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XC90 brakes

Funkee

Funkee

Active member
Joined
Feb 19, 2010
Location
Netherlands
For my '74 242 I'm looking into big brake options.

S60R calipers would be nice, but they're kind of hard to get hold of over here.
In my opinion XC90 brakes (316 or 336mm) would be quite the upgrade, and the calipers would probably have enough stopping power for a say 1400 kg/3000lbs 242, right?
They're easily available for around €70~120 a piece.



Compared to stock S60. They share the same PCD as a S60 caliper, but take M14 instead of M12 bolts.

I do have a set of XYZ 6 piston calipers and rotors off a XC90 but some of the pistons are stuck.
I could have them rebuilt, but the pistons aren't sealed, so durability here in north Europe wouldn't be best feature of them either.

49.jpg


What do you think?
 
It'll have more than enough stopping power. I've previously had 305mm front discs with S60/V70 calipers and stock rear brakes in two ~1480-1520kg(without driver) 245. And the "faster one" stopped with no effort from 302km/h. Did also well on casual track use. Good fluids, pads and discs are the key.

Just for extra insurance updated front of the other to XC90 336mm front discs with previously mentioned calipers. Rear has XC90 calipers and 308mm discs. Better balance than before but it wasn't that bad. No unwanted locking of the front wheels. Stock master cylinder and rear pressure reducers are still in use.

Why no XC90 front caliper or such? With current calipers Polaris can be used, though just barely and it's not a direct bolt on. That's what you get when aftermarket wheel is not an option(because I don't want to) and Polaris is the biggest original rwd wheel :roll:
 
Thanks guys, never saw the replies until now. Just found a cheap set of the XC90 calipers over here so I hope I can pick them up.
 
So I did. Paid €100 for them. Not sure if I'll use them cause they're really heavy indeed.
The set is almost 13kg without the carrier, which will add about 2 kg each I'd expect. This vs 7.2kg for the aluminium XYZ ones (some mounting hardware and pistons I took out in the cup). With adapters the unsprung weight quite add up.







The XC90 calipers are really huge as you can see, the XYZ are over 30 cm/12" in lenght but they kind of get dwarfed next to them.
I'll see whether I'll use them or not, Mattis pointed me to BMW E38 4 pot calipers which would could be found pretty easy around here with good rebuild packages available as well.
 
I have a set of xc90 genuine front disks and pads going for cheap if you are going that way.
They are the 316mm set up. Bought from Tasca Volvo to bring to the Netherlands for a subsequent front brake rebuild for my APK.
After being here a year, decided to swap them out to learn Tasca had sent me the wrong ones as my 2010 is a transitional brake model (mid year they changed everything to 328mm)

Anyway, letting them go super cheap if anyone here in the Netherlands needs some.
Im just south of Sittard.
Patrick
 
XC90 calipers are so heavy you can hardly mount them alone when changing pads.
Anyone tried BMW calipers (from e60 and other not as old models )? They weight nothing compared even to stock 940 or s/v70 calipers.
 
It would of been easier to just buy S60/V70R calipers. Shipping isn't that much. You can get a pair front calipers for about $200-250. Shipping wouldn't be more than $100 usd.
 
HRPufNStuf said:
I have a set of xc90 genuine front disks and pads going for cheap if you are going that way.
They are the 316mm set up. Bought from Tasca Volvo to bring to the Netherlands for a subsequent front brake rebuild for my APK.
After being here a year, decided to swap them out to learn Tasca had sent me the wrong ones as my 2010 is a transitional brake model (mid year they changed everything to 328mm)

Anyway, letting them go super cheap if anyone here in the Netherlands needs some.
Im just south of Sittard.
Patrick
Click to expand...

Probably wont need them, but thanks :)


BDKR said:
So in talking about size differences, you're talking about overall size? How ginormous that single piston is?

What about swept area? A 4 or 6 pot with greater swept area would be better than a single pot and less.
Click to expand...

Just size overall and indeed that big single piston. (insert she said joke).
A good 4/6 pot would probably perform better but not neccesarily. I've read into it some years ago and also noticed that on my Chevy where I put 2 piston Wilwood calipers they don't really perform any better (worse) than the single (huge) piston calipers that actually worked pretty good.

Still I might go for something else, as I said I just bought them for cheap.


