Okay, I am putting together how I want to build a track car.....the canvas is clean right now. I have AP brakes on my car now and they seem to work very well at the track....I was wondering what other people have and their opinions are. I have heard good and bad things about most of the BBK kits out there but nothing bad about the AP kit. Is there some kit that I am not aware of (I know the main ones people use) any input would be great.

 

What bad have you heard about Stoptech, Brembo, and Endless?

 

brembo and AP are the track norm...Endless is great but bling....everything else is subpar....

 

Stoptech, AP, Endless, Brembo - all top quality kits, tons of pad options for all. Replacement part prices vary among them, but all are terrific kits. Pick your poison, they are all terrific

Project Mu also has nice setups, but very limited pad selection (some of them use a funky twin pad front setup too, making it even harder)

 

Stoptech is sub-par? WTF!?!? Is this a joke?

 

Stopping power and pad assortment is great but there's def been issues with bracket fitments not being the greatest

 

Please point me to some factual information concerning your statements?

 

Same goes wilwood .

 

As you know everyone has their opinion so whether the bad of these kits is true or not, I do not know and dont want to get into a pissing contest about this one or that. As for Stoptech, I have personally seen them fade in the course of three or four laps at Cal Speedway. There was absolutely 0 braking after those laps. Just me but I dont even want to go down that road. I think it will be another set of APs then....that was what I was leaning towards anyways. Thanks for the input and advice.

Jet, do you have Stoptechs? If so I am taking it you never had any issues, do you track the car?

 

That is what a fab shop is for.

 

I don't drive my car on the street it is only driven on the track. I drive it at Sebring with 565 whp, r compund tires and full weight in the FL summer heat. This is one of the most demanding tracks in the world. 17 truns total and speeds up to 160mph. Yes... I have the Stoptech 355 4 piston front and the OEM brembo's in the rear. If you saw Stoptechs fade it's becaue you didn't have fresh or good enough fluid or used the wrong pads. My brakes never gave me a single issue with fresh fluid before each day out, and Hawk DTC-70 pads.

So lets clear up the fact from fiction. It's not a pissing contest. But if people are going to make accusations they better have the facts to back them up.





This is Lou Giglioti's ALMS GT1 car.... he uses off the shelf Stoptechs.

 

Then with all due respect, what's the purpose of your post? What type of replies did you think you would solicit? You asked for people's general (not specific) opinions, that is exactly what people are going to give you. The thread sort of invites a pissing contest. You really posted no specifics about your car, your setup, your needs, your budget, etc. Not really the best way to go about getting any worthwhile, meaningful info unfortunately. Instead, you got the exact type of replies you should expect. I don't mean this in any way to belittle you, or mock you, so don't take it like that. For more specific info, there is a wealth of info posted about just about every BBK I can think of. It can take some time to sort through it all, but it's worth it. In addition, there is a competition section where guys discuss the pads, fluid, brakes, etc they are using. Would be worth a look if a track worthy setup is truly your goal.

If you have witnessed cars equipped with Stoptech brakes fade, that really is not indicative of anything. Perhaps these people can't drive (I know guys with $200k race cars that can't drive, so it's not at all uncommon); perhaps those people were using the Stoptech supplied street pads, which are marketed by Stoptech repeatedly as non-track pads. Or, perhaps these people have other issues with their cars (old brake fluid that is now full of moisture, air pockes in system due to adequate bleeding, lack of adequate cooling to disks, not running the right tire, etc etc). There are a multitude of reasons that can contribute to brakes fading. That being said, the fundamental components of their kits are, IMHO, on par with the other top names out there.

If you search Jet's post, he uses Stoptech's, and yes, he tracks the car quite heavily, so he has first hand knowledge.

 

really? pm me on it if you don't feel like posting it here, would be interested to know more (first time I've heard of such a thing, and we've offered their kits for a variety of cars for years now)

thanks

 

I hear what you are saying, and all I meant by the pissing contest was that everyone should understand that people use different setups for the exact reason you stated. I like to hear what people have to say, and I did not mean I did not want to hear what Jet had to say, merely that I didnt want others to bash this person or that because of their beliefs in what they use.

