Stoptech Brake Preliminary Review

[kverges]

Well, I just had a fun weekend at Texas World Speedway with my newly-installed StopTech front Brake kit and Hawk Blue 9012 pads on my '93 RT/10.

The other mods include Penske Shocks with 600/800 lb/in springs front & rear, no-cat exhaust, smooth tubes, K&Ns and Crower Roller rockers. Tires were Goodyear 430 compound slicks (25.5 x 12 x 17) on stock 3-spoke wheels (not the best setup but cheap). Oh, I have the Porsche air deflectors, too.

The subjective feel of the brakes was exceptional. The pedal was firm, consistent and progressive so that the brakes were easy to modulate. The bias was vastly improved; I even managed to lock the right rear in certain turns when the car unloaded the right rear. I had zero fade and excellent pad and rotor wear, and noticed significanlty cooler front rotor temperatures, without overloading the rear (which was stock pads & calipers). Despite ambient temps near 90, I never wanted for brakes and was able to merrily chase a buddy in his GTS (with street tires) and a well-driven 911 TT with Hoosiers. We took turns leading and had very similar times. I was clocked with a best lap time of 1:59.5 and consistently ran around 2:01 or so on the 2.9 mile long course.

All this in an old "ill-handling" RT/10. I was pleased, especially since I had never driven the long course before. If I had a better wheel/tire setup I think I could do somewhat better.

FWIW.

Keith Verges - Dallas

 

[kverges]

I did not do install myself, but only due to lack of time and press of business. Install could easily be done in about 3 hours, including new SST lines and bleeding brakes.

Keith

 

[Dale Craig]

Keith, You said you noticed much better feel. I autocross on Hoosiers and lock up the fronts all the time. Do you think this brake package would help? Thanks Dale Craig 2000 GTS Red/Silver

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Dale:

I think that this brake package would dramatically help your lock up problems (although the stock Viper brake can't really lock up above 65 mph). The pedal feel & modulation (for threshold braking), the increased balance (without touching the master cylinder or proportioning valve) will give you much higher confidence in your braking abilities. The stopping distances achieved by the Stop Tech front kit exceeds most of the front-rear kits made by competitors (without the downside).

As far as cooling, your Hoosiers probably add load to your current brakes and contribute to running them at some very high temperatures. The Stop Techs will cool much more efficiently (which will add to your pad, fluid and tire life). There is absolutely no comparison to adding stainless steel lines and racing pads to a stock set up, to this brake kit. By the way, Stop Tech is putting the finishing touches on a very trick brake cooling duct system for Vipers (serious racers will melt when they see this).

This is the best investment that I have made in my car to date. They are reasonably priced and fit into the factory mounts. Their performance numbers speak for themselves.
The guys at Stop Tech are top notch racing engineers that have designed these brakes specifically for Vipers (knowing that many of us do autocross and racing on road courses). Stop Tech does not take other manufacturer's components and adapt them to Vipers (everything is designed developed and tested in house at Stop Tech). They have designed them for everyday use with stock master cylinder and proportioning valves.

I am not paid by these guys to say this. I am just a very happy customer, that now has confidence in my GTS's ability to stop as well as it goes.

Give these guys a call and you will see that they are totally up front and knowledgeable about the Vipers handling and braking characteristics. If you are running stiff racing suspension upgrades, you should talk to them about how weight transfer can effect braking. It's worth the call.

That's my $.02.

 

[Frank Parise]

Keith, good report on your new brake system. Your evaluation of the system after at least 15 or 20 race weekends will be valuable. It's easy to get excited about a new brake system, especially after using the poor stock system. There may be surprises down the road when you see how long the pads or the rotors or the calipers last. Operating costs can become excessive. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Frank:

You must admit that most of the solutions out there don't deliver the performance that the Stop Tech's have documented (especially for the price). Their rotors have been out there for years (on race tracks), and you'd have a tough time finding a better quality rotor on the market.

Let the results speak for themselves. Viper owners are never short on sending scuds to any tuner or manufacturer when they deserve it. If you have a more competitive price/performance solution then jump in. David Tittle has done it in a professional manner. The reality is that none of the brake solutions for the past 2 years has really delivered performance (without the downsides) that the Stop Tech's have. That list includes:
- Porsche
- Brembo
- Alcon
- Baer
- Brakeman
- Wilwood

I would withhold your comments until the answers become obvious. Nothing personal, but your comments seem to have another motive behind it. My old man always said, if you don't have something good to say, then don't say it.

 

[kverges]

Jumping back into the fray, my review was preliminary, after one weekend on track. I cannot say the StopTech setup is better than anything but stock, as I have no other experience (except Wilwood on my Pantera).

I will say the price is outstanding in the Viper world, but still not cheap. $2500 for two rotors, two calipers, two brake lines and some hardware is not cheap at all.

Time will tell on the longevity of parts, but replacement parts are not too dear. The pads are standard-issue Porsche size and the rotors run under $200 each, I think.

I also posted the info on my car and my lap times, as I think that helps give a bit of a yardstick, too. It helps you evaluate my ability to use the brakes. I am not a professional-caliber driver (and very few Viper owners are) but also drive fairly competently. The Viper Days guys will be at TWS next month and so my lap times will have some real relevance. I'd think about the Viper Days event, but I have no hardtop for my RT/10; c'est la vie.

I took Frank's comments as realistic and worth making, as I know he drives on track with some regularity. I'd like to hear specifics on Brad's experiences, to be honest, such as his lap times or other objective criteria. I will be honest that I do not place much stock in subjective comparisons that are not complemented by objective numbers.

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Keith and Frank:

Your points are well taken. My point alluded more to the fact that Stop Tech is not new to the brake game. They aren't trying to compete on the scale of a Brembo, Baer or Alcon. What they have done is put quite a bit of time into studying the characteristics of Viper braking and handling (which the big manufacturers don't do for a car with the low production numbers of the Viper). The Big Guys depend more on someone else (like Dilusi and probably Porsche) developing fixes around their brake system (like proportioning valves and master cylinder trades) for each car outside their design list. My point is that this is not the approach that Stop Tech takes.

I do not do very much track driving. My car is used as a daily driver. I do take my car and push it pretty hard in the mountains here in Southern Cal. During our mountain runs, I have boiled my brakes 4 times, and overheated the stock shocks twice.

Since buying my car 2 years ago, I've had one day at Buttonwillow and twice at Willow Springs with the stock brakes. I overheated the stock brakes on Buttonwillow several times that day. Willow Springs is not as demanding on brakes as Buttonwillow.

I hope to be going to Willow Springs very soon with my new brakes. I am not a competitive racer like you guys, so my goals and objectives with these brakes are very different than yours. I want something that will increase my safety first and foremost (with better stopping distances and feel). Now that it's cooler, I will be trying to get as much track time as possible. I'll let you know the results.

Thanks for your clarification.

 

[Dale Craig]

Brad & All,
Thanks for your insight on this!! I have to agree for $2500 seems like a bargin even if it helps just a small amount. I will upgrade very soon.

Dale Craig

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