Steeda 13" Rear Brake Upgrade Kit
09-07-2008, 05:17 PM
#1
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Steeda 13" Rear Brake Upgrade Kit
My rear brake pads are almost gone (got about 1/16 of an inch left on them), so I was thinking about doing some kind of a brake upgrade instead of just getting new pads. I know I've seen Baer 14 inch bigger brake kit on ebay for a little under 600 a few months ago, but that price is nowhere near there now. Best deal I found was 490 from rpmoutlet, but I promised to myself not to ever deal with them again even if they are giving stuff out for free. So anyway, 700 which was the lowest I found those for seems a little bit pricy, for the rear brakes that is. I also ran into this deal from steeda:
http://www.steeda.com/products/steed...e_kit_s197.php
If I'm not mistaken these rotors are 0.7 inch bigger than stock and come with the steel brake lines. They are also claiming that it's the lightest kit out there. Any opinions on these or has anybody had an experience with them? Also, would I need to get the stainless steel lines for the front, as well, in order for them to make a difference or would it still be ok to run the stock ones?
http://www.steeda.com/products/steed...e_kit_s197.php
If I'm not mistaken these rotors are 0.7 inch bigger than stock and come with the steel brake lines. They are also claiming that it's the lightest kit out there. Any opinions on these or has anybody had an experience with them? Also, would I need to get the stainless steel lines for the front, as well, in order for them to make a difference or would it still be ok to run the stock ones?
09-08-2008, 08:21 AM
#2
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IMO $500 is a lot to pay for what amounts to new rotors (even if they do look nice). You indicated that your pads are worn out, not the rotors. If you think these rotors will improve braking (like in shorten the distance) I think you will be disappointed. The main advantage, as they point out, would be better cooling. But, I road race and and have never had a problem with the rears getting too hot (now the fronts...thats a different story). Same calipers, same pad size...means you aren't going to get better braking with them.
Regards SS lines - I have them and for a street car they do diddly squat. They really only come into play under extreme conditions when the brake fluid gets so hot it starts to make the stock lines go spongy.
If you want them for looks, go for it but if you want them for better performance...IMO its a bad deal.
Regards SS lines - I have them and for a street car they do diddly squat. They really only come into play under extreme conditions when the brake fluid gets so hot it starts to make the stock lines go spongy.
If you want them for looks, go for it but if you want them for better performance...IMO its a bad deal.
09-09-2008, 05:27 PM
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IMO $500 is a lot to pay for what amounts to new rotors (even if they do look nice). You indicated that your pads are worn out, not the rotors. If you think these rotors will improve braking (like in shorten the distance) I think you will be disappointed. The main advantage, as they point out, would be better cooling. But, I road race and and have never had a problem with the rears getting too hot (now the fronts...thats a different story). Same calipers, same pad size...means you aren't going to get better braking with them.
Regards SS lines - I have them and for a street car they do diddly squat. They really only come into play under extreme conditions when the brake fluid gets so hot it starts to make the stock lines go spongy.
If you want them for looks, go for it but if you want them for better performance...IMO its a bad deal.
Regards SS lines - I have them and for a street car they do diddly squat. They really only come into play under extreme conditions when the brake fluid gets so hot it starts to make the stock lines go spongy.
If you want them for looks, go for it but if you want them for better performance...IMO its a bad deal.
09-10-2008, 07:58 AM
#4
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Did you get them hot enough to spider crack/heat check them? If not then you didn't get them too hot. If you got them hot enough to make your pads greasy or pedal mushy then think about going to an upgraded pad and hi-temp fluid.
So your reasons for wanting these are: better heat dissipation, better performance and lighter weight than stock?
Assuming this is correct then I'll restate my original opinion - I think you will be disappointed. I doubt you truely need better heat dissipation. Plenty of guys are runing these cars on road tracks with stock rotors on the rear and aren't having issues. Better performance - debatable, I don't see how you would get that. You still have the same brake pad size, no increase. So how exactly is this going to shorten stopping distances? Besides, braking performance is primarily governed by the road to tire friction. Any brake system that is capable of locking the tires up will theoretically stop the car in exactly the same distance (there are other factors though that can account for small differences). Lighter weight - do you know the weight of the Steeda units? I see on their site they don't publish it. Them saying its the lightest kit out there doesn't mean squat to me. I'd want to know exactly how much lighter they are if that were one of my primary reasons.
My experience regards unsprung weight: I have three sets of wheels - heavy 'show' wheels, stock and light weight track wheels. The track wheels are about 9 lbs per corner lighter than the heavy wheels. If I drive to a track on the 'show' wheels, switch them and then drive on the track with the light wheels I can notice a difference. But its not huge. Unless there is a significant difference in weight between these rotors and the stockers (like > 5 lbs) then you simply are not going to notice it.
My 2 cents...take it FWIW.
So your reasons for wanting these are: better heat dissipation, better performance and lighter weight than stock?
Assuming this is correct then I'll restate my original opinion - I think you will be disappointed. I doubt you truely need better heat dissipation. Plenty of guys are runing these cars on road tracks with stock rotors on the rear and aren't having issues. Better performance - debatable, I don't see how you would get that. You still have the same brake pad size, no increase. So how exactly is this going to shorten stopping distances? Besides, braking performance is primarily governed by the road to tire friction. Any brake system that is capable of locking the tires up will theoretically stop the car in exactly the same distance (there are other factors though that can account for small differences). Lighter weight - do you know the weight of the Steeda units? I see on their site they don't publish it. Them saying its the lightest kit out there doesn't mean squat to me. I'd want to know exactly how much lighter they are if that were one of my primary reasons.
My experience regards unsprung weight: I have three sets of wheels - heavy 'show' wheels, stock and light weight track wheels. The track wheels are about 9 lbs per corner lighter than the heavy wheels. If I drive to a track on the 'show' wheels, switch them and then drive on the track with the light wheels I can notice a difference. But its not huge. Unless there is a significant difference in weight between these rotors and the stockers (like > 5 lbs) then you simply are not going to notice it.
My 2 cents...take it FWIW.
09-10-2008, 06:47 PM
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Yeah it sounds like I better use that 500 on something else, possibly towards the front brake upgrade. I'm guessing these are 3-4 lbs lighter than stockers that times 2 times 4 would still only come up to 30 lbs which is not worth 500. Thanks for helping me out with this one.
09-11-2008, 01:34 PM
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http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=453294
This is from TacoBill, don't know if you've read his stuff but this may be something worth looking at depending on what your going for. From what i've discovered, the pads you use make hands down the largest difference in braking, i'd recommend something along the lines of Hawk
This is from TacoBill, don't know if you've read his stuff but this may be something worth looking at depending on what your going for. From what i've discovered, the pads you use make hands down the largest difference in braking, i'd recommend something along the lines of Hawk
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