Installed StopTech Big Brake Kit Today
 

The kit was delivered this Friday, woke up early this morning and got to work. The craftsmanship on this kit looks excellent right down to the packaging. StopTech has not completed the installation instructions for the RX-7 so they sent the Lexis IS300 instead with a letter apologizing for it not being ready and explained that the install was basically the same.

The hardest part of the install was unscrewing the two screws on each side that held the stock rotor in place. Three of them came out using an impact driver, power drill and a #3 bit. The 4th one I stripped and had to drill it out. The other thing I had to do was use a cutting blade on the dremel to cut off the splash guards since the new rotors are too big and came in contact with them. Other than that the kit just bolted right on and aligned perfectly with all the existing bolts etc..

I had to get some very thin wheel spacers because the spokes on my 17” Fiske FM10’s where just barely rubbing the calipers. Total install took about 4 hours and that included a trip to the auto parts store for some wheel spacers and an impact driver.

I just got done doing the brake bedding process, which consisted of 10 fairly hard stops from 60mph to 5-10mph. The brakes smoked a little bit but the instructions said that was to be expected. Other than that I took it real easy. I’ll post an update after I get them a little more broken in and can really put them to the test. Can’t wait to get it out on the track!

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you can't link pictures off your computer's harddrive. You need to upload them onto a web server and link from there.

Good post and very helpful.
Stoptech is much cheaper than Brembo and AP but the feedback is not bad.

Please post some comment on this brake kits. Thanks

nice, how much was the kit?

How did the first fairly hard 10 stops from 60 to 5-10 mph feel?

Felt real good. The pedal is definalty firmer and I had pretty new pads on before. I can feel the slots on the rotor through the brake pedal. I always felt the sotck brakes where pretty good to though. I got this kit mainly to avoid the chronic fade the stockers gave me at the track

Oh yeah the kit was $1,895, you can buy it from the StopTech website. I also rember Jason from the RX-7 Store said he was going to sell them too

Damn, that clearance problem with the calipers was what I was afraid of. I've got Fikse FM-5s, so I'm not sure how different the spokes are between the wheels. In checking with the template that their website has, the clearance right where the spoke meets the wheel is extremely close. How thick were these spacers you installed to get clearance? Have you ever compared your FM-10s to the FM-5s? As much as I'd like to get the Stoptech kit, I don't want to put down the $$ only to find out that the clearance problems are insurmountable.

That is one huge advantage of the AP caliper. It is much thinner than the Stoptech caliper, allowing use of a much wider range of wheels. I am currently running 18" Enkei RP-01, so I doubt I'll have a problem with any brake kit.....

this has prob been gone over before but it "looks" like the rotor vanes are facing the wrong way. did stop tec say which direction they should face? any their reasoning?

looks good man

The vanes look correct to me. If you mean the slots, that has been discussed. You can search for it.

Ohh koni shocks! Niceee, cant go wrong with those! ;)

looks nice!!!

looks sweet...let's see some pics of it with the wheel on. Also, how is the weight compared to the stock braking system?

images with the wheel on..



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The wheel spacers I picked up from Pep Boys for 7 bucks each. They are 5/16" thick universal 5 bolt pattern. Since the are universal they don fit real sung and slide around until you torque the wheel down. This I don't like because I can't insure they are centered and could cause balance issues. Also 5/16 is more than I need, the wheels just ever so barely rubbed the calipers. I plan on geting some 2-3mm spacers made to fit the exact lug pattern so it won't move around

Nice! :drool: StopTech has a good reputation for making well balanced kits.

Did you also do the rears?

Any idea of the total weight compared to stock (calipers, brackets and rotors)?

looks real nice behind those wheels. do you plan on doing the rears?

They don't have anything for the rears. I did put on some power slot rotors in the rear (stock replacements), stainless steel braided lines and some upgraded pads.

no idea on the weights?

Those look great. :)

No exact idea on the weight. I did not weigh them before putting them on. I can only guess that they do weigh more than the stocks brakes since they are bigger. I did not notice much difference though when handling the stock ones versus the new.

Can you please weigh your stock rotor and caliper? The stoptechs weigh in at 35 lbs according to one of the reps.

Congrats...they look great! The RX-7 kits are now hitting the streets...a little later than I had hoped for, but we took the time to do our homework and get the right setup.

