J Ritt

Hello,
My name is Jeff Ritter. I am the North American Sales Manager for StopTech. Over the past year, we've had numerous requests for our Balanced Brake Upgrade for the 3rd Gen. platform. I would like to officially gauge interest at this time.

I'm not sure what the specs on the RX-7 kit would be...we typically use our ST-40 caliper with either a 328x28, 332x32, or 355x32mm rotors. The 328 and 332mm kits typically necessitate a 17" wheel, while the 355mm usually requires an 18". I need some info from you all. What size wheels do most of you who are interested run? Are you most interested in a 2 wheel only, or 4 wheel kit? Our prices for the 328mm front only kits are typically in the $1695-$1895 range with a black anodized caliper (similar to our RX-8 kit), our 332’s are typically $1995 (painted red, black, or silver, yellow and blue are $200 extra per pair), 355mm front kits are generally $2595 painted, and 4 wheel kits range from $4495-5500. For technical details of our products, and brake systems in general, please visit our website www.stoptech.com.
For those who would like to upgrade their brakes, but don’t want to spend as much, we offer something we call our Stage I and Stage II kits. A Stage I kit would include: StopTech stainless steel brake lines for front and rear, 3 bottles of Motul 600 brake fluid, Axxis Ultimate pads for front and rear. FITS STOCK CALIPERS. Stage II includes everything in Stage I, and slotted OEM-sized replacement rotors for the front and rear. Prices are typically around $300-350 for the Stage I, and $550-700 for the Stage II. I’d also like to know who would be interested in a product like this, or just in our stainless steel DOT approved brake lines.
If anyone needs confirmation on who I am, etc., feel free to do a search for StopTech on www.my350Z.com. I’ve been involved over there for quite a while. I have also posted over the past 5 years on various boards under the name J Ritt. I’m an avid enthusiast who participates in autoX and drivers ed’s with various organizations. Thanks for the help guys.

ps Please remember that this is not a promise that anything is actually going to be produced, and the prices above are loose guidelines of what we typically charge. This is merely an effort to gauge interest. Thanks.

rallimike

iTrader: (1)

I'm interested.

89Turbo944

Me 2. Im the 4 wheel kit.

Also would you offer any type of brake byass controller. It would be quite helpful on the track.

94RHDFD

iTrader: (3)

I would be interest'd in a 4 wheel 355mm IF you would do a e-brake like www.movit.de

FourtyOunce

iTrader: (15)

id be interested in a 4 wheel kit.

teamafx

iTrader: (4)

A 4 wheel kit would be very nice

1RedR1and1RedPEP

Fellas,
Just wait a few more days as a new 4 wheel kit will be released. It will have 355mm front and 330mm rear. It is a custom set up but can be "mass produced in short order" stand by for more details.
1R1

Rhode_Dog

maybe a link should be put in the suspension forum for some of those guys to see this. Get more views in on it

DomFD3S

J Ritt

Here is the link to a recent Group Buy for a Big Brake Kit...starting from the initial discussion to delivery of product.
https://www.rx7club.com//showthread....hreadid=219291

Just thought I would let you know, to make a comparison between Stoptech's kit and this kit.

I know Stoptech is in Torrance, CA (not that far from me), and yet,...you list your location as NJ?

Kento

I'm interested in the 4-wheel kit, but I'd still like e-brake capability.

artowar

iTrader: (1)

Here's what I'd like to see:
- 4 wheel kit
- e-brake capacity
- slotted and plain rotor face options
- stiffest caliper bodies you have
- pad that is a common size used for club racers (e.g., a common Brembo or AP size) so that we have a wide choice of replacement pads
- pricing for the caliper rebuilding parts, and replacement hads, rotors, and hardware

J Ritt

We do not include a proportioning valve. StopTech manufactures all of our kits to work with the factory master cylinder, abs, etc. We balance out the system to have optimal front/rear bias, so your're using all four wheels to slow the car. Many aftermarket kits use a big front caliper from another application. They have big pistons in the front caliper, and an aggressive pad. You put the kit on, and the brakes feel like they have huge bite...like they're slowing you down more quickly. The reality is however, most have too much front bias, and the rears are not doing their share of the work. Radar guns are a more honest assessment of performance than the seat of the pants though. We test various piston sizes in the front and rear calipers to balance the system out.
If we do a four wheel kit, we typically either use the factory e-brake, or our own StopTech ST-10 e-brake caliper. We use this solution on our NSX kit. If you download the install manual for the NSX on our website you can see it. Or, if you could probably see some cars with this equipment on them at www.nsxprime.com forums.
Thanks for the input. If you want to discuss the merits of your system vs. a StopTech system, we'll do that in a separate post dedicated to the topic. For now, please just respect my post and not try to hijack it. If we were to manufacture a kit for the RX-7, we would be more than happy to put our system head to head with ANYTHING you or anybody else pieces together...period. We wouldn't waste our time making it otherwise. Thanks.
Great idea...I actually didn't even see that forum. I put this post here since we are only assessing the FD3 market at this time.
DomFD3S,
Thanks for the link to the group buy. I'll have to read through that post later when I get a chance. I appreciate it. As for my sig saying NJ...I moved out to LA a few months ago to work for StopTedh. When I signed on to these forums as a lurker, I was living in NJ. I know some guys with these cars back East, so I used to check out the boards here now and again to see what was going on. I'll have to update my info.

