rotors cont.

brakes on their C-Type race cars at the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans and brakes were never the same. Racers and street cars soon followed suit, first with discs on the front only, then more commonly on all four corners. Just 50 Austin-Healey 100S were made in 1955, but they were the first production car to offer disc brakes (all four wheels no less) to the public. Biggest advantage of discs over drums? Better heat dissipation.

At its basic level, in the process of slowing your car or truck, brakes convert kinetic energy into heat. Kinetic energy is a function of speed and mass. The faster the speed, the heavier the vehicle, the more kinetic energy and the more heat generated by braking. Up to a point, this is OK. In fact, some braking systems, especially on race cars, need heat to operate at peak efficiency. However, past a certain temperature, bad things begin to happen. Brake pads and shoes begin to lose their friction, brake fluid begins to boil, thus introducing air into the hydraulic system resulting in a spongy brake pedal or worst case, no brake pedal at all. Yowee! Heat can also warp brake discs. Ever feel your brake pedal pulsing when you apply your brakes? That’s a likely sign your brake rotors are warped and need to be trued or replaced.

Solid smooth rotors: What can be done to combat the heating? There are several ways, including installing disc brakes on all four wheels, enlarging brake rotors, enlarging the brake pad surface area, or even adding more brake calipers. Adding disc brakes on the rear axle is straightforward, but adds expense and complicates the parking brake design. Brake discs can be enlarged, but only to a point when the inside wheel rim gets in the way. This became quite noticeable on original Mini Coopers with 10” wheels! Fortunately, Minis were light (1289 lbs for a 1966 Mini Cooper S) and not all that fast. Today’s performance cars come with larger and larger wheel rim diameters allowing larger brake rotors. Adding brake pad area is also pretty straightforward, again up to a point when the rotor material can no longer dissipate the heat. The maximum I’ve seen is a six-piston front rotor. Some late model Bentleys had dual brake calipers on the front wheels to increase the pad area and presumably help cool the calipers. At this point, we are maxed out on number of discs, size of rotors, pad area, and number of calipers. Now what?

Ventilated solid rotors: Brakes love air. High performance street cars and race cars do all they can to funnel more air across the brake discs and calipers. One ingenious method is to vent air inside the rotor thus helping cool both surfaces of the disc. Most road cars today use smooth ventilated rotors and they are perfectly satisfactory for “John Q. Public.” They are strong and offer maximum surface area compared to drilled or slotted rotors.

In 1961, the Mini Cooper was introduced. The front drum brakes were upgraded with Lockheed 7” diameter rotors on the front, the smallest ever fitted to a production car. In 1963, these were enlarged on the Mini Cooper S to a whopping 7.5”.



One word of caution, not all brake rotors are equal. I learned this the hard way when I opted for after market rotors on my late model Jaguar sedan. I quickly learned that the less expensive (dare I say “cheaper”) rotors weren’t up to the task of dissipating the heat and quickly warped. I brought the car back and got a new set of rotors installed at no charge. Two weeks later, the rotors warped, and again they were replaced free of charge. Two weeks later, they warped again. This time, they were trued and off I went. Two weeks later, the brake pedal was again giving my foot a massage. Not in a good way. Out of frustration, I called the Jaguar dealer who politely educated me that this is a common problem with after market rotors on Jaguars. After market rotors don’t have the same high-grade steel as factory rotors. They recommended that I buy OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) discs from Jaguar. I heeded their recommendation and paid up. End of problem.

Some rotors rust easily if they get wet. High-quality rotors may be coated with zinc to alleviate this problem. When I store my cars indoors, especially after driving in the rain or washing the car, I apply the brakes to clean the moisture off the rotors.

Cross-drilled rotors: OK, what’s next? Well, how about drilling the rotors? Let’s get something out of the way up front, they look sooooo cool peeking out from behind your snazzy rims! So what? Turns out in the early days of racing, when asbestos brake pads were commonly used, it was discovered that gas and dust built up between the brake pads and the rotors decreasing braking effectiveness. Thankfully nowadays, asbestos is not used in brake material so this is not such a problem. Unfortunately, dust continues unabated. You may be surprised to learn, as I was, that the unsightly and sometimes hard to remove brake dust normally comes from the brake disc, not the pads. But wait, there’s more…! Cross drilling does help cool the rotors (up to 180 degrees), improving effectiveness and helping prolong pad life. Better yet, they help water escape from the surface of the rotors when driving in wet conditions. Ever put your brakes on when leaving the car wash and nothing much happens? That’s the point. Good idea to lightly drag your brakes when leaving a car wash so this doesn’t surprise you! Some of the latest cars do this when you are driving in the rain, lightly apply the brakes to dry the discs before you need them. Don’t ask me how they know to do this. Magic!

One problem with cross-drilled rotors is that the drilling weakens the rotor and they tend to develop stress cracks resulting in additional stress not only on the rotor but the driver’s pocket book. I have seen this happen (fortunately, not on my car!) at the track. One way to mitigate this is to chamfer (bevel) the holes thus relieving the stress. If you are shopping for cross-drilled rotors, take a look to see if the holes are chamfered. You may pay more, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Slotted rotors: Next up are slotted rotors. Like cross-drilled rotors, they help dissipate any gases and dust given off by the brake pads and clean water off the brake rotor surface thus improving brake effectiveness. Additionally, they don’t introduce stress in the rotor like cross-drilling. They also improve brake performance by giving a better initial “bite” when brakes are applied. This also abrades the brake pad surface ensuring renewal of the pad surface. Nice! Unfortunately, they don’t significantly help cool the rotor.



Ventilated, cross-drilled, slotted rotors: Best of both worlds, better cooling and dissipation of gases and dust for more consistent braking under the hardest (race track) conditions. They still have the problem of stress cracks with cross-drilling. Oh dear, just can’t get away from it. But, they do look extra cool!