Testing on the kits at the airfield went well. We toyed with a few different piston setups on the kit, and ended up with a substantial improvement over stock in terms of both stopping distances (shaved a couple of feet from 60 and 100-0) and feel (firmer pedal). Thermal capacity will obviously be a tremendous improvement over stock. We also made a few minor changes to our original hat design to improve fitment. Fitment charts are on our website: http://www.stoptech.com/wheelfitchar...hart_index.htm

We are offering the RX-7 kit at $1895 with slotted rotors. We've decided to do painted calipers only (no more black anodized), so at this price you can have either red, black, or silver painted calipers.

Weight of the entire corner is roughly 25-26lbs. I quoted someone 35lbs per corner last week (RX7 Rage?), but that is the shipping weight, not the actual weight (includes packaging, etc.). Sorry for the confusion. The caliper itself weighs just over 8.25 lbs...bracket and hardware are about 2lbs, and the 332mm rotor, hat, and hardware weigh about 15lbs., for a total of approximately 25-26lbs per corner.

The rotors are on correctly in this case. What you are referring to as a vane, is not a vane but a slot. Vanes are the internal structure that you cannot see from a profile view. The vanes are actually 'slanted' in the opposite direction of the slots on the face of the rotor. The leading edges of the vanes 'point' towards the center opening of the rotor. As the wheel rolls, the rotor spins so that the leading edges of the internal vanes are cutting into the air, and actually pumping it outwards. This is one area that our AeroRotor design is superior to the competition. Air evacuation through the rotor is greater. I have some great pics that show the vane structure if anyone wants them...you can feel free to host them. Let me know jeff@stoptech.com.
Back to the slots...you don't want the slots on the face in the same direction as the vanes. Why? Because they interfere with heat transfer. Heat travels from the face of the rotor into the internal structure of the rotors...into the vanes. As air flows over the vanes, it cools them. By cross-hatching the slot over the vane like an X, you are not taking a big chunk of material out of any single vane. If you laid a slot down in parallel over top of an internal vane, you would impair the heat transfer mechanism, and you would take away from the strength of the part.

These kits are available through a number of vendors including: Jason from here at the RX7 Store, Sean at A-Spec, Dave at Zeckhausen Racing, Peter Farrell Supercars, and Rotary Performance just to name a few.

Jeff, isn't the price $1795? That's what it is on rx7 store.

Its always awsome to see the person who actually makes and works with the product give his customers a direct answer about a question. Hats off to you!

Good lord that's expensive........ I built my own wilwood kit for 550.

And the quality is about 1/3 of that Stoptech kit too....

Prices were originally $1795 for black anodized calipers, and $1995 for painted. The purpose of the black anodized part was to keep prices down in certain markets. However, we have made the decision to only produce painted calipers from this point forward (on all kits), since they hold up better and they look better. Rather than keep the $1995 price point that most of our painted kits are at, we decided to cut it to $1895. On our initial orders for the $1795 anodized calipers for the FD, we substituted black painted calipers at no extra charge. From this point on, there is only one kit, and it is $1895...red, black, or silver paint with slotted rotors. Drilled rotors are +$100, and not recommended for track use. Yellow or blue calipers can be had for +$200.

Thanks! It's a fun position for me to be in, and it feels good when people who are passionate about the same thing that you are praise your product. It's tough though. There are a LOT of boards for a lot of different types of cars, and everyone wants an answer right away. :eek:

A few side notes that may be of interest to people considering this kit....The 911 Turbo that clinched the One Lap of America event this weekend was using a StopTech front big brake kit (with stock rears). The mechanic that prepped the car talked to my tech service mgr. this morning and called it 'hand of God braking.' I thought that was a pretty damn cool descriptor that I never heard before, and it really started my week off right. :cool: http://caranddriver.com/article.asp...article_id=8095

Also, we are doing exceeding well with our front BBK's in professional Competition. Bill Auberlin won the first race of the year:http://www.stoptech.com/press_releas...ns_sebring.htm
At the second race, the Bimmerworld 3 series BMW's took 2-4th: http://www.world-challenge.com/news/04press67.html
We're also doing well in Grand Am Cup. These cars use a front only 332mm with the exact same components as the RX-7 kit. :)

and your proof is where?

awesome! Those are not cheap.

