FD New Brake Options
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 30,793
Likes: 646
From: FL-->NJ/NYC again!
Good info, thanks for sharing 
Keep it comin' 
Keep it comin' It’s still a early, but here is my initial impressions:
I installed my kit 1.5 weeks ago with the ET700 pads in the front w/o shims and used hawk HP+ pads in the rear. To date, I’ve put on about 200 street miles and 1.5hrs of track time.
A little background for the basis of my opinions:
With the stock brakes I ran HP+ all around for street/autoX. I consider them a great pads in terms of torque and feel…if you can tolerate the dust and squealing. Woefully inadequate for track duty. About one hot lap and they are toast. For the track I ran N-Tech competition pads. They are a bit high in torque and wear for my liking, but they were more consistent and withstood higher temps then anything else I tried.
The ET700 were really green out of the box. It took two hard cycles for them to start biting. After bed-in they the RB setup feels pretty much like stock on the street. The ET700 feels like has a little less bite then the HP+. I haven’t noticed any dust with street use nor have I heard a squeak out of them.
It was raining on my track day, so I didn’t get the opportunity to push the car/brakes to the limit. There was no interference between the stock upright and the rotor after clearancing as described in this post: https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=891
Even after two bed-in cycles the ET700’s felt a little green the first session, but improved there after. The roads were damp when I performed the bed-in, so perhaps I didn’t get them up to full temp.
In subsequent sessions, the first hot lap felt the best and I had to adjust braking to account for fade by the 4-5th lap. The pads hung on from there and didn't get any worse. They would have steadily gone away at full tilt on a dry track. Front to rear bias is difficult to judge with the wet track, but it felt good.
The pads are currently .62" & .63" thick vs. .65 new, so the wear is looking good with only .01 taper. There is still faint crosshatching on the front rotors, so the pads are defiantly rotor friendly. I had expected them to be a more aggressive, but all in all, I think they are a pretty good aggressive street, autoX, or even novice track pad. I’ll be trying out the ET800’s shortly.
Aoc, have you fed this info back to RB? I’ve put mine though as much hell as I can condense into 10 days and haven’t seen the issues you describe. RB has been extremely responsive to the feedback I've given so far.
I installed my kit 1.5 weeks ago with the ET700 pads in the front w/o shims and used hawk HP+ pads in the rear. To date, I’ve put on about 200 street miles and 1.5hrs of track time.
A little background for the basis of my opinions:
With the stock brakes I ran HP+ all around for street/autoX. I consider them a great pads in terms of torque and feel…if you can tolerate the dust and squealing. Woefully inadequate for track duty. About one hot lap and they are toast. For the track I ran N-Tech competition pads. They are a bit high in torque and wear for my liking, but they were more consistent and withstood higher temps then anything else I tried.
The ET700 were really green out of the box. It took two hard cycles for them to start biting. After bed-in they the RB setup feels pretty much like stock on the street. The ET700 feels like has a little less bite then the HP+. I haven’t noticed any dust with street use nor have I heard a squeak out of them.
It was raining on my track day, so I didn’t get the opportunity to push the car/brakes to the limit. There was no interference between the stock upright and the rotor after clearancing as described in this post: https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=891
Even after two bed-in cycles the ET700’s felt a little green the first session, but improved there after. The roads were damp when I performed the bed-in, so perhaps I didn’t get them up to full temp.
In subsequent sessions, the first hot lap felt the best and I had to adjust braking to account for fade by the 4-5th lap. The pads hung on from there and didn't get any worse. They would have steadily gone away at full tilt on a dry track. Front to rear bias is difficult to judge with the wet track, but it felt good.
The pads are currently .62" & .63" thick vs. .65 new, so the wear is looking good with only .01 taper. There is still faint crosshatching on the front rotors, so the pads are defiantly rotor friendly. I had expected them to be a more aggressive, but all in all, I think they are a pretty good aggressive street, autoX, or even novice track pad. I’ll be trying out the ET800’s shortly.
Aoc, have you fed this info back to RB? I’ve put mine though as much hell as I can condense into 10 days and haven’t seen the issues you describe. RB has been extremely responsive to the feedback I've given so far.
Full Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 241
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From: Out playing pseudo racer
Even under light braking coming up to a stop sign you get no squeaking? I think I recall mine not squeaking at first and then starting to, please keep reporting back as I will get rid of these pads if there's no way to stop the squeaking or break them in better, I've been doing full braking on the freeway from 150-60 and havn't noticed a change yet. Also which type of rotors do you have?
Hopefully I'll get around to calling RB tomorrow but I fell off my motorcycle a week ago and broke my collar bone and havn't felt like doing much since then...
-Andy
Hopefully I'll get around to calling RB tomorrow but I fell off my motorcycle a week ago and broke my collar bone and havn't felt like doing much since then...
-Andy
Did you folllow the bed-in procedure? How many times? It felt like they wanted an agressive bed-in to really start working... as in doused campfires coming out of the front wheels.
I have the standard slotted rotors.
Ok so maybe my cracking is an issue with the open slot rotors as it seems to be located around them. And with regards to bed in I told my mechanic I would do it following RBs directions but he went ahead and did it himself, could this have messed them up? Since then I have done some very heavy braking.
You shouldn't see cracking like that, even with drilled rotors, without HARD track use with track brake pads. As is the case for evaluating the rest of the system "hard" braking on the street simply can't replicate track use for the purpose of track worthiness.
Ok so maybe my cracking is an issue with the open slot rotors as it seems to be located around them. And with regards to bed in I told my mechanic I would do it following RBs directions but he went ahead and did it himself, could this have messed them up? Since then I have done some very heavy braking.
