Rotor Size 1997

[jmp]

Am I mis-reading the size of '97 Rotors -- are the fronts SMALLER then the rears? 282mm front and 302mm rear? That does not seem to make sense, but that is what I have read. Fronts are always bigger. Any confirmation/clarification/correction will be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[MvM]

You are mixing up different years of rotors.

The 1991-1996 models NSX have:
282x28mm front
282x21mm rear

Since 1997 the NSX has:
298x28mm front
303x23mm rear

So, to answer your question, yes, since 1997 the rear rotors are slightly larger than the fronts. Bear in mind though that you are talking about a mere .5" in diameter here.
Being a mid-engined car, the NSX seems to be using the rear brakes a bit more than the usual front-engined car. How much that is so, I can only guess.

 

[Shumdit]

This is the same thing you will see with 911's as I recall. Same size ft/rr Also, it is 5 mm not .5" which would be 12.5 MM.

 

[MvM]

This is the same thing you will see with 911's as I recall. Same size ft/rr Also, it is 5 mm not .5" which would be 12.5 MM.

You are absolutely right of course, it is 5mm or (rounded off) .2 inch.
But .5 inch would be 12.7 mm, not 12.5. Just think of that good old M2 Browning .50 Cal heavy machine gun.

 

[Shumdit]

I just always think 25 mm is one inch. I never seem to think about that extra .4 mm! My reason was to make sure people did not think there was a half inch difference in the sizes, which is much more significant than 5 mm, or so my wife tells me.

 

[OLDE GUY]

Part of the genius of the NSX design it that the ~ 42% front/58% rear static weight distribution changes under heavy braking toward 50%/50%. Thus the NSX rear brakes do a larger percentage of the braking than on a car with a front engine - which statically weights more in the front plus the front wheels receive the additional down force transfered forward with deceleration. Under heavy braking, a front engine car may end up having close to 65% front/35% rear down force distribution - think heavy, cast iron V-8 Mustang Cobra here. Have you noticed that the Mustang Cobra has massive front rotors and quite small rear rotors? Ideal brake/rotor size is dictated by the front/rear weight distribution under braking.

It is this nearly 50/50 weight distribution under heavy braking that gives the NSX such beautiful balance and stability under braking; during brake/turning (trail braking) and corner entry. Some of the mid-engine Ferraris have slightly larger rear rotors as well. So be careful with BBKs, especially the front only ones, since they will significantly change the brake balance - adversely!