Anybody can build their own "kit" for less than kits are offered at. The price of the rotors and calipers for an of them is less than the total price. The difference is, you'll need to have custom hats made, and have caliper adapter brackets machined from scratch, and mate up new lines... you're paying for that engineering. FWIW, $1895 is pretty good conmsidering many kits are over $2k.

What the heck kind of parts did you use for $550? Even the replacement Coleman rotors for the Mandeville kit that uses the stock rotors are mnore than that. Heck, the PFC 93 pads i used for stock calipers were over $200.

Quoted just to re-enforce this to anyone thinking of using x-drilled rotors on track. Bling factor has no place there :p

I mistyped my first post. I actually purchased a kit. The kit came with everything I needed.

Here is the kit http://www.speedwaymotors.com/xq/asp...qx/product.htm

:rofl:

And you think that REAR-BRAKE kit is the equivalent of the Stoptech FRONT-BRAKE kit? The kit you linked to isn't even as good as the stock rear brakes. Nice try.

Worse than the stockers? Care to explain you theory?

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He meant that you're trying to compare the cost of a rear brake kit to a model-specific, fully-developed front brake kit. That Wilwood kit is a "universal" kit that probably hasn't even been tested on an FD. It also (as nearly all rear brake kits that replace the stock caliper) omits the emergency/parking brake, which many like to keep for street use, and doesn't include upgraded brake lines.

Just FYI, there's HUGE difference in the cost to manufacture a 332mm ventilated rotor versus a single one-piece stamped steel rotor. Trying to compare the cost of a rear brake kit to a front brake kit is like trying to compare a stock Honda Civic to an FD.

Also FYI, the performance benefits (slim to none) of major upgrades to the rear brakes were discussed in the previous Stoptech brake thread.

All I asked was how the stoptech was better than wilwood. And the wilwood vs. stock brakes bs.

So you show a picture?

Here's why they are worse:

Wilwood rotors are 11.5x0.35, stock is 11.6x0.79. You just lost heat capacity from stock, which is compounded by cross-drilling the rotors.

There is also the issue of balancing the piston area from front-to-rear.

Still want to argue? BTW, you can get the rear 99+ Mazda brakes (12.4x0.79 rotors and calipers) for about $750 from Mazdamotorsports.

rims
 

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who makes these rims? have a side view of them on a FD

Re: rims
 

They are Work wheels.

BACK ON TOPIC:

95FD_VA, please let us know how they hold up on track. I'm very interested in hearing some first-hand track experience from other FD owners.

Will do, going to VIR in late June. I also ordered some custom wheel spacers from Wheel Adaptor that Jeff from StopTech reccomended. $80 for the pair. They will be 1/4" thick and hub centric. I'll post an update when I get those.

could you send me a link to that? i went to the page but got lost looking for them... i've been ineterested in upgrading all around but would like something that is matching front and rear (i'm vain). :D do they also sell the front kits?

Hopefully you're referring to the 99+ brakes...:)

You can get the 99+ brakes from Mazdamotorsports, but you have to be a member (just send 2 auto-x results to them). www.mazdamotorsports.com

And yes, you can get the full 99+ brakes (all hardware and pads), and for less than $2000. Not bad for 12.4" rotors, 1.25" thick front, 0.79" rear.

hmm... i have to have raced? see, that's where i'm screwed :) i was referring to the 99+ brake kits. do you know of anywhere that mear street driver could get them? lookinng to eventually make bit of a sleeper/show car.

My Wilwood rotors are 10.75 x .81 which is ideal for the weight of my car. 99+ rotors won't fit on my car.

ps. I'm not arguing, just have a conversation :)

How do you get that 10.75x0.81 is ideal for the weight of your car? That is significantly smaller than stock. It's most likely fine for street driving but on the track, those are going to overheat badly.

I assume 99+ rotors won't fit on your car because of your live axle?

I mis-typed. Sorry for the confusion. Mine are 11.75" (298,5) .81" (20,6) and only 8 pounds each. I don't road race my car so they aren't going through much abuse. Yes to the live axle.

I wasn't saying that mine were better than anyones. I just stated that $1,800 is lot of money :)

1 and 0 are on opposite ends of the keyboard what are you typing with a 2x6? :p: