Brake Upgrade Different Sizes question

Wheelz

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Posts
63
Reaction score
4
Hey all, so I'm looking to upgrade the brakes on my 09 Bullitt, specifically trying to upgrade to 4 piston 14 inch rotors upfront from the 08/09 GT500 and the 13/14 GT500 rear brake upgrade to the 13.8 inch rotors in the rear. My question is will I see any negative issues/handling by having almost similar size rotors front and rear.
 

07 Boss

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Posts
4,053
Reaction score
1,181
Location
Sin City
I think it all depends on the ratio between pad to rotor contact areas. In theory if you increase stopping power in the rear you may increase braking distance. But I’m not sure how exactly our abs system works and it may not have any effect at all. I know I have a car I’ve converted from drum to disc in the rear and without a different proportioning valve the rears would lock up early under hard braking.
 

Wheelz

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Posts
63
Reaction score
4
Hmm, maybe it would be better to just upgrade the fronts to the 4 pistons and leave the rear the same size if it could increase the stopping distance..
 
Joined
Sep 11, 2022
Posts
104
Reaction score
102
Location
Dover, PA
I have the 4 piston up front with the 13/14 rear brakes and I have not noticed any ill braking effects from this setup. To be fair, my car is a streetcar so I don’t push it to the very limit on public roads, but during spirited driving it hasn’t been a problem on my car.
 

007Stallion

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2021
Posts
36
Reaction score
8
Location
Pennsylvania
The stock rotors are 11.8”, so using the larger 13.8” rotors in the rear will increase braking torque due to the longer lever which will be increased by 1” (1/2 of the change in diameter) I would assume clamping force would remain relatively unchanged at the rear since the stock caliper is reused. A pad with a higher COF can increase clamping force however.

You will also have increased rotational mass, decreasing acceleration by a small but measurable amount. I doubt it would affect handling and probably nothing the butt dyno would detect.
 

DieHarder

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2019
Posts
1,590
Reaction score
874
Hey all, so I'm looking to upgrade the brakes on my 09 Bullitt, specifically trying to upgrade to 4 piston 14 inch rotors upfront from the 08/09 GT500 and the 13/14 GT500 rear brake upgrade to the 13.8 inch rotors in the rear. My question is will I see any negative issues/handling by having almost similar size rotors front and rear.

Just upgrade the fronts for now and reassess. That's what I did and never found the need to do the rears. Unless you're going to track it upgrading the rear is probably not necessary.
 

bambam 06

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Posts
176
Reaction score
48
Hey all, so I'm looking to upgrade the brakes on my 09 Bullitt, specifically trying to upgrade to 4 piston 14 inch rotors upfront from the 08/09 GT500 and the 13/14 GT500 rear brake upgrade to the 13.8 inch rotors in the rear. My question is will I see any negative issues/handling by having almost similar size rotors front and rear.
I did the exact set up about 5 yrs ago (Front/Back) and had no problems whatsoever. The stopping power increased by about 20% and they work like normal OEM. You will need at least 18" wheels.
 
Last edited:

AHaze

Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2019
Posts
354
Reaction score
212
Location
Edmonton, AB
Vorshlag extensively road raced a 2011 GT and used the 4 piston fronts with both rear rotor sizes at different points. I honestly recommend going through the build thread. It's long but IMHO, worth the time if you're even semi serious about making an S197 handle.
 

Wheelz

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Posts
63
Reaction score
4
Thanks for the input, i'm gonna compare the pricing on both set ups and make a choice from there. I will look into that Vorshlag thread, it looks hella informative
 

GriffX

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Posts
779
Reaction score
418
The biggest complaint I have with the brake is that I cannot push hard enough to get into ABS braking at 100 MPH.
A bigger breake booster would be nice to have.
 

Wheelz

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Posts
63
Reaction score
4
The biggest complaint I have with the brake is that I cannot push hard enough to get into ABS braking at 100 MPH.
A bigger breake booster would be nice to have.
Hmm I'm curious about that, why's it matter if you cant activate ABS?
 