Airfrix said:
XC90 calipers are so heavy you can hardly mount them alone when changing pads.
Anyone tried BMW calipers (from e60 and other not as old models )? They weight nothing compared even to stock 940 or s/v70 calipers.
Click to expand...

Those look heavy though.


white855T said:
It would of been easier to just buy S60/V70R calipers. Shipping isn't that much. You can get a pair front calipers for about $200-250. Shipping wouldn't be more than $100 usd.
Click to expand...

Why easier? Would still need adapters, kind of the same as with other calipers. I don't really have a soft spot for those R brakes either so I rather go with BMW/Wilwoods etc for half that money. R brakes go for round ?800/1000 here, maybe half that in bad shape.
 
Again, you can buy parts from the US. No one is saying you have to buy parts in your region. Yes, you need adapters but its a proven setup that doesn't require making things fit because all the hard work has already been done. Big brake upgrades are never going to be cheap. Pay now or pay later.
 
Funkee said:
Just size overall and indeed that big single piston. (insert she said joke).
A good 4/6 pot would probably perform better but not neccesarily. I've read into it some years ago and also noticed that on my Chevy where I put 2 piston Wilwood calipers they don't really perform any better (worse) than the single (huge) piston calipers that actually worked pretty good.
Click to expand...

A single piston caliper is never going to have the potential of a 6 or 8 pot of relatively the same size. Simply because...

1) ...it'll never effectively apply pressure across the same swept area.
2) ...it's a floating caliper design so some of that force is being used to move the entire caliper to apply pressure on the outside pad.
3) ...some of the force created must be used to overcome the stiction in the portion of the assembly that allows the caliper to float.

It's a cheap cost effective design that OE's like. It saves money. But serious performance cars these days don't use them for a reason.

As for performing better than one system or another, that's kind of difficult to grok without knowing details of the systems and their state.
 
white855T said:
Again, you can buy parts from the US. No one is saying you have to buy parts in your region. Yes, you need adapters but its a proven setup that doesn't require making things fit because all the hard work has already been done. Big brake upgrades are never going to be cheap. Pay now or pay later.
Click to expand...

I know, I bought (and still buy) tons of stuff for my American cars but I grew a little tired of paying about 25-30% more in taxes every time, even on used parts.

I'm not looking for the best brakes in the world. I know good brakes are costly.
The car is going to be a street cruiser and won't be used for race or autocross or something. The XC90 brakes should be way better than the stock 240 brakes.

BDKR said:
A single piston caliper is never going to have the potential of a 6 or 8 pot of relatively the same size. Simply because...

1) ...it'll never effectively apply pressure across the same swept area.
2) ...it's a floating caliper design so some of that force is being used to move the entire caliper to apply pressure on the outside pad.
3) ...some of the force created must be used to overcome the stiction in the portion of the assembly that allows the caliper to float.

It's a cheap cost effective design that OE's like. It saves money. But serious performance cars these days don't use them for a reason.

As for performing better than one system or another, that's kind of difficult to grok without knowing details of the systems and their state.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the OEM/cheap/old stuff is better :)
As stated above it's not going to be a high performance application for me. In my case the limiting factor of stopping the car would be the tires, not the brakes. I'm sure they will hold up to some hard driving and emergency stops, maybe not lap after lap, but thats exactly what I'm not gonna do :)
 
sell the XC90 calipers, sell the XYZ calipers, (add 200€ if neccessary) and buy some sealed 4/6 pots .. R brakes, Alfa 166 V6, or Peugeot 406 Coupe 3.0 , or Wilwood etc..
 
12david34 said:
sell the XC90 calipers, sell the XYZ calipers, (add 200? if neccessary) and buy some sealed 4/6 pots .. R brakes, Alfa 166 V6, or Peugeot 406 Coupe 3.0 , or Wilwood etc..
Click to expand...

I used BMW 302mm rotors, OE 240 front calipers, and REAL GOOD PADS.
 
I meant to say more about pad material above....

Nobody talks about pad's in these conversations, but they can make a HUGE difference!!!! If someone like EBC is willing to sell you a pad that they say will shorten the life of your rotor (!) they are talking about an aggressive material.

Three things alter brake performance.

1) Bigger rotors
2) Bigger calipers (which usually equates to a larger pad as well) for a given amount of hydraulic force
3) More abrasive pad material

Don't forget about number 3 above. ;-)
 
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