Dean's Activa/XM/V6 and now Talbot blog

[Stickyfinger]

Brembo's do not have a handbrake mechanism

[Deanxm]

Ah yes, that's a shame.

D

[ekjdm14]

I'm sure this has been discussed on here not so long ago with reference to Xantia upgrades & there was talk there of adding a conventional rear handbrake either through calipers or by way of disc with integral drum mechanism. Would be a lot of work, but for the owner/creator of what is looking like being the nicest "OEM+" XM around, I can imagine it'd be no big deal to work something out if you really wanted those Brembos.

[Stickyfinger]

If 288mm disks stop a Xantia v6 Ok, why would you need larger on an XM ?....
Brembo's also do not fit under 15 inch wheels I think ...are yours 15 inch rims ?

[Deanxm]

Mine are 17" rims so loads of space to fit Brembo callipers under there, i just fancied something else to tinker with and although my brakes are OE for all early XM models and would be correct for a V6 of this age they are the smaller 278mm discs, the larger ones didn't turn up until later cars i think.

My Brakes work fine but i often wondered what power Brakes would be like with 4 pot callipers instead of the single pot ones they come with as standard.

Fitting a rear handbrake would be perfectly doable but with trailing arms and self-levelling suspension it would cause all sorts of issues in use and altering the setup just isn't worth the aggro considering the end product would be a bit shonky.

What do the 288mm callipers look like and are they still single pot?

D

[ekjdm14]

I'm not sure it'd be that bad, loads of PSA stuff has rear handbrakes and at least semi-trailing arms... Then again, I suppose from my experiences with 206 & ZX handbrakes it would be fair to say they are a little shonky.

[Deanxm]

That isn't the issue, if you have trailing arms as the suspension raises and lowers it increases and shortens the wheelbase if you apply a rear brake and the foot brake it will lock the suspension meaning on release of the brakes the car can spring up or plummet to the bump stops.

I think i will take it to work tomorrow, just because.
IMG_3334 by Deanxm, on Flickr
IMG_3331 by Deanxm, on Flickr
IMG_3330 by Deanxm, on Flickr

[Stickyfinger]

The 288 brakes are fine for everything other than "hard" track use imho on the Xantia @1400kg (ish), they give very good balance, with the extra power of the Citroen system over a servo system I can apply a lot of stopping power to the point of locking the car up. I think there is a balance between loosing grip/braking power and the 288 disks set up for me is very good.

With the standard Activa alloys I would not benefit from pretty calipers anyway

[elma]

I think you should bring it to my work tomorrow, it's virtually local and theres a friendly V6 Xantia to hang out and chat with about 288mm discs.

[Stickyfinger]

IF you do decide to add larger calipers it maybe worth looking at the options Alpine/DeLorean used, basically supplemental calipers for the handbrake on the front wheels.
You could also look at an adaption of some larger cars rear calipers as these also have handbrake systems built in to the calipers.

[Hell Razor5543]

I remember Jeremy Clarkson once making an intelligent observation (and no, JC and intelligent observations are not mutually exclusive, just damned unusual), along the lines of car makers should, in their figures, also quote the 60MPH to 0MPH times.

[CitroJim]

I' definitely take it to work Dean...

I'd want to show it off; it truly is looking stunning!

[Deanxm]

Haha I have taken it to work, had to do a site visit with some French builders and they liked it but after my 15 minute visit she would not start, I thought I had a dead cell on the battery which is only 2 years old, a bit odd.
I got one of my blokes to come and jump me and on the drive back to the office the ABS light kept coming on and going out so if it starts later to take me home I will have to investigate it, I do hope the battery isn't dead and it's something else I can fix, don't fancy spending out on a new battery again.

Other than that it is driving very well.

D

[CitroJim]

Fingers crossed it's all just little niggles that will soon go Dean...

[Deanxm]

Little bit miffed, it started straight up Jim, perfect.
I think i need to find some way to test the battery, i will check the voltage later when it's settled a bit, it's charging at 14v so i think the alternator is ok.

And yes, its only little settling in niggles, im not bothered really as it drives really nicely now.

D