16s are more comfortable than 17s, right?

[Inter State Man]

I do. I have my fluid changed annually (an old habit from my Mini Cooper days when brake fluid would always be full of water by the end of winter) and get the best pads I can buy. Only grind the rotors once, and then replace them. The brakes are only deficient in the city if I want to fool around a bit (which is not often these days)

[Inter State Man]

Let’s be clear - the Statesman brakes in tip-top nic are barely adequate.

[whitels1ss]

Let’s be clear - the Statesman brakes in tip-top nic are barely adequate.

Can't say I totally agree with you there.

A very good mate of mine has a supercharged, head & cammed, stroker in a Caprice
which has done quite a number of passes on the drag strip, traps at around 130mph & pulls up okay with it's original brakes.


He uses it as a daily, even often takes it on interstate runs, even tows a caravan sometimes, (drives mostly very sensible on the roads) & he is happy with the brakes.

For normal everyday driving the brakes work fine.

[Inter State Man]

...maybe I’m just used to small cars that stop real quick ...

[BLACK 346]

...maybe I’m just used to small cars that stop real quick ...

What pads are you currently running?

[Inter State Man]

Not sure (car and service receipts are 3 hrs south of where I am atm). Had the rotors replaced 10000km ago and asked them to put in their best road pads. They are not fancy hard racing ones or anything.

I will follow this up and let you know later. I’m quite prepared to accept that there is an better pad for normal use. My mechanic is WA Performance and Service Centre, who are great not too expensive, don’t over-service and only work on LSx cars. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=W...ice%2520Centre

My wife loves the Statesman for various reasons, one being that it’s the only car I don’t always drive ‘aggressively’

[Micks]

Bear in mind better/harsher pads generally cause undue/premature disc wear! I generally go the other way & change out pads more frequently.

[whitels1ss]

Not sure (car and service receipts are 3 hrs south of where I am atm). Had the rotors replaced 10000km ago and asked them to put in their best road pads. They are not fancy hard racing ones or anything.

I will follow this up and let you know later. I’m quite prepared to accept that there is an better pad for normal use. My mechanic is WA Performance and Service Centre, who are great not too expensive, don’t over-service and only work on LSx cars. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=W...ice%2520Centre

My wife loves the Statesman for various reasons, one being that it’s the only car I don’t always drive ‘aggressively’

From what I have heard, WA Performance have a fairly good reputation
& I would expect that they would have done the job right using only good parts.

I am sure they would have checked the job fully & reported if there were any problems.

As Mick suggested you could go for a softer pad but it sounds to me as though it might be more a case of
you getting used to stopping the momentum of a much heavier car than which you are accustomed to driving.


Now.... I would suggest you spend your money instead on getting a full aftermarket exhaust,
otr, set of better diff gears & a tune & enjoy it!

[keith reed]

From what I have heard, WA Performance have a fairly good reputation
& I would expect that they would have done the job right using only good parts.

I am sure they would have checked the job fully & reported if there were any problems.

As Mick suggested you could go for a softer pad but it sounds to me as though it might be more a case of
you getting used to stopping the momentum of a much heavier car than which you are accustomed to driving.


Now.... I would suggest you spend your money instead on getting a full aftermarket exhaust,
otr, set of better diff gears & a tune & enjoy it!

Might need those bigger brakes then.

[Inter State Man]

I am seriously interested in getting the manual ratio (slightly lower) diff in there. I want to keep it looking and sounding standard. Caprice wheels would be as far as I would go with a non-standard look

[whitels1ss]

yeah, the 3.46 is a very cheap well worthwhile improvement over the standard auto diff gears.

Often find complete used manual diffs for sale with people changing them out for 3.9's etc.

(3.46 in an auto is about the same upgrade as going to 3.9's in a 6 speed manual)

Certainly will not hurt fuel economy much either.

SS wheels look good on them as well.

They just give a little bit more of a sporty look over the Caprice wheels.

[Inter State Man]

im pretty much decided will stick with the 16s. spend the money on a 3.46 for the final ratio. There are plenty of fine looking 16" tyres out there and they are all about $50 cheaper than the equivalent 17s. I did see these though, which almost captured me on a whim.
[IMG][/IMG]

It took me a wile to notice that they are for later model WM-ish Statesmans, and not WK/L Caprices. There appear to me to be a few different spoke patterns (5,6,7,8) on WK/L Caprice standard wheels

[whitels1ss]

im pretty much decided will stick with the 16s. spend the money on a 3.46 for the final ratio. There are plenty of fine looking 16" tyres out there and they are all about $50 cheaper than the equivalent 17s. I did see these though, which almost captured me on a whim.
[IMG][/IMG]

It took me a wile to notice that they are for later model WM-ish Statesmans, and not WK/L Caprices. There appear to me to be a few different spoke patterns (5,6,7,8) on WK/L Caprice standard wheels

VE type wheels will not fit without having the centre hubs machined out larger.

The stud pattern is the same but the VE / WM has a smaller centre hub than the earlier models..

[Inter State Man]

Yeah. I found this as well -

the stub axles hubs are a different diameter, the VE is smaller at 66.9mm and the earlier models are 69.6mm and therefore you need to have the rim hub centres machined and depending on how good the job is you may or may not also need hub centric rings fitted.
To allow for wider rims to be fitted the wheel studs on the VE are also thicker (VE = 14mm & Pre VE = 12mm) and it is a wise and safer decision to also fit new acorn wheel nuts with the appropriate taper to suit the wheel nut seats to compensate for the thinner studs even though a lot of owners tend to ignore or are unware of this fact and just refit their existing nuts.

Thanks!

[keith reed]

Yeah. I found this as well -

the stub axles hubs are a different diameter, the VE is smaller at 66.9mm and the earlier models are 69.6mm and therefore you need to have the rim hub centres machined and depending on how good the job is you may or may not also need hub centric rings fitted.
To allow for wider rims to be fitted the wheel studs on the VE are also thicker (VE = 14mm & Pre VE = 12mm) and it is a wise and safer decision to also fit new acorn wheel nuts with the appropriate taper to suit the wheel nut seats to compensate for the thinner studs even though a lot of owners tend to ignore or are unware of this fact and just refit their existing nuts.

Thanks!

You can also use ford focus wheel nuts.