I was using Hawk HT-10's.
I should have asked this earlier and YOUR mechanic should have tested for it after it occured: was "run out" tested with a dial indicator? That is one of the first things I test when one of my customer-friends have similar brake problems.
I do not know what this is so it was not tested heh. I will see about having it done. However it does not seem to be doing this any longer...
Run out means that the rotor face does not rotate perfectly perpendicular to the axle. This causes a slight in and out wobble. If it is bad, it will be noticeable as brake pedal pulsing. If minor, your foot might not notice it but it puts extra stress on the brake system.
Now I know why you have a mechanic.
Run out means that the rotor face does not rotate perfectly perpendicular to the axle. This causes a slight in and out wobble. If it is bad, it will be noticeable as brake pedal pulsing. If minor, your foot might not notice it but it puts extra stress on the brake system.
Now I know why you have a mechanic.
Now I know why you have a mechanic.
On top of that I have over 40 years of auto, aeronautics, and other scientific interests.
You have a long ways to go!
Full Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 175
Likes: 1
From: CHandler, AZ
Hey, can one of you guys that have the kit installed please verify how it compares to the Stoptech with regards to clearance and such?
The Stocptech template is here: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wheel_fitment.shtml
Maybe print it out and see how much it sticks out compared to the installed RB kit.
I know Goodfella is curious about fitment of these with his Fikse's and so am I
The Stocptech template is here: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wheel_fitment.shtml
Maybe print it out and see how much it sticks out compared to the installed RB kit.
I know Goodfella is curious about fitment of these with his Fikse's and so am I
Full Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 241
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From: Out playing pseudo racer
I'm not sure how that would work? The Stoptech template is made to fit within the wheel.
The RB caliper sits further inboard then the stock caliper when measured from the A on the MAZDA insignia. But that's just a single reference point. The RB caliper extends radially over .5" further then the stock caliper. So even though it sits further inboard in the middle, there are plenty of opportunities for interference dependant on your wheel shape. It's not easy to profile the entire caliper.
I can measure a specific point if you need.
The RB caliper sits further inboard then the stock caliper when measured from the A on the MAZDA insignia. But that's just a single reference point. The RB caliper extends radially over .5" further then the stock caliper. So even though it sits further inboard in the middle, there are plenty of opportunities for interference dependant on your wheel shape. It's not easy to profile the entire caliper.
I can measure a specific point if you need.
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 30,793
Likes: 646
From: FL-->NJ/NYC again!
-ch
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 379
Likes: 0
From: Seoul, Korea
i called them and they said they mine would ship in about a month, but i was one of the last people to preorder. so its possible that people who preordered sooner will get them sooner
Full Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 175
Likes: 1
From: CHandler, AZ
Somebody
I need to get the overall dimensions of the front brake kit, I want to make sure these fit my 18" enkei rpf1's. The stoptech's fit. Can somebody please measure the nearest caliper location to the centerline and distance away from the outside of the rotor hat?
NM. I sent mine back for a color change, but then Steve mentioned something about moving the pad to better align with the caliper or something to that nature... So even though I opted to keep what I had, having sent them back for a color change I am currently wihtout. Of course, I have no car either, so I"m not really out anything to speak of....
My car has been on the lift for over 2 months now - brakeless. I got a reply from Steve last week saying they were to have an FD in the shop Fri. and will verify fitment of the new versions before shipping out.
I'd like to avoid having ten of us calling them all the time, but I'd also like to know what the ship date will be for the updated kit.
-ch
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 30,793
Likes: 646
From: FL-->NJ/NYC again!
The stoptechs won't fit with my Fikse FM5s, but based on what I've seen, the RB setup will (I'll find out soon enough).
This may have been covered, but what rear rotor is everyone ordering? I see on the Racing Brake site there are 3 options for the FD:
- Rear BBK 2pc Rotor, 322x20
- Rear 2pc, 294x20 (seems to be discontinued)
- Rear 1pc, 294x20
I assume that most people getting the front BBK with the 4pot caliper will be running the 2pc 332x32 rotor?
Sorry for the newbishness, search function doesn't want to help me out this morning.
-Charlie
- Rear BBK 2pc Rotor, 322x20
- Rear 2pc, 294x20 (seems to be discontinued)
- Rear 1pc, 294x20
I assume that most people getting the front BBK with the 4pot caliper will be running the 2pc 332x32 rotor?
Sorry for the newbishness, search function doesn't want to help me out this morning.
-Charlie
Update
I just spoke with Steve at RB. He said that the test-fitting on last Friday went well and that they are shooting for a shipping date around the 20th. The orders will ship out based on the original order of payments.
I'm excited; I still may get these in time for the Laguna date at the beginning of October!...
-ch
I just spoke with Steve at RB. He said that the test-fitting on last Friday went well and that they are shooting for a shipping date around the 20th. The orders will ship out based on the original order of payments.
I'm excited; I still may get these in time for the Laguna date at the beginning of October!...
-ch
Full Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 59
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From: nj
We just finished up our fitment test last Friday (9/7/07) and today we are shipping out all the backorders and the caliper color change who elect to go with the mounting tab modification.
We have also approved the revised brake kit that does not require this tab modification and we expect to have the needed parts made and this kit shipped by the end of this month.
Again we apologize for the delay and inconvenience caused by this fitment issue and hope that this will be a valuable brake upgrade for your RX7.
We have also approved the revised brake kit that does not require this tab modification and we expect to have the needed parts made and this kit shipped by the end of this month.
Again we apologize for the delay and inconvenience caused by this fitment issue and hope that this will be a valuable brake upgrade for your RX7.