Disc brakes (Opel Vectra B)

A steel disk rotates freely in the air flow together with the wheel. The so-called brake calipers saddle-shapedly embrace the disks. When you press the brake pedal, the pistons press the brake pads against the disks - braking occurs.

The disc brakes are constantly cooled by the oncoming wind. Additionally, the front disc brakes have internal ventilation: large recesses are located along the perimeter of the brake disc, which throw off air and thus further improve cooling. Dust from the abrasion of the linings is immediately blown away, and the disc brakes themselves are adjusted without any special mechanical devices

Automatic adjustment

The design of the disc brakes in the car is due to their additional self-regulation: simply the brake piston, as the brake pad wears out, moves out more and more from the brake caliper housing and thus ensures the location of the pads exactly at the brake disc. Due to the brake fluid flowing in after, no "gap" can occur.

(Material copied from this portal OPELBOOK.ru)

Front disc brake with floating caliper

In the front brake discs, we are talking about the so-called floating caliper disc brake mechanism. As the name suggests, it saddle-shapedly encloses the brake disc and is supported movably ("floats"). The brake piston in the cylinder body presses the inner lining against the brake disc, causing the cylinder body to tighten in its guide and on the other side also presses the brake lining against the disc. As a result, only one brake piston is required for one wheel brake.

Disc brakes in rainy weather

During prolonged rain, exposed brake discs are intensively watered, so the braking effect appears with a delay of a fraction of a second. The moisture between the brake discs and linings must first evaporate. In winter, when a lot of salt is sprinkled, this phenomenon is intensified when the layer of salt settled on the brake linings and discs must first be erased during braking.

After driving in the rain or in winter slush with scattered salt, before parking the car for several days, first dry the brakes while driving in order to avoid the appearance of a strong rust coating on the brake discs or the gluing of the linings. It is enough to drive the last hundreds of meters with the brake pedal depressed.