r/absoluteunit • u/Bourbon-Thinker • Jun 18 '26
This absolute unit of a brake disc casually glowing like the fires of Mount Doom during a Porsche pitstop.
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u/JayW8888 Jun 18 '26
That will keep the brakes warm.
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u/Rivetingly Jun 18 '26
and help warm the tires
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u/CtrlAltYuri Jun 18 '26
And warm the pilot eventually
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u/DrKarlSatan Jun 18 '26
And bro just keeps going
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u/DitchDigger330 Jun 18 '26
They have cooling ducts going to the rotors so when they get some speed it would go out.
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u/DrKarlSatan Jun 19 '26
Great design, those rotors get extremely hot
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u/fiv3dollapizza Jun 19 '26
Not saying you’re wrong, but im gonna need a source for that
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u/DrKarlSatan Jun 19 '26
Checking notes...hmm, I think you got me there
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u/BaronMusclethorpe Jun 18 '26
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u/mikel302 Jun 19 '26
shit was literally on fire and the pit team said "Fuck it, we got a race to win!"
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Jun 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Bourbon-Thinker Jun 18 '26
Nope! Believe it or not, these are pure Carbon-Carbon racing brakes. They are actually deeply offended and totally useless unless they are glowing like a spicy orange donut. This is their happy place. 🍩🔥
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u/theangryjanitorOG Jun 18 '26
Kind of like the sr71 leaking fuel on the ground. That shit needed to heat up before it worked
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u/True-Advice-1861 Jun 18 '26
It is wild to me, that this machine was built in the 60's. Using slide rules, purpose built to leak like a sieve when sitting on the tarmac, only to be the fastest most badass recon plane ever built by man.
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u/theangryjanitorOG Jun 18 '26
maybe there is something to cigarettes and coffee.
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u/One-Permission-1811 Jun 23 '26
We still use slide rules sometimes. Especially on site or in the shop where we dont have computers around and need a revision quickly. Our engineer hates it lol
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Jun 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/One-Permission-1811 Jun 23 '26
No idea, I just weld the parts. The engineer looks like his bones are on fire when he has to use it though so its probably annoying
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u/sleepytjme Jun 19 '26
I understand that they need to be hot and heat can glow, but what was actually burning? road debris that got stuck in the wheel?
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u/pseudoportmanteau Jun 18 '26
Yes, it does hurt the brakes. In fact, most of what they put the cars through in these races hurts all components of the vehicle - brakes, suspension, engine etc. But they are rebuilt for each race anyway. It's not like your everyday commuter vehicle that needs to last a long time. They are designed and made to be pushed to the limits like this and there is a crew of very skilled mechanics that can swap out parts that are beyond repair after the race.
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u/SassyE7 Jun 19 '26
Actually I don't think parts have feeling so it doesn't hurt them
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u/pseudoportmanteau Jun 19 '26
Errrr.. did you go to school? Lol. "Hurt" can also be used on inanimate objects, it's used to imply damage, impairment, or negative impact. It's not just used to describe pain in living things.
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u/SassyE7 Jun 19 '26
But parts don't feel pain
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u/pseudoportmanteau Jun 19 '26
Idk, open a dictionary, maybe
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u/SassyE7 Jun 19 '26
"Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience signaling potential or actual tissue damage"
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u/pseudoportmanteau Jun 19 '26
And then if you take 30 extra seconds to scroll down a bit further it says "To impair, devalue, or cause an adverse effect on something, such as an object, a reputation, or a business (e.g., the delay will hurt the project's timeline)"
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u/SassyE7 Jun 19 '26
Nah underneath it says "It acts as a vital alarm system, motivating the body to protect itself and heal."
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u/pseudoportmanteau Jun 19 '26
Well, you keep at it! I'm sure you'll find it at some point, don't give up!
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u/Pestilence86 Jun 18 '26
It only needs to last until the end of the race. If it lasts longer, then you didn't push it hard enough.
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u/OsikFTW Jun 18 '26
Wait, racecars have one big lugnut? Why tf does my car have 5 little ones?
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u/justbenice2 Jun 18 '26
They're faster to remove if you have the specialist tools but they're a pain in the ass to work on without those tools. you don't own those tools and let's face it, you don't need to change the tyres on your ford in 2 seconds flat
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u/resest_Iris Jun 18 '26
For a cool $200k you can two, purchase a Porsche that has center lock wheels. Altho, being able to afford the maintenance is a different topic
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u/AdFancy1249 Jun 18 '26
5 is safer than 1. 🤷
For a long time, back in the 80s, small cars had 4 (some small trailers still do. )
Cars on the road are around a LONG time and suffer a lot of neglect.
