After completely demolishing my oem non-brembo rotors using hawk blues this weekend at summit, I have an immediate need to do something with the brakes (other than replace rotors after every event).

Point 1 is that as I have a second set of oem 17" wheels for track time (as I have to fund a spec miata, I have to control the dollars spent, ie no 18" wheel upgrades nor 18" rubber!).

Part and parcel to point 1 is that it is difficult for me to look past the pricing advantage of the wilwood kits (particularly looking at Evolution's at the moment). It seems their kit is comparable to the StopTech (both 13"x1.25" rotors, similar calipers), but for approximately $400 less. Both come with lines.

I'm also tempted by www.350zbrakes.com's 6 pot 13.6" kit that fits under the oem 17" wheels. The rotor is apparently not a wilwood piece (could be better, could be worse, don't know), and the 6 pot caliper is the 'older' design (SL6? vs FSL for Evolution) - but shouldn't the larger mass of the larger rotor and caliper be a better option?

Regardless - my real question is, who is running the StopTech, Evolution 4 pot Wilwood, and 350zbrakes.com kits on cars that see real, hard, track duty? Whats your satisfaction level with the kits? Have you noticed any bias (or other) problems? ABS still work?

I really wanted a set of oem brembo's, but can't seem to find any for sale. Any thoughts on that upgrade path? Is it a completely straight bolt-up operation (retain master cylinder etc)? ABS still function?

Any other thoughts?

 

I have the Stoptechs and love them. Stopping power is phenomenal. You can make the ABS go off like a tuning fork on demand. Threshold breaking is done with minimal effort. My old stock non-Brembo rotors used to get up to 800+ degress after a 30 minute session and 1 cool down lap. Now my rotors run about 475 degrees front and back after the same track time. Another matter to consider is which pads are available to each kit. There are a large array of pads available for the Stoptechs.

 

Thanks zillinois - do you have all four corners, or just fronts. My rear temps seem to be in check - I didn't break 500 after a session at summit. Fronts however were a different story. My pyrometer stops reading at 1100 degrees F. It said 'OVER'. Hawk Blues - it completely trashed the rotors - warping, nasty pad deposits, grooving. Rears were I believe running - get this - Hawk HPS. And oddly, no real bad byproducts.

The Wilwoods have tons of pad choices from what I understand - do you know differently? I've never owned them, but people indicated that Wilwood themselves have almost a dozen compound options, and there are a number of third part sources. No?

Anyone running Wilwoods spending track time? Anyone?

ahm

 

Hey there Adam... nice to meet you this past weekend.

At the track, I've only seen Stoptechs and Brembos put through the paces. As for the Wilwoods, I've heard mixxed opinions about how well they hold up to heat over time. However, I must add that these were for non-350Z applications, so the results could be different. While expensive, I'd go with the proven results of Stoptech, or hold out for a set of OEM Brembos. After all, we know how well those perform...

 

Hey John - nice meeting you too. The ride-along was an illuminating experience. Was hoping day 2 groups 3&4 would be separate so you could ride along with me and give me some pointers, but c'est la vie. Next time if you're amenable.

Anyway... I can't believe with the variety of Wilwood kits out there (be they Evolutions, 350zbrakes.com, or other) that no one seems to be putting any real track time on them. I've seen many real race cars equipped with them, so I have to believe the materials are good - my real question (and no vendor has given me a real warm fuzzy about it) is if any of the kits retain stock balance. I'd be pretty PO'd if laying on the whoah pedal for turn one at summit and I got either lots of front or rear lockup.

Given that all of the kits are roughly similar in mass and leverage (rotor diameter) to the StopTech, it would seem to me that they *SHOULD* perform similarly.

My preference is for an oem brembo swap, but unfortunately, I can't find anyone currently selling theirs. If I want to do VIR in two weeks, I've got to get the parts ASAP. If anyone knows someone interested in selling their Brembo's, I'm all ears...

ahm