Hello All,

I am looking to install a full front and rear big brake kit on my car. This is mainly for aesthetic purposes, the additional stopping power will be a bonus (wrong way round I know lol!).

So finding BBK for the front is easy, the rear however seems to be difficult. I see the rear kit SBG has on offer that uses the stock caliper and I am considering it. However I am a JDM obsessive and would prefer Project Mu all round if possible.

I came across this image online as was wondering if anyone knows about the setup in this picture? Is anyone on the forum running a setup like this?

Thank you in advance!
Tom
Does anyone know how this Project Mu kit was setup in the rear?

 

It appears to be the same kit to me, meaning they used a front kit in the rear as well. Not a good idea for braking but it does look cool.

 

Yeah, I thought they did that.

Visually it looks great, but I assume putting the same kit front and rear will screw up the brake bias?

Thanks,
Tom

 

Most of the rear big brake kits work like the SBG one because it retains the parking brake function. Most aftermarket calipers do not have a cable hook up to operate the parking brake.

However, you could use other calipers and add a small hydraulic parking brake setup. You've probably seen some cars with a 2 rear calipers on each side.

Vince

 

brake systems do not lend well to being selected based on aesthetics.

too much rear brake and you will be going backwards.

sure you can install a 4 piston in the rear but you will need to bias it way down for front/rear trim and then the additional pad area will not reach proper operating temperature.

i suggest anyone changing brake systems spend some time w the Excel Brake Calculator prior to pulling any triggers.

the FD brake system was properly designed for the OE tires and general street duty but is nowhere near right for track use due to lack of front rotor mass. there are numerous excellent front solutions but the key on getting them to work properly lies in the rear.

 

Your posted picture looks like a Photoshop to me... so you may or may not be hunting for something that doesn't exist. I'm 99% sure PMu doesn't make a "bolt on" rear kit.

Alignment of the wheels is too perfect... The machine markings on the rotors match each other... Even the slot pattern is spot on... I'm not expert, but that's not "real".

For an actual solution, you're first going to have to accept losing the parking brake. Since the OEM caliper houses the eBrake as well, and most (no) aftermarket kits address this, that's gone. From there, I believe you are left with Brembo, StopTech, AP Racing or the SBG kit you mentioned (although that is an OEM caliper). SBG has been talking about a two caliper solution using a Wilwood 4Piston then the OEM caliper for a bit more bite and the aforementioned eBrake duties, however, that doesn't "exist" yet either.

 

First, that picture I'm pretty sure is Photoshopped. The front and rear wheels are WAY too similar, even down to tiny details.

One thing to note is that many aftermarket rear brake kits (I'm talking in general, not just FD) are just hydraulic calipers with no provision for a parking brake cable. Having a car with no parking brake gets REALLY OLD REALLY FAST unless it's a full on track car or trailered show car.

That said, it may be possible to adapt a parking brake from some other car. For example, the Supra and many other Toyota cars have a totally separate parking brake system, it's a drum brake that is inside the "hat" of the brake rotor. It's cable driven and the actual brake caliper is a regular hydraulic-only caliper. It might be possible to engineer something like this and borrow from another car.

But, the big thing to remember here is brake setups need to be DEAD accurate and right, a hacked-on setup can fail at the worst time, possibly endangering you or others on the road.

As a compromise, you could do an Project Mu BBK on the front, get PMU 2-piece rotors for the rear (the hat of the rotor is aluminum and PMU-colored), then you could smooth the casting of the rear caliper out and paint/powdercoat it PMU blue. Or, do that in addition to the Spirit R bigger rear brakes.

What has been stated about having too much rear brake bias above is also true, make sure you don't compromise the car's braking too much for aesthetics.

Dale

 

I was in the same boat. Decided on the SBG rear setup. Doesn't look very good but at least it will balance out.

 

You could always go with a BBK from PB brakes, they have both front and rear BBK. The rear BBK come with an optional line lock for the E-brake.

Mazda RX 7 (FD3S) (93~02) Rear Big Brake Kit - RX-7 - Mazda - Brake Kits

 

This is one of the options i have been considering.

I think that it is likely the best combination of stopping power, safety and aesthetics. Also leaves the option to add the SBG kit in the rear using a Project Mu rotor......

