Upgraded Brakes

[JBomb3000]

I'm keen to hear from members who have upgraded from standard brakes. Basically I want to know what upgrade you did, the cost and how much better they stop the car.

I'm also keen to know how much of the advantage of upgraded brakes is the ability to repeatedly stop the car Vs stoping the car quicker.

[bugster70]

This was something I had trouble comprehending a while ago and was corrected by those who knew better. I always thought that bigger/better brakes would stop a car quicker, but apparently this is not necessarily the case.

If the stock brakes are able to activate the car's ABS system, then apparently bigger brakes won't actually make the car stop any quicker. And these days, most factory brakes are able to activate the ABS.

The advantage of bigger brakes, I understand, is when a) you are travelling at faster speeds when your stock brakes may NOT be capable of activating the ABS and b) of, course, when repeated heavy stops are required. There is plenty of good info around and, from memory, both the Brembo and DBA websites have some useful stuff on this very issue. Hope that helps?

[Guest]

This was something I had trouble comprehending a while ago and was corrected by those who knew better. I always thought that bigger/better brakes would stop a car quicker, but apparently this is not necessarily the case. 

If the stock brakes are able to activate the car's ABS system, then apparently bigger brakes won't actually make the car stop any quicker. And these days, most factory brakes are able to activate the ABS.

The advantage of bigger brakes, I understand, is when a) you are travelling at faster speeds when your stock brakes may NOT be capable of activating the ABS and b) of, course, when repeated heavy stops are required. There is plenty of good info around and, from memory, both the Brembo and DBA websites have some useful stuff on this very issue. Hope that helps? 

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If a car is fitted with abs ofcourse the factory brakes will cause it to work, the abs system was designed to stop you from locking it up. Bigger brakes WILL pull the car up quicker who ever told you other wise is a twit, you don't slam on your brakes everytime you use them do you. Cause that's 'pretty much the only way you'll get them to lock up.

If bigger brakes didn't do anything on abs equipped car's then why the hell do FPV's have monstor 6 piston brembo's on them, why do so many peole fit these massive brakes to modded car's. Simply because they work.

[quigebo]

im in the same boat as you JBomb3000..

but I have a bf with the bigger terra brakes (330mm fron and rear) and it stops fairly ok from normal speeds.. but high speeds there not the best..

dont track the ute but had a track car and brembo's, DBA golds and braided lines made a heaps of difference over extended laps than even just standard nrembos/rotors..

im fitting 4pot brembos up front next week so ill let you know mate..

[seventytwo]

the limiting factor in braking is tyre grip not brake size. where big brake work better is in heat disapation, the bigger the brakes the more heat they can get rid of due to the increase in surface area, of course clamping force has a lot to with it as well the bigger the pad and clamping force the more the brakes can resist the turning forces on the disc. So yes big brakes will stop quicker up to the point of lock up then its even after that.

[Paradoxx]

I have Premium brakes and as far as value for money is concerned, this is the BEST thing I have ever done for my car. When you consider things like shudder and brake fade, the premos give you a clear cut advantage over the standard brakes. If you drive your T like it's a fairlane then dont waste your money...

For an example, just last week I was travelling through some roadworks in a 110 zone... I was past the slow zone and had just passed the 110 sign, started to accelerate and saw a traffic control ute in front of me going really slow and indicating left. I indicated right to overtake while accelerating, and not much more than 50m from overtaking him at about 100km/h he indicates right and pulls across the road to turn into a patch of dirt on the opposite side of the road. My reaction time and my car's braking ability meant that I had slowed to about 40km/h before squeezing behind him and the bushes on the left side of the road. I hit the anchors so hard the ABS was working (can feel it through the pedal) which allowed me to steer behind him (from the wrong side of the road).

Those brakes just paid for themselves... saved my life. If it were stock brakes they would have faded and I reckon I would have been doing at least 60 and had little to no steering ability.

Do yourselves (and anyone else in your car) a favour and get some premos

[jordak]

I upgraded to PBR's (available of BCR01, forum member) for $1,800 which is a great price.

And yes they are alot lot lot better than the stockies.

The key differences being that the PBR's do not show any sign of fading over repeated hard braking and the effort it takes to pull up quickly is a lot less. In short they give you far more confidence in the brakes ability to pull you quickly when you need to.

For example, your travelling along in stop start traffic and the guy in front catches you unawares by braking harder than expected, you apply the brakes and the distance between you and him is closing at a greater rate than you would like. With stockies you end up jumping on them to avaid a collision wheras the PBR's just need a little more pressure to do the job.

I know we all struggle to justify spending a fair chunk of change on something that doesn't make the car look better or go faster but believe me you won't regret a brake upgrade one little bit.

[seventytwo]

The ABS saved you not the brakes

[Chris xr6]

Larger brakes will give you better control and ability to modulate the brake force applied, also much better fade resistance, but the tyres will always dictate how quickly you can pull up and generally unless a standard system is defective you shouldn't notice any decrease in stopping distance by going to the sexy gear.

[Chris xr6]

If it were stock brakes they would have faded and I reckon I would have been doing at least 60 and had little to no steering ability.

Do yourselves (and anyone else in your car) a favour and get some premos

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I will highly doubt that our stock brakes would fade from a single stop between 100-40

that is laughable!