Carbon-ceramic rotors: As the saying goes, “racing improves the breed.” So it has been with brakes. The latest development, taken from racing and aircraft technology, is carbon-ceramic brakes. Carbon composite rotors are 50% lighter than iron rotors, more heat tolerant so less fade and warping, stronger so they can be cross-drilled, generate significantly less dust, and have longer maintenance intervals. Yay! As an added benefit, should you drive in harsh winter conditions, they offer enhanced durability in corrosive environments such as salt and other chemicals used on roads in the winter. All the carbon-ceramic rotors I’ve seen are cross-drilled, but not chamfered. My guess is that because they are stronger, stress cracks are not a problem. In my experience, on a street car they tend to be “grabby” at low speed, but work great when slowing from higher speeds. In normal use, I’m told they will last the lifetime of the car. On the race track, not so much.

Fun Facts: Remember back in the beginning of this article when I mentioned the Mini Cooper had the smallest disc brakes (7 inch diameter rotors) ever fitted to a production car? So, what is the largest disc brake rotor ever fitted? That honor goes to the Bentley Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus which share the same Italian Brembo carbon-ceramic brake system. In fact, Brembo makes about 80% of all carbon-ceramic brake systems worldwide. Spoiler alert, Bentley and Lamborghini are owned by VW. The winning statistics: rotor diameter, 17.3”, number of caliper pistons, 10. The iron rotor weight on the somewhat smaller rotor diameter (16.5”) Bentayga is a record setting 46.4 lb. Wow, blimey, and Mama Mia!

So what are the best performing brakes on the planet? According to a 2018 Auto Motor und Sport test of the 59 top performing cars in the world, first place goes to… queue up the Wagnerian music please: the Porsche 911 GT2 RS screeching to a halt from 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 96.1 feet. Second place went to the Ferrari 488 GTB at 99.0 feet, and 3rd place to the Corvette C7 Grand Sport/Z06 at 101.7 feet. Surprisingly, Porsche does NOT recommend carbon-ceramic brakes for track day use. Turns out, heat build-up degrades the carbon fibers in the very expensive to replace rotor. So why fork over $7,000+ for carbon-ceramic brakes? Porsche’s owner survey shows owners don’t like cleaning their wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes don’t make as much brake dust as iron rotors. Not having to replace rotors and pads under normal driving has to be a factor as well.

Bentley carbon-ceramic brakes. No waiting to stop!



So how do these stellar stopping distances compare to regular cars, SUVs, and trucks? Stopping distance is chiefly a function of weight, tires, and aerodynamics. With today’s outstanding disc braking systems, no longer are braking systems the primary determinant of braking distance in a single, relatively low speed, stop. At higher speeds and repeated hard use, the various braking systems come into play. In an October 2019 test, Consumer Reports results showed that the overall average stopping distance from 60 mph among cars, SUVs and trucks, was 132 feet. Sports cars averaged 121 feet, mid-size cars 133 feet, mid-size SUVs 134 feet, minivans 138 feet and full size pickup trucks 142 feet. With SUVs and pickups comprising 32% of cars on the road today, and growing by the day, keep in mind that extra 10-20 feet of stopping distance for SUVs, minivans, and pickups compared to your little British sports car. That could make a huge difference in a rear end collision! I generally try to keep a safe distance between me and the car in front, and if I’m being tailgated, I add more distance between me and the car in front to allow a safe cushion fore and aft in case of an emergency stop. Safety first, Safety Fast! Bottom line: Cross-drilled rotors are good for street use, slotted are best for track use. Carbon-ceramic rotors, typically cross-drilled, are good for street and track and have several advantages over iron rotors, but are really, really expensive and probably not worthwhile unless you frequently track your car. Oh, but they all look so cool behind those wheel spokes! You simply pay your money and make your choice!

Then again, there is a lot to be said for UNSTOPPABLE! KOWABUNGA!


Classifieds On Line: The Webmaster created a classified section on our club website:http://svbcc.net/Classifieds.htm Individual members of the club may post Wanted or For Sale items at no charge. The posting will be in place for 60 days unless canceled or renewed. Send ad and pictures to the Webmaster at [email protected]

Members Buying and Selling in Print: Individual members may submit ads that will run in the SVBCC Newsletters for 2 months unless an extension is requested. Pictures are welcome! Please send ads to [email protected]

FOR SALE: RILEY SALOON RMB

Riley four door Saloon 2 1/2 liter RMB, owned since 1968, sent back from England in 1970. Car restored in 1975. This car is in good running condition, and garage kept all these years. After 51 years ownership, it is time to sell. Asking price is $23,500. This sale comes with a few extra parts, owners manual, and shop manuals. Any questions, call Richard Saupe at 716-467-0086. The car resides in Wellsville NY.

GOT SOMETHING FOR SALE?

PUT IT HERE!

http://svbcc.net/Classifieds.htm

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:mailto:%[email protected]


On Your Marque is the official publication of the Shenandoah Valley British Car Club, Ltd. Any and all

opinions expressed herein are those of contributing author's and not necessarily those of the SVBCC, its

individual members, or the leaders of the Club. Contributions and comments are enthusiastically

encouraged. We are always looking for interesting articles and stories about owning a Classic British

Sports Car. Send your letters, pictures, and articles of interest to: [email protected] or On Your

Marque Newsletter Editor, 1088 Campbell Road, Keswick, VA 22947.

Shenandoah Valley British Car Club, Ltd.

P.O. Box 323

Waynesboro, Virginia 22980

the shenandoah valley british car club ltd. (svbcc) is ...webmaster: michael fitzgeorge news editor:...

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