best stopping power for the buck mods?

[Forge]

im looking at getting something to help brake this pig. I dont want to spend more than 800 on brakes. Any help is appreciated.

 

[94tbird]

R1concepts or Rotorpro Rotors, all 4 can be had for about 300 bucks or so. Hawk HPS Pads, aproximately 150 bucks for all 4 sets, Earls SS lines for about 100. about 550 total, well under budget lol

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Better pads, stickier tires, SS lines and DOT4 fluid is what I would do...

 

[JonW]

For less than $500, I got Hawk HPS pads, Earl's SS lines, DOT 4 fluid, and the installation labor. That's all you need for the street. The stock rotors work just fine. In fact, Baer has a post on their website that slotted and drilled rotors have NO benefit on a street-driven car. They are for looks only. I also have a brake cooling kit for the front, but that won't help you much on the street.

 

[Forge]

whats the difference between the HP, HP plus, and ceramic?

 

[JonW]

I don't remember now what the difference is in the HP and HPS. You can go to Hawk's website and find out I imagine. But ceramic will wear the rotors much quicker.

 

[Forge]

i looked, too much marketing mumbo-jumbo to really tell the difference.

 

[mwilkes]

do the SS lines really help a lot? I have the SSBC brake kit front and back and it stops really well, but still not as fast as I would like it to.
I'm also running the synthetic F450 brake fluid from Ford. not sure what dot that is but it made a difference and was a recommended change when i was going through my clutch fiasco.

 

[TexasKyle]

Those R1's arent to bad on the wallet. Anyone using them? Opinions?

 

[JonW]

SS lines do help, since rubber lines can swell, causing a small decrease in brake effectiveness. It would not be as noticeable on the street as it would be on the track. They also give an extra margin of safety, since they can't burst like rubber lines can. The probability of a rubber line burstiing is small, but it can happen.

 

[JonW]

From Hawk's website:

The High Performance Street (HPS) compound offers a higher coefficient of friction over stock brake pads and can provide you 20-40% more stopping power and higher resistance to brake fade than most standard replacement pads. Less fade means you’ll have a highly durable brake pad with less brake dust.


HP Plus utilizes a unique Ferro-Carbon, high-tech friction material that was developed and manufactured for sport driving in autocross, Solo II and “track day” applications. The Ferro-Carbon formulation offers lower wear rates and higher torque values than other competitive materials. Warning! Due to the dramatic friction levels produced by this product to achieve "race-level" braking, rotor wear, noise, dust, and pad life may be affected.


HPS for the street, HP Plus for the track.

 

[94tbird]

i am using the r1'a. you need to coat them yourself with a little clear VHT rotor paint to prevent rust, once you do they are perfect. otherwise the rotorpros come precoated

Yes SS lines make a huge difference

As for pads the HPS series is a lower dust compared to the ceramic and they dont make squeaks on braking. the ceramics tend to be noisy

 

[S197 GT]

I've also got the R1 Concepts rotors, Earl's SS lines, and Hawk HPS pads. I used some Motul fluid and called it a day! It was a great upgrade for the price!

Not a single crack in my rotors or rust and I've had them on for about 6 months of daily driving.

 

[TexasKyle]

Thanks for the input guys. You didn't actually paint the whole thing with the clear VHT did you?

 

[SoundGuyDave]

When I painted up the stock rotors (a set of take-offs), I painted them all up, and used a set of old pads to strip away the paint from the swept surface of the rotor. Stinky, shuddering stops for about 2 miles, but then I swapped over to new pads, bedded them in, and all has been good since.

Last month I put on a set of RotorPros, but wound up painting all the drilled holes, since they aren't zinc coated. Time will tell, but they do look great on the car (at least sitting on jackstands, anyway!)

 

[tehsleeper]

The Grand-Am cars run the stock rotors and calipers. Our breaks are pretty damn good, the cheapest thing I think that does the most for the least amount is SS lines.

 

[TexasKyle]

The Grand-Am cars run the stock rotors and calipers. Our breaks are pretty damn good, the cheapest thing I think that does the most for the least amount is SS lines.

I havent been dissatisfied with the stopping power, but with the new rims, you can really see the caliper and the rotor. Caliper is getting painted next weekend. I thought new shinny rotors would look good too though.

 

[S197 GT]

Yes, you paint the entire rotor...

I used black paint, as opposed to clear, and they turned out great.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

One thing that everybody looking for "better" stopping has to realize is that the tire is a MAJOR contributing factor, particularly up front. It doesn't matter if you have six-piston Brembo brakes with a 15" rotor and carbon-fiber pads, when all you have on the rim is a bicycle tire. The "wimpy" stock brakes are more than enough to haul the car down from speed quite nicely. Once the threshold has been reached where the rubber meets the road, however, that's it, you're done. You CANNOT brake faster or more aggressively if your ABS is kicking in due to tire-slip. The rest of the upgrades are all about durability under repeated braking. Larger rotors will help dissipate the heat generated by repeated hard braking. More aggressive pad compositions will tolerate higher heat before glazing. DOT4 racing fluid can absorb more heat before boiling. Larger calipers will allow more clamping force, and the SS lines reduce expansion to direct pedal force to the caliper, but NONE of it actually increases the ability to stop the car in a shorter distance. In fact, larger rotors can actually increase the stopping distance, as there is can be a corresponding increase in rotating inertia.

If your complaint is brake-fade related, i.e. the third or fourth hard stop in a row just doesn't seem as firm as the first, then you need to look at heat management. If you want to stop in a shorter distance than you do now, then you need to look at tires, not brakes. Of course, with uber-sticky meats, you can now easily overheat a bone-stock brake package, but that's the "supporting mod" paradigm all over again.

 

[Forge]

I have the stock brakes with 275/40/18 Kuhmo MX tires. Ive never slipped into ABS, but the fade is scary even on the first brake.

Im going to try the Hawk HPS, earls brake lines and fluid and see how much it helps. Im hoping those three will cure 90 percent of my worries.