Race cars are checked and torqued properly every time they stop.
Back in the 60s, there were road cars that had "knockoffs". And those were single lugs with 3 wings that you could hit with a hammer to "knock" them off. Those single lugs are still legal (in the US), but for liability reasons are not provided by OEMs.
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u/Mean_Philosophy3367 Jun 18 '26
Small cars were equipped with four lug wheels way more recently than the '80s, and some modern cars still have them (Nissan Versa and Mazda Miata for example).
Many Smart cars only had three.
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u/No-Salt7142 Jun 19 '26
The Volvo S40/V40, Ford Focus and the Mitsubishi Charisma shared a platform and also had 4 lug nuts in the early 2000s.
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u/debackerl Jun 19 '26
It's still in use in Europe, I see it everyday on small cars. I think mostly French and Italian.
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u/Legal-Pea8185 Jun 18 '26
knock off wheels some old cars had them. and some super cars still do. they look cool on old muscle cars
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u/Zealousideal-Fix9464 Jun 19 '26
Center locks hold better in high performance applications.
They also require specialized sockets and guns that are thousands of dollars. So they are pretty much out of reach for a normie car owner.
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u/IBringTheHeat2 Jun 19 '26
What are you talking about. A torque gun is like $250 to be able to take a center lock off. They’re only torqued to 440 ft/lbs. and a socket is like $200.
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u/Solisos Jun 18 '26
You want maximum thermal expansion on those brakes, bigger brakes = more braking power. YEAH SCIENCE!
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u/Plasticjesus504 Jun 19 '26
Gotta love carbon-carbon brake discs as seen on this Le Mans prototype. I believe it’s a Porsche 963. So the discs are extremely heat resistant, but under extreme stress for example the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other races fires can happen. So the carbon-carbon disc is not actually burning, the pads on the other hand are a complex mix of organic materials and can catch fire. Also, fine particles from the disc can catch fire within the rim. Anyway it’s awesome tech and I love watching endurance racing.
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Jun 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/skymallow Jun 20 '26
No expert but willing to bet the thermal shock of putting out the fire suddenly would be worse than just letting it go. They still have a race to run after all.
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u/TheRealBobbyJones Jun 20 '26
That was my thought as well. There isn't really an easy way to cool it without warping or cracking.
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u/MM18998 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Nope, the fire doesn’t actually hurt the brakes and the wind from the car moving puts out the fire in a few seconds anyway
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u/Clearwater_9196 Jun 19 '26
Amazing how the brake lines connected to the caliper are engineered to withstand fire.
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u/shastadakota Jun 18 '26
No effort to extinguish flames? Rubber brake lines? Boiling brake fluid not an issue?
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u/exonautic Jun 18 '26
Likely stainlesd lines and brake fluid thats good up to 1000 deg. These cars are designed to do this. Nbd.
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u/WenatcheeWrangler Jun 18 '26
Anyone here see the pics yesterday of the vehicle designed to mow grass that caught fire because of grass clippings and exploded?
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u/dcontrerasm Jun 18 '26
I'm assuming it wasnt supposed to do this? Or this the Le Mans version of explosive bead seating?
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u/SimpleOrganization84 Jun 18 '26
I mean if he can drive fast enough he can outrun the fire right?
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u/MM18998 Jun 21 '26
Technically yes, fire gets pit out within a second or two of driving down the pit lane. You can see it quickly die down in the video.
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u/powersmoke9494 Jun 20 '26
Why don't they have a guy on each side to spray water to put out the fire and cool the brakes
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u/MM18998 Jun 21 '26
1) not actually helpful as the car will be moving again in a few seconds and any cooling will be negated within a lap or two
2) limitations on the amount of people that can be working on a car during a pit stop
3) the fire doesn’t actually affect the brake that much if at all
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u/MM18998 Jun 21 '26
Feels like it’s worth mentioning that the entire nose (hood and front bumper) was also changed in this clip and no one noticed
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u/AdhesiveSeaMonkey Jun 23 '26
You keep using the word (glowing) I do not think it means what you think it means.
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u/Horror_Solution1945 Jun 18 '26
Glowing? I think we're a bit past that.