Automotive Disc Brake Manual (Techbook Series) (ISBN 1859605427)

An informative look at of disc brake technology:
This is an attractive, full colour book with information on disc brakes technology. It covers types of discs, production, materials, pad materials, etc. There are also chapters on testing, maintenence and a cause and effect section with failed discs and the reasons why failures happen. There are colour photos of brake failures, abnormal wear, stress, heat and graphs help to explain heat, runout, noise, proliferation of cracks, vapour lock, fading and more. At 128 pages it seemed a little too short to me, but then again it was based on a 25 page booklet originally published by Brembo. The information was good but its more for academic interest. If you're interested in putting this knowledge to work it would be better if you were an automotive student or a writer. For routine servicing and maintenance your car's service manual should have all the information you need. The information is however very interesting. I was looking at it before buying it and was very tempted to add this to my collection of automotive books. Not least of the factors which tempted me was the fact that it was written in collaboration with Brembo, one of the worlds leading brake manufacturers. If you need in-depth scientific information on disc brakes then maybe you should take a look at this book. For more practical information I've heard that Fred Puhn's brake book is a good buy. Maybe both of these books will serve as a useful tool for sportscar design considerations.