I'm kinda tryin to conserve where my money goes. I'm tryin to save for performance mods, but I'll fork out the dough where ever it is really needed.

And right now, I can tell I'm gona need bigger brakes. The question is how big, and do I do the rears too?

For the purpose of determining what to buy, I'll give some detail...

For my daily commute I drive about 50 miles 80% driven on highway a day, max speeds on commute are between 80-120mph.
Driving other than my daily commute, I'm not gona lie I can count on one hand how many times the car has hit 155mph so far.

Other things to think about... I have 14K miles on the car and I can feel the rotors are warped slightly.


So... What should I get?

The main thing I'd really like is getting away with doing the fronts only. I'd also like to get away with only doing 4piston fronts. Been lookin at a few different places for breaks, I do like the AP Racing.

Should I go with 4 or 6 piston fronts? and if i do the 6 piston fronts, i'd probably need to get 4 piston rears done too right?

thanks

 

Well for a quality front and rear BBK kit (AP, Brembo, OEM Brembo) you'll fork out 4K+ at a minimum, although OEM brembo's you can snag for 2K or less (forum, craigslist, ebay).

But, from the sounds of it, it seems you're are on a budget, to fix your braking woes, I'd upgrade your rotors, pads and brake fluid... Far cheaper than going BBK and yes you will notice a different in the upgraded items.

That being said, if money isn't an issue, go BBK, if not, then go the cheaper route...

For deals, talk to any of the forum Sponsors...

 

How can you tell you need bigger brakes?

Are they overheating and you're suffering lots of brake fade?

Since no where in your description of your driving mix did you mention HPDE or "track day", then you don't need a big brake kit.

The stopping distance difference between stock brakes and the Brembos or other big brake kits is only about 2 to 5ft out of 116ft on 60-0. The same goes for 80-0 and 100-0 stops.

Big brake kits a designed to resist fading at high temperatures that occur on the race track/road course. On the street, they're mainly just for looks.

Read this ... http://www.zeckhausen.com/testing_brakes.htm

Save your money for other performance mods.

 

oh this one night is what stood out, a lot of fading... i think my rotors are slightly warped from that night i finally got home and i walked by the front of the car, i've never felt so much heat come from around the wheels in my life. i have a feeling they were glowing at one point

thats the thing though, i dont drive like that often. but it happens. im not looking for something for the track, but my current breaks do overheat on the street.

 

Your stock rear brakes have plenty of heat capacity and can lock up the rear wheels as is. Because of that the most you would really need to do is upgrade the rotors, pads and lines.

For your use, I'd use a 332mm front big brake kit. It's a 4 piston with plenty of heat capacity for what you're doing. All you would need are some aggressive street pads, and a good break-in of your new system.

Some front only bbk's actually lengthen stopping distances compared to stock, because they are throwing brake balance off. Our big brake kit maintains balance with the front only kit, as you can see from the big brake kit testing link above. FYI, that's the testing we do for R&D on bbk's.

As for the 4 piston vs 6 piston debate. All else being equal, and because your braking is limited by your tires, a 4 piston is really all that you need. A 6 piston has a larger pad, which has more heat capacity. It probably won't be usable given your circumstances. Really, you're just going to end up paying more in replacement pads.

In the end, 332mm front only, w/ slotted rotors should be good for you.

Another FYI, the "warpage" you may be feeling is probably pad related given your driving. See this link for more info on the phenomena http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...rakedisk.shtml

 

I agree with what is said above, and kudos to the vendor of a BBK for being honest and upfront about the change in stopping distances with typical BBKs.

To the OP, if you don't track your car, you don't need bigger brakes. Granted, you could still upgrade the front rotors as per stoptech's suggestion, but all you really need are better pads and stainless steel brakelines. Granted, if your stock rotors are warped, or you can get a good deal on BBK, then by all means and get it.

But know that unless the kit maintains the proper braking bias, as Stoptech's apparently does (I say "apparently" because I have not tested it out, nor have I read any third party reviews) , you WILL increase stopping distances over stock, even though the pedal feel might make you think otherwise.

My suggestion? Save your money, and just get upgraded pads and brake lines.

 

While it is common to feel heat from the brakes, I doubt they are overheating, especially on the street. To heat them up, you would need to do about 10 hard stops from 50-60 mph in a row. It's not something that happens in every day or even aggressive driving.

Even with big brakes, they'll still get hot. They will just not fade as bad as the stock brakes. Keep in mind that you can change pads to some higher performance materials to help with the higher temps.

 

thanks for the info everyone