GT500 Brake Module

[pcdrj]

Question for those who upgraded to GT500 brakes and brake module. How did the GT500 module affect the braking?

 

[StangPower05]

I upgraded to the GT500 brakes. I didn't upgrade to the gt500 brake module as it is not needed for the swap.

 

[pcdrj]

I know the brake module is not needed but I'm asking what will change. Right now I'm eating up the rears.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Dumb question, I know, but do you have your TCS off? That'll kill the rear pads in nothing flat...

 

[Rodeoflyer]

What pads are you running in the rear? Many people think old school and go with a lighter compound in the rear. The car has electronic brake force distribution. I had the same problem. Stepping up the compund in the rear to the same as the front cured it. You will also notice the ass settles down more under braking.

As far as the brake moudule goes - "I have a friend" that says the abs isn't as intrusive, making trailbraking and threshold braking easier.

 

[pcdrj]

TCS is off. I'm running EBC Yellow all around and Rousch slotted rotors in rear. I've glazed or cracked several sets of Powerslot and Rousch rotors. Ate up a brand new set or Yellow rear pads on one open track day (4+ hours)

I've been told the GT500 brake module distributes more braking up front to take advantage of that setup.

 

[Sleeper_08]

I'm running GT500 front brakes with the stock module. At the start of last season ran the EBC Yellow stuff at the start of the season and got 4 sessons out of them but the backs wore more quickly than the fronts. The rear pads also showed clearly visble signs of "melting".

For the rest of the season I ran Hawk HP Plus front and rear. This season I'm switching to Carbotech XP10 F and XP8 R.

Forgetting to turn off the TCS may sometimes have contributed to the quick demise of the Yellowstuff rear pads but I still don't think they are suitable for serious track use. The new Bluestuff ones may be better.

Our cars have different front/rear weight bias than stock because of the SC and this affects things but should put more braking on the front.

I also suspect that the rears are not cooled well enough and thus a pad like the Yellowstuff gets over temperature.

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

The EBC YellowStuff pads are not strong enough for the weight of our Mustang GTs. The EBC YellowStuff will melt and disintegrate. I highly recommend going with the Carbotech XP10 or Hawk DTC 60 pads for the rear. I think you'll be very happy with their performance on the road course. The XP12 or DTC 70 pads on the front would make a great combination.

 

[DusterRT]

As far as the brake moudule goes - "I have a friend" that says the abs isn't as intrusive, making trailbraking and threshold braking easier.

This is basically what I noticed..it's just a bit less "sensitive" I guess you could say. The calibration of the electronics assumes bigger, stickier tires and higher available brake torque. Basically not a necessary upgrade, but allows you to take advantage of the extra braking capacity a bit more.

It permanently disables TCS, and the TC light on the dash stays on now, but ABS works and I don't get any ABS-related faults or lights. I haven't noticed any excessive rear pad wear, but I didn't have the car long in stock form so I can't really compare to how it used to be as far as pad life goes.

 

[dkegel]

The EBC YellowStuff pads are not strong enough for the weight of our Mustang GTs. The EBC YellowStuff will melt and disintegrate. I highly recommend going with the Carbotech XP10 or Hawk DTC 60 pads for the rear. I think you'll be very happy with their performance on the road course. The XP12 or DTC 70 pads on the front would make a great combination.

I agree. You need a more aggressive pad in the rear if you're going through pads and/or toasting your rotors like that. I run Hawk Blues all around (stock front calipers/rotors though) and they hold up well in the rear.

Dave

 

[pcdrj]

I'll give those Hawks a shot.

Thanks guys

 

[fiverivers]

the rears rotors on the mustang are known for warping and cracking. It is a very common issue for the guys who run in the american iron racing.

 

[ArizonaGT]

I don't believe the GT500 has a special HCU for the brakes. The FR500S and FR500C do, however. That is like $1500 from FRPP. Two guys I know have it installed on their race cars, they said compared to the stock HCU, the FRPP one will kick the pedal back much harder, but still have lots of clamping force. Hard to explain.

 

[pcdrj]

the rears rotors on the mustang are known for warping and cracking. It is a very common issue for the guys who run in the american iron racing.

Cracking yes...warping no. Rotors don't actually warp.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

 

[DusterRT]

I don't believe the GT500 has a special HCU for the brakes. The FR500S and FR500C do, however. That is like $1500 from FRPP. Two guys I know have it installed on their race cars, they said compared to the stock HCU, the FRPP one will kick the pedal back much harder, but still have lots of clamping force. Hard to explain.

GT500 do have their own computer. GT/V6 are different, with both strategies in them and the PCM dictates which one is used (default no-signal strategy is V6 mode). The FR500S module works with the GT500 HCU, and it's only about $200-250 (and they have been on backorder for a couple months now, I'm trying to get my hands on one to try out).

I don't have any information on the FR500C specific stuff, maybe that's where you got the $1500 figure from. That sounds about what the list price is on the master cylinder and booster; are you sure that's not what you saw?

 

[SoundGuyDave]

+1. The GT500 has a separate part number for the HCU, that is shared with the FR500S. The GT/V6, GT500, and FR500S all have discrete part numbers for the ABS module.

Has anybody here done JUST the brake kit, and THEN done the HCU swap? I'd be interested in hearing their impressions...

 

[DusterRT]

Has anybody here done JUST the brake kit, and THEN done the HCU swap? I'd be interested in hearing their impressions...

I ran it without the GT500 HCU for a while, mostly on the street but I had a couple autocross type events. Wouldn't call the change from the HCU swap dramatic, but it's there..feels like I can brake a little more before the ABS kicks in. On stickier tires I feel like it's still coming on a bit earlier than necessary, but that's to be expected since it's still calibrated for "normal" tires. It also has the perk of permanently disabling the TCS.

While I was running the GT HCU, I did have the ABS freak out on me during a autocross run in moderate rain with standing water on most of the course; the TC and ABS lights came on and I lost all ABS function (next turn the front wheels locked up and blew through the following turn). I limped it through the rest of the course, shut it down and re-started it..never did it again, but I swapped HCU's shortly after this. I've only heard of one other person that has had this sort of thing happen though. Not sure what happened, some think it was air in the system but I'm pretty confident that's not the case as I bled the crap out of it when I put the brakes on and then again after a couple days of driving. The pedal felt no different when I put the new HCU in (have to take it to the dealer to cycle the ABS pump and get the air out, so they pressure bled it as well). Only other thing I can think of is the GT computer didn't like how the car was reacting to its inputs..either too much available brake torque or couldn't support the additional volume requirements of the calipers. Why failure mode would be completely disabling ABS is a mystery to me though..seems like some sort of conservative fall-back "oh shit, something's wrong" mode would be better, but perhaps no ABS is better than a malfunctioning system.