Tom

 

Thanks for your insight! I agree now that it has been pointed out it really does look photoshopped.....

I think I will likely stick with the stock caliper and possibly use the SBG kit for the rear to get a larger rotor in there. I think losing the park brake would be too much of a pain for the way i use my car.

Tom

 

Do you have any photos? What did you use in the front?

I don't recall seeing your brake setup in your build thread......will go back and have another read now

 

I looked at those a few months ago, but have read conflicting reviews on the quality of the PB kits. Do you know anyone that has used them?

 

A friend of mine over on the bimmer forums purchased a set for his E89 Z4 (Z section), he has put well over 3k miles on them with ZERO issues. Now keep in mind this is for a street driven car, he has never taken the car on the track, BUT he does drive the car pretty hard.

 

I know a few other guys on the Bimmer forums have purchased sets from PB and have been very happy with the kit, one specifically I remember was a e92 335i owner who purchased a set and was amazed by the quality and stopping power. I also remember reading about a guy on the A5oc forum who purchased a set, same thing was extremely happy with quality and said stopping power was greater than the stock brakes.

Now I know the big question on everyone's mind is track use, a highly reputable forum member on the GTR forums purchased a set a few years ago. He purchased a set for his skoda yeti which he tracks a lot, I'll just post a quote directly from him. His forum name is CT17, his actual name is Richard.
"The ones on my Yeti (510bhp/1350kg) are 330mm 6 pots front and 300mm 4 pots rear and after two years of track days (over 20) they continue to work faultless.I am very impressed with them and they are better than the (larger sized) Alcon SuperKit on my R32 which under similar driving conditions like to warp front discs every two events."

 

Here's a pic of one of my old cars with PMU disks and RZ/SR calipers. With the calipers painted to match could look good.


WP_20140907_12_09_19_Pro by Tom Kinsman, on Flickr

WP_20140907_17_30_00_Pro by Tom Kinsman, on Flickr

 

I've PMu 4pot 4pad on fronts, and SBG rear kit. Agree that rear kit doesn't necessarily look good (also it gets rusty just above the hats where there is no pad contact, if we are talking about aesthetics). But it does the job.
I want to note that changing the pads on this PMu kit is amazingly easy - 10 seconds per pad even if you're too slow.

 

A mate did have the Pmu front kit, with stock 294 rears...did have a habit of setting off the ABS early.

Sakebomb had a radi-cal based AP solution front and rear on their facebook page a few months back, but pretty expensive for just aesthetics! Power Brake in South Africa should be a cheaper option and good quality, they do a lot of Dakar stuff.

A recent example, just stole the complete calipers and rotors from a GT3 car for a FD, but there's been everything from beryllium based calipers to carbon brakes here in the past, but no doubt, you'd be adding a balance bar and dual masters to get them to work.

 

Looking for JDM BBK front and rear that looks good and retains park brake? Easy, Revolution. Available in 4 or 6 piston front, 4 piston rear, brackets for Brembo park brake and even a twin master setup that bolts in.

Revolution Online Catalog / ???????

 

Don't buy **** parts and forget aesthetics.

 

K-sport also offers front and rear setup in 330-400mm size that retain the rear e brake fuction.
Check out tgs
https://tgsexhausts.co.uk/shop/

 

seen Revolution but i dont like how the rear is an electronic e-brake. could i just hook it up to the OEM mechanical e-brake?

 

It may well be this brake caliper cover in the rear. There are several for sale on eBay at the moment. Described as 'RE Amemiya/Project Mu brake caliper covers', though have no idea if these are really manufactured by RE Amemiya.

 

Endless actually has a rear upgrade that's similar to the old Racing Brake rear that uses an upsized rotor, with a new bracket for the factory caliper. The new bracket also includes bosses to bolt on a nice-looking Endless-branded vanity panel (metal) that makes it look nicer than the shitty old OEM floating caliper.

It's a really cool idea, but unfortunately like everything Endless, outlandishly expensive. Like $5k for a kit where you have to reuse your own caliper. I couldn't help but be a little insulting to the rep I talked to about it. Here are the pictures. If I knew how to use CAD, I'd rip this idea off so fast their head would spin.

 

Seems effectively identical to the rear kit currently available through Sakebomb.