Thanks, see above.

artowar,
That's exactly the type of info I want to see. It sounds like the 4 wheel kit is what people are after...interesting. If you haven't done so already, check out the technical lind on our website http://stoptech.com/technical/. Read the article "Rear Brake Upgrades, is Bigger Really Better?" You may be surprised to find out that a 4 wheel kit may not be necessary for your needs, and that it could just be adding unnecessary weight, etc. If that's what people are after though, then we will explore the options. For many platforms, we offer 2 and 4 wheel kits.
We recommend and ship slotted rotors with most of our kits. We also offer drilled rotors, but do not recommend them for track use, as drilled rotors are more prone to cracking. Our AeroRotor is a patented design, and flows more air than pretty much anything on the market. Check out this link that shows how durable they are: http://stoptech.com/press_releases/2...hunderhill.htm We actually have about 15 World Challenge cars running our stuff...same exact components that our street kits contain...this isn't the case with many competitors. They use beefy stuff for their racers,and wimpy stuff for the street kits.
The ST-40 caliper that would be included in any kit for your car is the stiffest caliper on the market. We did in house deflection testing of all of our competitors (Brembo, AP, Wilwood, etc), and the results are posted on our site. Even without our patented bolt-in bridge, our caliper is stiffer. Our newest Generation II version of our caliper is actually made through semi-solid forging, rather than a casting. Check it out here:http://stoptech.com/technical/calipe...ctionchart.htm
The pad we use is a common sized Porsche shape, so there is a lot of street and race friction available. It sounds like you're clearly into track duty...we offer PFC 01 and 97, Pagid Orange and Blue, Ferodo DS2500 and 3000, Hawk Blue, HT14, HT10...etc. Lots of choices for the street and track...that's why we chose this pad size. Replacement rotors are typically in the $200 each range. Check out our downloadable catalog for all prices on the rebuild stuff, etc. http://stoptech.com/catalog/index.shtml

We test everything we sell...and we are the ONLY ones doing this for each vehicle. Here is a write-up one of our best resellers put together when he came out to visit. He documented the testing of the 350Z. http://www.zeckhausen.com/testing_brakes.htm

I'll check back again soon to answer more questions.. Thanks for responding. I was hoping there would be a lot of solid interest...I've been wanting to see StopTech's on these cars for quite a while.

Coulthard Fan

Stoptechs are simply one of the best setups you can get IMO. I've been one of the people asking my shop (PFS) if they can do Stoptechs like they sell for the Lexus IS300.

I'm getting a new brake setup this year, and as of now it will be either the 2002 RX7 Type RZ equipment or the Stoptechs if you decide to go forward with this.

t51quicksilver

I have always wanted a Stoptech setup, I inquired on this at last years SEMA show but they said they would see what they could do kinda blowing me off but no biggie, you can count me in on a front setup but would definately be interested in a 4 wheel deal if its resonable

Thanks for putting the time and effort in offering a great new product for a 10 year old car. I think a lot of people would love to have a big brake setup especially one offered at a good price and from a quality company such as yours.

Also what is the ball park on lead time to when your company decides to take on a new project to the time it goes into R&D to the time its on the shelf waiting to ship out? I'm really asking because I will be attending a big rotary gather in Indy in a couple months and would love to have them for the road/autocross corse.

Thanks,

Joe

ek9220ps

iTrader: (4)

I'm interested in the 4 wheel kit.
-andrew

xchaos

I would be interested in 4 wheel kit as well. E-brake is a important consideration as well as replacement rotors/pads/etc.

J Ritt

t51quicksilver,
I'm sorry that you felt like your were being blown off. I assure you, that was not anyone's intention. You have to consider the business side of the equation. It has to make sense for the company to make the investment in developing the kit, testiing it, etc. There have to be enough potential sales to offset the costs, but also to offset the opportunity costs of doing something else. R&D on another platform may be a better use of StopTech's time. That's why I'm here asking questions, to gauge the real interest. The greater demand is, the higher it moves on the priority list.
Also, if you've been to SEMA, you know how insanely busy it is. This year, we had so many people lined up at the booth waiting to talk to us, that each person only got a couple of minutes. Then we're placed in the position of 'who do I spend my time with?' There are a lot of teenage kids that get into that show, that don't even own a business. Then there are people who own 6 shops, and could sell 25 of our kits a year. It's not easy to distinguish all the time, and unfortunately that's the nature of the show. We wish we could take our time and answer all questions, but it's just not possible.
Thanks for the nice comments about us guys. I haven't seen much talk about wheels though. What size and make wheels are you guys running street/strip/autoX/track? Thanks

hotfd3s

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to see a kit made for 16" wheels, since all the other kits require 17" wheels.

