I was wondering what Big Brake Kits are now available for the 5th gen at this point.

Stillen makes the 4 piston and 6 piston AP BB kit.

Precision Brakes sells the wilwood kit for the 5thgen in dynalite and superlite calipers.

Fastbrakes will be releasing their kit hopfully soon.

Now I need some feedback and suggestions:

Are these kits worth it?
What size rotors are good?
I was looking at the GD on the dimpled/slotted rotors and also looking into a BB kit, is there a dimpled/slotted rotor for a BB kit to get the same advantages?
4 piston good enough?

I currently have a auto and brake hard, because of this I usually end up eventually wearing out the rotors drastically either warping, heat cracks, or both. Will this be stopped with this?

Any good suggestions for kits, pricing, or group deals?

Also I currently still have the 17" AE wheels on my car. How will this effect doing a BB Kit? I will only be able todo 1 mod at a time because the money isn't all there.
Will I be able to use my stock rims with any of these kits?
Will spacers be needed?
What size spacers, where do I have to worry about safety here?


Thanks in advance everyone.

 

I've done the precision brakes install. I required spacers in the front (5mm) for caliper clearance with my 18s. However, precision brakes will send you a template to check clearance with your rims prior to purchase. I believe 17"s would work. My rims have a lip, so I would blame the requirement for the spacer on the rim style.

Overall, I enjoy the brakes and they work well. I would highly recommend them to anyone who is contemplating a rotor swap. I had to go after new rotors anyway after having my rotors warp a second time. I did keep my stock setup so I can return to stock at any time.

Besides, I drive my max like its stolen. Here are some pics of the install:

http://www.the-space.net/~simple/Upgrade.htm

Good luck on your decision. I don't know if you can do much better than the price Precision offers for the kit. Pads seem to be holding up well, as well as the rotors. Only thing to look out for on this kit is the steel lines don't have retaining clips built in like factory. I would recommend getting some rubber hose to put around it to keep it within the existing hose line keeper.

Good luck.

 

Pretty cool, Thanks.
How does the Braking feel? Stiff (you going through the windshield yet?)
How long has the kit been on and installed? Driven alot? (Rotors show any wear, heat stress, warping, cracking?)

 

the status on kits right save for the mention of Brembo -but those suckers are serious pricey..$2.5 or or thereabouts.

Short answer is 'depends on what you're looking for and your budget'. ANY rotor upgrade is worth it over and above the OEM units...whether they be Stillen, Disk Brakes Australia (Fastbrakes or Precision Brakes) or any other GOOD heavy-duty rotors. If you keep the stock calipers you're kinda stuck with rotor size very close to stock -but you can definitely get better rotors -and for the $$$ investment, they do cure a bunch of ills.

Next steps is rotors and calipers....cheapest out there are the kits built around the Wilwood units, I for one am a bit leery of the Dynalite calipers...a bit small for our car's weight & Brian at Fastbrakes concurr..the cast (not forged) Superlites a better option. FYI, the cast units are actually stiffer than the forged units. With these calipers u can go with one-piece DBA (Disk Brakes Australia) rotors or Wilwood two-piece (aluminun 'hat') rotors for about $150-$175 more, definitely worth it in my book.

This setup nets you a 12.2" rotor, excellent (and right sized) calipers and 8 lbs weight savings per wheel which will translate into improved ride and handling as well -for about $1050.00. That will be the way I go when I get some financial stuff resolved -namely, the IRS owes me some money, and it's not a trivial amount

good hunting

 

Because of the hard braking..
any suggestions on the type of rotors to get with my kit?

Stock type?
Slotted?
Slotted/X-Drilled?

Anyone see a Slotted/Dimpled for this size kit I think they are 13" x .810"


Keep the help coming

 

...on the goodness or these rotor tweaks...slots, drilling, etc.
Talking to both Brian at Fastbrakes and Nigel at Precision Brakes, they both dislike cross-drilling for a street environment as it increases noise as well as wear on pads -unimportant for a racer but of serious consideration of us street drivers. Yes, it does improve cooling but...do we need that much? I dont.

Thy both recommend slotting as a good way to reduce fade, keep pads from glazing and reducing outgassing (pad) induced fade -not to be confused from fluid-induced fade which happens as your brake fluid begins to boil. Slotting also removes much less material from the rotor itself, again, something to consider if the car is a long-term keeper.

Good hunting for more
Galo the 19" wheel hater

 

Yeah from the GD post about the Dimpled/Slotted Rotors everyone is saying that x-drilled isn't that good.. and what do you know.. the rotors im going to be replacing are Stillen x-drilled..
anyway..
If slotted is the best way to go.. then thats what I think Im going todo..
I am planning on keeping this car for a while.
I want to swap out the auto tranny with a 2k1 5-speed tranny and install a quaife.
Then do the SC kit.. my auto tranny is actually my 2nd tranny and I have 20K to blow this one and get a new on under waranty then its manual for me

 

Brakes feel good and engage at the top of the pedal range. They are very firm and can be agressive sounding at times. You should see the look on my buddies face if I put on the binders hard!

The rotors I have are x-drilled and slotted. No complaints as yet. I did get a bit more feel on the corners once I went to a lighter caliper. I can feel the road a little bit better (grooves in pavement, etc).