I will take a look at the cometition section and see what I can come up with also. I truly did not have any specifics about the car, because I am in the process of figuring out how I want to build this car. It has no motor right no, no tranny, no exhaust, and no brakes, so I honestly can go in any direction I want to.

As for the fade experienced with the Stoptechs, it may be because of the fluid or because of the pads, I do not know more specifics and I would not be surprised if either one of those were the case.

Jet, since you obviously use Stoptechs and race hard, what is your opinion on Stoptechs vs Aps? I have Aps and have never seen any fade at the track, so would you say they are fairly equal? I want my track car to be superb in every sense of hte word for a car....This project is going to take me some time, but that is why I want to hear what many others have done and liked and what they have disliked. So, I hope I did not offend anyone with the pissing contest comment, and Z1 I appreciate your candor and comments. Thanks again for any input!

 

I can only state my case for the Stoptechs since it's the only setup I have used besides the OEM Brembo's.

I have had no issues with my front Stoptechs and my rear Brembo's. Both the Stoptech front and the OEM Brembo rear offers enough stopping power that you will ever need. That would also be the lightest setup. The 6 piston front Stoptechs and the 4 piston rear Stoptechs will give you a larger brake pad which will only increase the longevity of the pad for use in endurance racing. They offer no more performance than the 4 piston 2 piston setup.

I have never had any fade of my brakes. I bleed before every trackday and use the MOTUL RBF 600. ATE Super Blue may not be up to the task. Fade is either a product of the pads off-gassing because they are overheated (hard fade), or the fluid boiling (soft fade). Fluid boiling can be caused by a few factors. Fluid can boil when the pad material is too thin and there is too much heat transfer because therre is not enough pad insulation there. It can happen because a low boiling point fluid was used. It can happen because the brake fluid is saturated with water. It can also happen by over driving a car. Yes you can overdrive a perfectly good set of brakes with fresh fluid. If all the other causes of fade have been eliminated then you are driving beyond the limits of the brakes. Yes... people can do that with juut about any brake system. They have limits too.

I use Hawk DTC-70 race pads and they are amazing. No fade there either.

Everything I need for the brakes is a phone call away in California. Tech support is available to me anytime they are open. With AP you will deal with Stillen as they are the AP importer in the US. I really like the thought that support and parts are very easy to come by. That was my main decision in choosing Stoptech. Not to mention the front brakes cost me only $1995 shipped. They have not dissapointed me yet.

 

FWIW, most of the AP's come with Ferodo DS2500 pads - a good dual purpose street/club day track pad (we've even run them with r compounds and been totally fine throughout the day). The Stoptech's come with Axxis pads, which are a street pad only, and really cannot take any substantial amounts of heat. So on that basis alone, it's a bit apples to oranges.

Remember fade is a function of so many things - not the least of which is the monkey behind the wheel lolol.

Larry - ATE Super Blue and RBF600 have nearly identical specs. We run the ATE in our BMW track cars actually, even ran it on the World Challenge car we aided on...works just fine.

You're not limited to dealing with Stillen for AP stuff btw

 

Here are the specs for the brake fluids.

Dry/Wet boiling points.

MOTUL RACING 600 593°F/420°F
ATE SUPER BLUE 536°F/392°F

If you can get away with Super Blue then you're lucky becasue the Motul is twice as expensive.

I meant stillen was the only importer and tech support your going to get.

 

yep as I said...they are very very similar to one another. We stock both, but I use the ATE myself. Used to use the Castrol SRF but got to be too much of a chore finding it when we needed it, and it's super pricey. So we went with the ATE for an event since it's all we had left, and it worked well, so we stuck with it. I use it in my Z now as well.

 

The benefit to Castrol SRF is it has a far higher wet boiling point than anything else out there. Even compared to it's closest comptetitors Endless and Brembo.

Castrol has a wet boiling point of 518 so in theory you could replace it less often making up for it's $70 for 34oz price.

 

No big deal really...a few of my track buddies all had the same issues. The ears
On the rear brackets all needed to be shaved down to ensure proper fitment
To make sure the bracket would sit flush.