Wargasm

I've been thinking of a big brake system for my car for the last year or so. I do track events at Summit Point sometimes. The stock setup has worked very very well for me with hawk blue pads, but having a larger setup would give me a little more stopping power and hopefully a lot more fade resistance.

I'm interested in a fronts only system as long as the overall 4 wheel setup works well. I've heard too many stories of people that put huge fronts on and then the pedal effort is wrong, or something else doesn't work well any longer. A 4 wheel system is a 'maybe' but not having an EBrake is a consideration and so is the hefty price

Regards
Brian

P.S. I think a kit for 16 inch wheels is pointless because the factory brakes are already about as big as you can go with that wheel anyhow and they work VERY VERY well even on the track with proper pads, braided lines, and good fluid. IMO a kit fo 16 inch wheels is just "for looks" anyhow and wouldn't offer a real upgrade.

93 R1

most run 17" for auto-x. But an option for larger 18" only fitaments would be nice.

DZeckhausen

I've been gone from the RX-7 community for many years, but I still miss my 1993 RX-7 R1 terribly. Despite winning a NJ Lemon Law case and returning the car to Mazda back in late 1994, I haven't found anything that drives as much like a real race car and is as much fun right out of the box in the many years since then. A few of the old timers may remember me from the early days of the famous RX-7 TSB list which I put together. (See: http://www.k-rad.com/tsblist)


My RX-7 the day I bought it in June 1993

Jeff Ritter, from StopTech, made me aware of this thread, so I figured it was time to reintroduce myself to the community and jump in to this discussion.

I've had lots of first-hand experience with big brake kits from Baer Racing, Mov'it, Wilwood, Brembo, and StopTech and I'm a dealer for the last two. I can probably help answer some questions and properly set expectations for the upcoming (hopefully) kit from StopTech.

First of all, any kit from StopTech or Brembo will retain the factory parking brake function. This is done either by utilizing the rear rotor hat as a drum for the drum-based parking brakes. Or an extermal billet caliper is used to replicate the parking brake function in models which use a ratcheting piston in the rear calipers. Either way, you will NOT lose your parking brake.

I've noticed that many of you are indicating you would prefer a 4-wheel brake upgrade to a front-only solution. I want to investigate this a bit more to understand what is driving it.[list=1][*]Are you concerned that a front-only brake kit will be too heavily front biased?
[*]Are you interested in the appearance of big, multi-piston calipers at all four corners? In other words, does aesthetics play an important part in your preference?
[*]Are you currently running into problems with your factory rear brakes, either with overheating pads, boiling fluid, or simply not being able to find a source of decent track pads for the rear calipers?[/list=1]

If your preference is driven by #1 above, then you should reconsider. StopTech designs their front-only kits to work well with the factory rear brakes by proper selection of rotor size and caliper piston size. They have many different caliper pistons to choose from and you won't end up with a brake system that yields excessive pedal travel or heavy nose dive under braking. Every new kit design is tested at the track and modified, if necessary, to minimize stopping distance and prevent any undesirable interaction with ABS and, with the newer cars, the dynamic stability control systems.

If the preference is driven by #2, then that's fine. A surprising number of my 4-wheel brake cutomers don't race at all but enjoy the benefits of firmer pedal feel, quicker reaction time, more linear braking, and ease of pad selection as well as that killer look. I have to admit, I've been seduced by big brakes for many years and all my cars have red calipers at all four corners. It never got me a date, but it made me happy anyway.

An alternative for those concerned about appearance, is to buy a front kit with black or silver calipers. That looks much more normal with factory rear brakes than red calipers up front only.

If it's #3, then the 4-wheel solution for the track does make the most sense. You'll have tons of pads to choose from for both track and street and the extra thermal capacity and heat shedding capability of the rear upgrade will eliminate any fading of pads or boiling of fluid.

xchaos

I would be interested in kits for 17inch or larger wheels. I think most ppl would be upgrading to 17s before doing a brake kit.

DZeckhausen

I agree. The factory brakes pretty much fill up the stock 16" wheels. Any brake upgrade that would provide a meaningful improvement in capacity would require at least 17" wheels.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

It would be smart (for StopTech) to offer a front-only 328 or 332 kit meant to work w/ 17" wheels (the most common track size), and the stock rear brakes (and hopefully master cylander as well).

Then offer a full-blown, 4-wheel 355mm kit with ebrake option.

Despite all the enthusiasm on this thread, i doubt you'll sell more than a couple $5.5k brake kits. I can't see that many owners parting with that sort of $$ for brakes, regardless of all the "count me ins". 90% of the folks out there need a semi-economical, track-worthy front setup that they could match with their standard rear brakes, or upgrade to the 99 rear later.

95FD_VA

I would be interested in a front setup for 17" wheels and a rear upgrade kit designed to use the stock calipers and e-barake (new rotors, lines and pads) all sold in one package