scrmnws6

^^^Great read.

When I had my Baer brake kit on my Formula WS6 with street pads, they lasted all but one lap at Road America. Braking from 140mph to go into turn #3 smoked all 4 pads to the point where I stopped about 2' from the tire wall... I needed a change of underwear at that point. I quickly went to the parts store and picked up some racing pads and those were good all weekend for 200 miles on the track going all out.

The Brembo package is $1650 and icludes the 19" rims and tires, so I guess it is a no brainer.

CXracer

Also consider the "Pimp Factor"... definitely a metric to be considered!

Philostang

Argo and I have spilled our fair share of digital ink on this topic. Perhaps not so surprisingly we've come to very similar conclusions - and reading this latest post sounds like he was describing my history as much as his own.

I think that if you read through all those posts you'll find three groups with distinct opinions:

1. Newbies: often get away with stuff like HP+ pads and fresh fluid, and feel their braking needs are met.
2. Folks who occasionally track their car/intermediate drivers: lightly modify OEM GT calipers with dedicated track pads, ducting, etc., and make them work very well under pretty hard track use (often for years).
3. Track junkies/advanced drivers: jump up to a bbk and no longer worry about problems that plagued them before or started to show themselves as their speed increased.

Each group is well served by their tactics so long as their needs remain the same. Some guys who experience trouble with the bone-stock OEM system go straight to #3 when they really didn't have to (the GT brakes can work very well). Personally, I've often gotten the sense that these guys just threw money at the situation and didn't really understand what was causing them grief in the first place. It's not necessary.

Having said that, if it were me, I'd get the Brembo brake set up. You are getting (or should be getting) bigger wheels that will clear any BBK set up, better tires, and you may be getting the GT500 brake booster and control unit along with the calipers & rotors themselves. You'll have plenty of growing room with these and you'll spend less time running down brake issues. So while this option isn't necessary, there's some value to it (especially if you suspect you'll really get into tracking the car).

Just keep in mind that if you intend to switch to a different wheel/tire set up, you'll have fewer options since clearing those big Brembos is no easy task for most wheels. A price worth living with, if you ask me.

Best,
-j

timothyrw

having said all that:

i recently found out the bmw m3 uses single-piston sliding calipers... and they seem to hold up pretty well on the track and in insideline's testing needed multiple stops to get their best performance!

see photos 9/10 in link below:

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtest...ound.html#more

"The M3's brakes needed quite a few stops to reach maximum efficiency and achieve this stopping distance, but they never hinted at fade."

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtest...irst-test.html

-------

i wonder if it is the switch to r-comps that really stresses the brakes???

Sam Strano

Lets start by saying there is a big difference between a 60-0 stop test between cars and tracking the cars all day long. And then I'll reiterate what Timothy said about the Brembo cars being on much stickier tires (which shortens stopping distance).

For street cars are Brembo's magical? No, for a car that will get tracked then they are a nice upgrade--especially if you want 19's and you can make use of the killer tires you get as part of the package too. I have a Brembo car, for certain reasons.... the least of which is the street stopping ability vs. a normal car.

6+6 Stang

few months back wrecked car, wheels and brakes needed replaced, since I did not pay for it, I got the brembo setup from ford racing, that came wth GT 500 18" WHEELS, love them, but this is a daily driver and even though they look great, and rotors are huge as you see, they don't stop on a dime and leave change!, do they stop nice..yes...but maybe I'm not a purist, but it seems not a lot of difference in them and the stock that was on there...maybe ford has done such a good job on the newer stangs.

timothyrw

6+6,

did you happen to weigh those wheels?

i am looking at purchasing them w/the brembos; curious to what the weight penalty is as they are very affordable.

*edit

looks like 30lbs.

http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts...KeyField=12297

which is actually less then the 34 lbs of the original gt500 wheels:

http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts...tKeyField=9485

(these are listed as "package" weight. i presume the total shipping weight.)

Import_Slaya

The stock brake calipers and rotors are fine for track use as long as you upgrade the pads and fluid (and consider the lines, too). Quite a few AI racers used the stock calipers before the GT500 upgrade was available, and CMC2 racers are still using the stock calipers (they have to). Like others have already said, we all stuck with them for a few years without issue.

That said, most of us eventually upgraded to the larger brakes for several reasons. The main reason is that you no longer worry about overheating them like you did with the stockers. Also, your pads and rotors last longer and you don't worry about spreading the calipers (and replacing every season or two).

If I were getting a new Mustang, the Brembo upgrade would be a no-brainer.

6+6 Stang

I would say no heavier than stock,since is a ford wheel still, runs about same...either way I like easier to clean. lol

scrmnws6

Thanks for the additional responses and the link to the BMW writeup.

Car will see roughly a dozen weekends of track duty per year, maybe a little more depending on how ambitious I feel.

Brembo's it is then.