FL2 Big Brake Conversion

Big brakes on the 2. Volvo XC90, it’s made a huge difference.

Looking nice DD, and long time no see.
What size rims are needed to accommodate those beauties?

Having replaced all the rotors, pads and front calipers on mine, I would say just fitting new standard stuff made an appreciable difference, but there's plenty of scope for improvements on the standard setup.

Good to see yer agen DD

They just fit in 17” steels with spacers on

Diesel Do said:

They just fit in 17” steels with spacers on

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Sounds good. I fancy 18" rims on mine, so they'll fit in those then.
How do they compare in dimensions to the i6 FL2 brakes?

Huge

Diesel Do said:

Huge

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So they're about 30mm larger than the diesel rotors, and 15mm larger then the i6 rotors, that's a decent increase in swept area.

Does the XC90 caliper fit straight on?

Only mod is a spigot ring for the disc. Otherwise bolt on.

Pads aren’t really much bigger. It’s the extra leverage from the bigger diameter disc that makes the difference. Plus discs can dissipate heat much better.

Diesel Do said:

Only mod is a spigot ring for the disc. Otherwise bolt on.

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Cool, I can machine up a spigot easy enough.

Diesel Do said:

Pads aren’t really much bigger. It’s the extra leverage from the bigger diameter disc that makes the difference. Plus discs can dissipate heat much better.

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Absolutely, extra leverage is definitely a good way to reduce pedal pressure, and the increased rotor area will remove heat much better.

Have you done any thermal testing?
I must admit that I've found the standard FL2 TD4 brakes are able to stop the vehicle without much fuss or heat, but brake control in extreme braking situations is lacking. Larger rotors will definitely make an improvement there, so it's a worthwhile upgrade IMO.

What steels are you using? They look like 17" FL2 spares to me.

Only driven it a few times. It got a lift and 32” tyres on it which definitely taxed the original brakes. Certainly performed much better when I had to do an emergency stop. That’s the only test they’ve had

Hi, love the idea of this. Thanks. I assume you left rear as factory? Do you mind explaining what you mean by a spigot ring.