Dino Dino Bambino

With ~50% more HP and 400lb more weight, the GT500 definitely needs those bigger brakes and I'd definitely use them if I was planning to supercharge my GT.
N/A bolt-on GTs are fine with just a mild brake upgrade from stock, and the stock S197 GT brakes were already a vast improvement over the stock brakes on an SN95 GT.

2007 GT//CS

Totally agree... I grew up driving some old vehicles. My first being a1963 Ford F-100 truck with drum brakes all the way around and You have to plan ahead to stop on time and if you step on the pedal hard it would lock up and slide.I had it up over 100mph a bunch of times,which probly wasn't the smartest thing but when Your 15-16 Years old You just don't think.lol!The first time I hit the 145mph mark in My Mustang it was awesome! The brakes worked good once I coasted down to 110 and after growing up with all the old vehicles it felt like it would stop on a dime.never had any complaints on the factory breaking system at all.we drive the car alot but only race or run it hard once in a while.heck the factory pads have lasted 70k miles! If I can get close to that on my new set I will be thrilled.if I go F/I one day I will worry about all that big brake upgrade then.Would love to find a V6 model at a good deal to build a true racer out of and keep the CS/GT mildly modified for around town and Road trips.

Norm Peterson

Going back to your original post for a moment . . . what is the most severe duty that you see your car's brakes being put to?

Street driving isn't nearly as hard on brakes as road course driving at speed, and at this point it can't be assumed that you'll never take this car out for a few laps or not get hooked if you do. I've cracked pads with fade resistances above 1250°F and heat-checked rotors (lots of very shallow spider-webby surface cracks) more than once, and I'm no more than an average intermediate-level driver. There's every likelihood that I'd have through-cracked any cross-drilled rotors.

There aren't very many drivers for whom the 14" SVT/GT500/FRPP/Brembo 4-piston front brakes won't be enough even at race pace out on a road course, so if you make that change now it'll be the last brake upgrade you'll ever need to make.

Actually, I'm waiting on a few parts to make that exact brake upgrade from my 2008 GT's 12.4" front brakes. In all fairness, the little 12.4's have held up to track duty quite well so far, with no fading given that I'm running track pads (I like the Carbotechs) and Motul RBF600 fluid. But I defined a point where the next pad replacement would be major upgrade time, and I hit that point the last time out. Time to build a little more margin back in to cover for (hopefully) further improvement on my part and the chance I might drive on tracks that are more brake-intensive than the ones I've run at thus far.


Norm

2007 GT//CS

Thanks Norm for Your verry sensible and well thought out reply.eveorything you said makes perfect sense to me.to anser a few questions on My end: No I have never taken the car to the track,the most intense driving has probably been in the Mountains of N.Georgis,N.carolina,Tenn. on some of those curvy mountain roads.for the most part I have felt the factory brakes have held up well.I wouldn't totally count out a day or two in the future on a road course.Think it would be alot of fun! Done a little high speed driving here in the flat lands of South East Ga. As well and think a brake upgrade would be useful on the occasion that I get up in the triple digits on a long straight away here or there,or possibly a drag race.guess upgrading calipers and rotors could be of use to me if I can find a good reliable swap that doesn't break the bank.whats the cost of doing the sway your planning?
Just ordered cross drilled rotors and pads but would be willing to do the swap to big brakes in the near future if it seams worth while...Thanks

Norm Peterson

I'm getting my brake stuff through Vorshlag, and the basic kit is a little over $1100 with plain Centric rotors. But I'm adding track pads, lines, and some cooling duct stuff that ran my total brake cost up a bit from there.

Truthfully, for what you've described above, Carbotech's AX6 pads (or the G-loc equivalent) and ATE 200 brake fluid (the amber stuff) ought to be sufficient. It's when you get into doing more than introductory-level track time where you'd want the higher temperature rated XP pads and bigger rotors.


Norm

2007 GT//CS

Thanks for the info Norm!sounds like you have a great plan for your brake upgrades! I had also consider stainless brake line upgrade,i have done it before on some of my other vehicles and it gives a verry solid pedal feel when your in the brakes hard!as you mentioned above the price or the upgrade is not bad at all! The duct for cooling them down reminds me of why some of the scoops were added to cars to start with back in the day.never have relly considered changing to better brake fluid but alot of people including You have brought it up and is going to be on my list when I change to braided lines.i will probly go with EBC pads because I have had good luck with them,but before I order I will do some reading on the other ones that you mentioned and consider them before purchase.i have got a few mods on our car now and may do just a few more but have been looking for a great deal on a 2nd 05-12 to turn into a real beast! I know you can do some things and have a fairly reliable vehicle but I'm wanting to brake 600H.P. with one and I'm thinking that it would be best to limit mods on our current stang and build its evil twin pretty soon! Getting my shop set up next week and will have the perfect place to transform a v6 car into a supercharged monster.probly take me a while with the cost of the build but My Wife loves cars and think we can come to terms and make us a weekend racer... thanks again for the info and any other is welcome on what works good on daily drivers. my car is currently tuned,CAI,Ford Racing Intake with built in charge motion delete,axle back exhaust,62 mm twin TB,and some interior and exterior mods.think long tubes are next followed by aluminum driveshaft and maby electric water pump.oah yeah x-pipe when I do headers.what to do next? Cross drilled and slotted rotors are already ordered...

Norm Peterson

Everything I do needs to be at least tolerable on the street. Won't own a car I can't reasonably use anywhere but the track.

I still haven't touched the exhaust on my '08 but I'm actually considering the FRPP X-pipe.


Norm

2007 GT//CS

I'm with You there.i have tried to keep same gas mileage or improve on any of my mods.the only one I can tell any difference is the Ford racing manifold and tune.i have lost about 1/2 mpg but overall still a little above factory mpg's.
I have owned a couple vehicles that after alot of mods- changes it seamed like I always had the hood up tinkering with something.i like the mods that you do and forget about until you hit the throttle!
I know the supercharged cars are fairly reliable but throw belts and here it usually shortens the life of some engine components.we use our car for most of our long road trips sence its just My Wife and Myself.and so far it's still a awolsome car for that.even on wanting to upgrade exhaust I don't want all the constant noise when we're driving 8 hours straight.i still have factory mufflers I can put back on after headers or I have considered adding resonator somewhere in the mix to keep noise down and stop some of the popping people sometimes get.just like that low muscle car sound it has now.its nice and smooth