Originally Posted by Lscman

Very true, but the 12" rotors on the '08 Grand Caravan aren't exactly undersized when compared to 10" rotors found on commercial trucks and various 400+HP V8 muscle cars sold in the 70's and 80's. The difference in swept area is about double. Corvette 454 and 427 rotors were just over 10" back then, as were the rotors on some commerial trucks with dual wheels designed to carry and tow many tons. I own a 1979 Mustang Cobra with 9" factory rotors....just sayin'. Rotors have been upsized to improve braking performance and lifecycle, not just to compensate for progressively rising curb weights.

The same upsizing strategy has been taken by mfrs on clutch designs. Clutch swept area specs have risen by about 30% in the last couple decades to improve lifecycle and help prevent failures. The notable exception is BMW who stubbornly stuck with undersize clutches. They used 9-5/8" units on 400+ HP V8 vehicles while every other mfr migrated to multi-disc designs or 11" & greater. The M3, M5 and 5-er V8 clutches burn out way too often when driven by aggressive owners.