Just saw that Moss is offering a brake caliper cover for all 4 calipers, as a kit for about $180.00. The covers are made of aluminum and come powder coated in either red or black. Looks as a nice option to painting but, was wondering if the covers could increase the temperature of the caliper under normal or autox driving. Has anyone have any experience or in-put about these caliper covers?

 

My opinion is that they're a bad idea. Especially if you're going to be using your brakes a lot, like with spirited driving, auto crossing, or track days. Besides, they just look plain weird and tacky. Do you ever see them on production vehicles? No. They remind me of people who can't afford real alloy wheels and buy cheapo hub caps that sort of look like alloy wheels. Tacky. And in the case of the brake covers, potentially a problem.

 

if you price out a BBK kit like the Willwood's over a few years it's interesting on how much they really cost you. OEM size/style pads have a price premium over some BBK kit pads and then you get nice big calipers with better heat resistance braking will never be\feel the same

just sayin'

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-covers-2.html

 

If your looking at covers, you can buy knock off covers on Ebay for as low as $29.00/set.

POS.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-x-C...Q5fAccessories

 

The "cheap" knock-offs on e-bay appear to be plastic and are glued on to the oem calipers.
The Moss parts are powder coated aluminum are are bolted in place.
My oem calipers are already painted red (I understand that this is not a performance advantage but they do look nice with white wheels) and they appear easier to clean than the caliper itself.

 

You may like the look, but putting those on really is going to do nothing more than trap heat in your brakes, not a good thing. I'd recommend not using them or just bolting them on for car shows.

 

Save your money and put it towards real brakes.

I personally think they look silly, cause it's obvious they are fake.

 

At 68 I'm not doing as many track days as in the past and autoX not a brake issue so I really don't need better brakes ( I already have SS brake lines, better pads, and brake stiffeners, Ate fluid fresh every 2 years), but I agree they look fake.

 

You don't use any b rake calipers!!!!!

 

Your pads & rotors will last a long time that way.

 

Brake Caliper Covers=Crap
Sorry, for blunt reply.
1. They add heat to entire brake system.
2. They add unsprung weight
3. Aluminum construction are a huge heat sink.
4. Not aesthetically pleasing.
5. Automatic Poseur status.

 

How true that is.

 

And the best part - no dust.

Rumor has it MINI will be debuting the Flintstone edition on April 1.


To the OP - if you really want your calipers to be a particular color, paint works. I used touch-up paint on my '91 Miata - still looks good a decade+ later.

 

Is that a bad thing?? I was under the impression that you want to remove heat from the brakes...?

 

I am thinking Red or Black BBQ paint if you will try it yourself, personally I dont mind the look of the covers, but I also dont like putting anything plastic or metal near my brake pads, as things tend to get stuck in there or they brake and just cause all sorts of issues.

 

Removing heat from brakes is a real benefit. But I think all those covers will do is hold that heat in not remove it. Maybe someone can install a set & tell us how long until they boil the brake fluid.

 

A heat sink pulls heat away, it doesn't hold it in.

Adding metal (especially aluminum) to a hot object will usually have a cooling tendency as you're conducting the heat away by increasing the surface area.

If you want to hold heat in, you need an insulator, which aluminum is not. Plastic, however...

 

Oh I bet those will help hold more heat in than they will ever shed.

Do you actually believe those will improve brake performance r56turbo? Would you use them on your car for that purpose?

 

LOL hell no!

I was just pointing out that a heat sink pulls away heat:

 

Sorry, heat transfer or conductor better term, will correct.

 

OK.. I'm an admitted newbie here, but aren't these made for the sole purpose of eliminating most of the brake dust on your wheels? To hell with whether they look good or bad.. that's in the eye of the beholder..

My question is.. do they work in stopping most of the brake dust?

This little car puts out more dust than any vehicle I've ever owned.. My first thought in the first week of use was trying to locate some caliper covers... after the radar detector install, of course.. I come here, do a search and virtually nobody is talking about the dust issue!! ... only looks... heat...poseing etc... ??

BTW.. the MPG website (which sells some) claims in their video that they lessen heat .. which is a good thing.. I'll assume they can back it up..

 

There are a number of brake pads that will greatly reduce brake dust and stop better than the OEM pads. I think that would be better solution than caliper covers. I was considering the covers only from the look standpoint, but if they make calipers retain heat... I'll pass.

 

That's what I hear and that is one viable option... However.. as I hate to remove a perfectly good set of pads with at least 30K miles left on them.. covers seems to make since. Then when the factory pads are toast... swap to the other type pads and remove the covers.

From reading post after post on the "supposed" heat issue.. it sounds like this is a non-issue for street driving. Closer to urban legend than fact. Couldn't find a single actual person who had any heat related problems related to caliper covers. Just sayin'.

 

I agree that covers/heat is a non-issue for street driving. However, I question if the covers will reduce the dust issue. Remember the wheels get covered with brake dust, so it makes sense to me that the covers will get covered as well. I really don't think the covers will reduce the brake dust problem.