Yves
Enthusiast
I've always had a lack of confidence in the perormance of my Gen 1's brakes.
What is best (and most cost efficient) upgrade ?
Thanks !
What is best (and most cost efficient) upgrade ?
Thanks !
Best brake upgrade for Gen 1 ?
- Thread starter Yves
- Start date
SNKEBIT
Enthusiast
I would like to know that answer also.....
opnwide
Enthusiast
Try a booster out of an ABS car. That'll give you a lot more power assist for those pencil legs of yours.
Other than that, don't use the EBC greens. Use an aggressive Street/track pad and put up with the dust and noise.
SS brake lines will also help the pedal's feel.
If you continue to lock up the fronts, you may try removing the spring in the brake balancer. This'll give you 50/50 pressure distribution but is dangerous on the street. A locked rear wheel is harder to control than a locked front wheel.
Other than that, don't use the EBC greens. Use an aggressive Street/track pad and put up with the dust and noise.
SS brake lines will also help the pedal's feel.
If you continue to lock up the fronts, you may try removing the spring in the brake balancer. This'll give you 50/50 pressure distribution but is dangerous on the street. A locked rear wheel is harder to control than a locked front wheel.
SNKEBIT
Enthusiast
cool!!!
99 R/T 10
Enthusiast
I did a ECB green pad on the fronts and Brakeman 3's on the rear. Helps balance the braking a little, but you can get with Tom, the oil and fluid guy(I think), he is starting up a upgrade to the rear calipers to 38mm or 40mm to give a better braking ability.
Tom F&L GoR
Enthusiast
Howdy, and yes, now that I'm unemployed, I'm getting into some "fun" work. I convert the OEM 36mm single rear piston calipers to 38mm or 40mm size pistons (same price for either.) The 38mm size is mathematically the same front to rear brake torque ratio as the StopTech front-only kit, while the 40mm, besides shifting the brake balance even more rearward, probably requires a proportioning valve. (At least I need one, as I kissed a guardrail at Lime Rock on cold tires because the rears locked up first.) So somewhere between 38mm-rears-with-no-proportioning-valve and 40mm-with-proportioning-valve is the balance sweet spot.
Here's a little background and do email or PM me for more info. It turns out I don't have a source for cheap calipers after all, so if you have any, even if you aren't interested in a 38mm or 40mm set, I'd be interested in buying them from you.
Here's a little background and do email or PM me for more info. It turns out I don't have a source for cheap calipers after all, so if you have any, even if you aren't interested in a 38mm or 40mm set, I'd be interested in buying them from you.
"BEST" and "cost efficient" often do not go hand-in-hand.
By the time you buy lighter/better rotors, SS lines, PB Booster, re-valve (can be dangerous) you might have well gine Big Brakes. Many would say the the StopTeck Big Brake kit is the best. Car And Driver stated as much in Nov 02. But you need 18" wheels for the "Best"
REAL VALUE: 4 StopTech Slotted Rotors, with liteweight Aeros front;Cadmium plating for as-new look. No rust! 4 SS lines, and Motul 600 fluid. "$1295 value, on sale at PartsRack for under $800...and VCA members like Yves pay even LESS. This is an excellent brake upgrade for few $$$
malcoll
Enthusiast
Are the Stop Tech rotors one or two piece?
Tom F&L GoR
Enthusiast
The "Real Value" kit will help greatly in heat rejection; the rotors will run cooler, the new fluid will raise the boiling point, the SS lines and cad plating will keep things cleaner and nicer... but it won't change the front to rear brake balance.
"Best" is a set of four calipers and the hardware that both balances braking capacity and rejects heat at least as fast as you can generate it.
"Cost efficient" (to me, anyway) is a balanced set of four calipers that avoids mistakes like flat-spotted front tires, encourages greater confidence in street applications, and can tolerate occasional higher temperature track/spirited use, at a moderate price.
Maybe we need a Street Brake-Off contest. Rules: ballast to equal weight (maybe front to rear weight also,) same tires, and (for now) I would let pads be an open choice. Must be done on one day, same place. Best two or three decels averaged out of five runs. Have to decide about 100-0 distance or maybe highest "g" reading.
"Best" is a set of four calipers and the hardware that both balances braking capacity and rejects heat at least as fast as you can generate it.
"Cost efficient" (to me, anyway) is a balanced set of four calipers that avoids mistakes like flat-spotted front tires, encourages greater confidence in street applications, and can tolerate occasional higher temperature track/spirited use, at a moderate price.
Maybe we need a Street Brake-Off contest. Rules: ballast to equal weight (maybe front to rear weight also,) same tires, and (for now) I would let pads be an open choice. Must be done on one day, same place. Best two or three decels averaged out of five runs. Have to decide about 100-0 distance or maybe highest "g" reading.
Nadine UK GTS
Enthusiast
I would be keen to see the result of such a contest. Sadly weather in the UK aint up to it (wait til mid 2004 now), otherwise I'd be running my OE modded 40 rears against a big Stoptech kit (the DogsBs) to see how it compares. I have ducted cooling, but those STs can handle some heat, (with out) but I can say they still have quite a front bias!
