Brake upgrade for non-S

[insite]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Again, HP has nothing to do (relatively speaking) with the top speed of a car, it has to do with how fast you attain that top speed. Most cars are aerodynamically limited, not power limited, to how fast they can go. You're never gonna hit 150 MPH in a Boxster unless the Top is Up anyway.

cars are drag-limited at a given power output. terminal velocity is reached when the power required to overcome drag for a given vehicle equals the maximum power output of the motor. for a vehicle of a given frontal area and cd, increasing the power output will increase the top speed capability.

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

The value to the Brake upgrade is on the Track where the smaller Brakes will fade more readily. On the Street, where you don't have a constant application of the Brakes without a cooling period in-between, they don't offer that much advantage...

agreed. pecivil's point, however, is still valid for track scenarios. a higher HP car will see higher average speeds around a track (given equal chassis). accordingly, the kinetic energy the brakes will have to shed increases. this will increase heat. as a brake system essentially changes kinetic energy to thermal energy, the job of a brake rotor is to get rid of that heat, hence the larger system. on the road, this makes almost no difference. on the track, it makes a LOT of difference.