GriffX

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Posts
779
Reaction score
418
Hmm I'm curious about that, why's it matter if you cant activate ABS?
That's a good question. Chicken legs? Despite I'm 6'2'' I'm more the marathon runner guy. To be fair it was with the OEM Akebono pads, after that emergency brake on the Autobahn, I changed them to more aggressive EBC Yellow pads (they brake much harder but they ruin the rotors, no recommendation from me).
The 07 doesn't have a brake assistant, so the ABS pump gets not activated from the brake pressure sensor alone, you must step on the pedal so hard that the brake pad friction is higher than the tire-road friction. When the tire stops the wheel sensor activates the ABS system.
I was not able to step hard enough on the pedal to overcome the tire-road friction at 100 MPH and the ABS got activated much later (from 70?).
 

coe1305

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2024
Posts
6
Reaction score
1
Location
Germany
Hello.
I just bought the Ford performance front GT500 Brembo 4 piston 14 inch uprade kit, waiting to be installed in spring. But I wonder, is it possible and make sense then at least to exchange the 11.8 inch rear rotors with the existing stock front 12.4 inch rotors and front calipers ? Anybody tried this? Adapters needed? Thx in advance
 

JC SSP

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2022
Posts
1,415
Reaction score
703
Location
FL
Yes, you need to use 18" rims or larger for them to fit...

I have a complete brand-new conversion kit for sale in the classified section:


You being in Europe might be cost prohibited to ship...
 

coe1305

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2024
Posts
6
Reaction score
1
Location
Germany
Yes, you need to use 18" rims or larger for them to fit...

I have a complete brand-new conversion kit for sale ...
Hello. I have even 19 inch 2015 Bullitt wheels. But my question was not about upgrade the rear rotors to gt500 size. I just want to reuse my stock front 12.4 inch rotors and calipers on the rear. So this would work with such adapter brackets?
 

coe1305

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2024
Posts
6
Reaction score
1
Location
Germany
You will change the front/rear brake quotient in an unpredictable way.
hello, if you read my previous post, I am installing the genuine Ford performance GT500 Brembo 14 inch set on the front ! I am no expert in front/rear brake quotient maths, but tell me :
serial setup is 12.4 inch front / 11,8 inch rear
my target setup would be:
GT500 upgrade 14 inch front / 12.4 inch to the rear (front brake rotor and calipers relocated)
that does change the front/rear brake quotient unpredictably?
if I dont do it, it will be 14 inch front / serial setup 11.8 inch rear - which is a legal setup,
how about the front/rear brake quotient then ?
 

DieHarder

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2019
Posts
1,590
Reaction score
874
hello, if you read my previous post, I am installing the genuine Ford performance GT500 Brembo 14 inch set on the front ! I am no expert in front/rear brake quotient maths, but tell me :
serial setup is 12.4 inch front / 11,8 inch rear
my target setup would be:
GT500 upgrade 14 inch front / 12.4 inch to the rear (front brake rotor and calipers relocated)
that does change the front/rear brake quotient unpredictably?
if I dont do it, it will be 14 inch front / serial setup 11.8 inch rear - which is a legal setup,
how about the front/rear brake quotient then ?

No need to change anything in the rear. Many of us including me run the Brembo's up front with stock rears and everything works fine. Only upgrade to recommend for the rear is steel braided brake lines. Otherwise good to go. Cheapest route for the Brembo's is to purchase new rotors/pads; and rebuilt calipers for a 2008 - 10 GT500 from an auto parts store (I got mine at O'Reilly's). Ran about $400 for everything (expect costs to be somewhat higher now). Mine came in gloss black powdercoat and have worked flawlessly since installation. You can get brembo stickers on feebay.

IMG-2192.jpg
 

GriffX

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Posts
779
Reaction score
418
GT500 upgrade 14 inch front / 12.4 inch to the rear (front brake rotor and calipers relocated)
that does change the front/rear brake quotient unpredictably?
if I dont do it, it will be 14 inch front / serial setup 11.8 inch rear - which is a legal setup,
how about the front/rear brake quotient then ?
Piston size bigger, pad size bigger, friction coefficient unknown, aber mach doch!

Oh, no e-brake, good luck with TÜV
 

Latest posts

Support us!

Support Us - Become A Supporting Member Today!

Click Here For Details

Sponsor Links

Banner image
Back
Top