WHOA brakes for Beta?

[OperaHawk]

I've been drooling at the WHOA brake systems available for the Scorpion. Does anyone make one available for the Beta? I know the Scorp/Monte IS technically a Beta, but I'm thinking there a lot of parts that won't interchange (hence, its own forum here).

Any ideas?

SBJ

[Charley]

I've been drooling at the WHOA brake systems available for the Scorpion. Does anyone make one available for the Beta? I know the Scorp/Monte IS technically a Beta, but I'm thinking there a lot of parts that won't interchange (hence, its own forum here).

Any ideas?

SBJ

This question has been raised in the past and from what I remember reading (and this was before Jon Logan took over WHOA) because of the complexity of the Beta dual circuit braking system, no WHOA brake systems were ever produced for our cars.

[SubGothius]

This question has been raised in the past and from what I remember reading (and this was before Jon Logan took over WHOA) because of the complexity of the Beta dual circuit braking system, no WHOA brake systems were ever produced for our cars.
All components of the Beta braking system are unique to the FWD Beta family, unlike the other WHOA systems where components designed for the FIAT 124 or X1/9 also fit a variety of other models such as the Scorpion, so there's an economy of scale there vs. the fairly modest number of surviving Betas.

That said, there actually isn't a whole lot of room for improvement requiring a comprehensive system upgrade, as the stock Beta braking system is pretty damn good as-is; I think even the works rally Betas just used stock calipers and rotors, likely with racing pads and stainless-braided hoses. NeedForSpeed.co.uk offer a good selection of uprated pads and hoses for Betas, and I've seen these drilled-slotted-vented rotors on eBay:
http://search.ebay.com/220488316273
http://search.ebay.com/220488356071

[1,6 HF]

...That said, there actually isn't a whole lot of room for improvement requiring a comprehensive system upgrade, as the stock Beta braking system is pretty damn good as-is;...

Steven,

My experience is the same as Tye's. I'm speaking as someone who uses brakes late and hard, and on my Betas all I ever needed was top-quality pads. I used to go through a set of Ferodo HD (Formula 3) pads every +/-7500 miles, and as long as they were bedded properly, they bit instantly and never faded. No need for drilled, slotted, vented, gold-plated rotors, IMO.

But it's easy to determine whether or not you need a brake upgrade. The basic rule of (non-ABS) brake adequacy is this: if you can lock your wheels/tires at virtually any speed, any time, then you have all the brakes you need.

[davidb]

Here I go again agreeing w/Ed. DBA "SuperDuplex" brakes
were/remain an excellent braking system [if sorted/working].
I've seen slotted, "X' drilled Beta rotors on-line. Fit, dunno?
Hunting will produce 4 - 6 different pad compounds availible.
That'll make a diff. in & of itself [pads] your driving style. The
stock Beta DBA braking system, tuff to improve upon. And we
drive our Lancias carefully so no ABS required. Enough ...

[Allen Lofland]

When i was doing the white Zagato I begged Jim Fierst to look into the Beta brakes for a WHOA upgrade. He did better than that, he bought a Zagato and did a good job of restoring it and told me to FIX my own Stock brakes, they where good enough :)
I beleive he is still driving the Z and with stock Brakes. So if they neeeded upgrading I bet he would have done it
I did find that after many miles and three years of daily driving that the brakes never let me down.

[Jim Fierst]

Just a bit more on this topic .. I did look at a possible brake upgrade but like others have said the sophistication of the dual piston stock system meant that one would have to have started replacement at the M/C then calipers to get more clamping force. Additionally the stock rotor is 250 MM and that just clears a 14" wheel. Rule of thumb is rotor diameter in inches plus 4" equals minimum wheel diameter. So without being able to increase rotor diameter without going to larger diameter wheels the improved clamping forcefrom a caliper and M/C upgrade would have not been cost effective and would have only provided marginal improvements.
Also as mentioned stay with a proper functioning stock system, stainless lines and quality sport pads for best results.
One other tip is to go to higher temp brake fluid and bleed and flush the caliper fluid regularly if you are involved in rallies, track days etc. This was proven to be an effective way to reduce fade during the track testing of the stock brakes verses a kit we considered developing for the Alfa GT6 & Milano.