noah419

did anyone that swapped motors upgrade the master cylinder? change it out for a GM one? is it neccessary to upgrade the MC unless you are doing a big brake kit?

Sizzlenut

I can't see why swapping an LS1 in would require you to change the brake master. No you don't have to touch it. If you mean the clutch master, then yes you need a replacement. Booster, stock.

Merc63

Unless you've started with a n SE or a base/GTU that has the solid rear discs and single piston front calipers, the only "upgrade" the FC's need to have stellar brakes is better pads. The vented 4 wheled discs and aluminum 4 piston front calipers of the sports, turbos, etc, are already more than adequate to stop the car repeatedly from speed.

owen is fat

yeah those 4-piston aluminum calipers over 11" rotors in front and with 10" vented rotors out back is the kind of setup that Honda guys would pay $1500+ for!!!! and its on most FCs from the factory!

I know, I used to be a Honda guy with big brakes, doh!
and hot damn these 5-lug FCs can BRAKE! wow!

I hooked my LS1 vacuum line up to the FC booster line using the GM checkvalve too, it was a piece of cake.

shm21284

The stock brakes aren't that great. Sure, they're better than Hondas, but look at Camaros, Mustangs, and Corvettes. Where I work, 15 + inch slotted rotors are on pretty much all the Mustangs and Vettes. I am looking into building a 14" brake upgrade using Supra rotors and 300zx brake calipers. I have to design a bracket and then fab it, looking to happen over the winter.

Black91n/a

Unless you're massively overheating your brakes and having huge fade issues on track bigger brakes aren't necessary.

I guarantee you that with good pads and rotors in good condition there's plenty of stopping power, even when really sticky tires are used. Maybe you'll need more stopping power if 12" wide slicks are used or something like that, but otherwise the brakes are fine.

The ONLY benefits of bigger rotors is fade resistance and increased stopping power provided the tires can provide more grip (most of the time they can't). If you can lock up the brakes, and aren't getting fade, then the brakes are more than good enough. 15" rotors are absurd, they're massively heavy, which means that massively heavy and massively large wheels (19"+) are needed, which means that larger diameter, heavier tires are needed, all of which slow the car down and make it handle worse from the increase in unsprung and rotating mass, and it also will force the car to be raised by the larger tires.

Even 13" rotors are hard to justify even. Stock Mk IV Supra rotors are ~12.9" IIRC, they're not 14", unless you're talking about an aftermarket kit. I beleive 300ZX rotors are somewhere aroung 12", so it's unlikely they'll work well on a 14" rotor.

Big rotors are mostly for bling, just because all the Corvettes and Mustangs where you work have upgraded brakes doesn't make it a good idea, and it doesn't mean that it's a performance advantage. Most of the time when big brake kits are run, the stopping distances increase, their purpose is to resist fade better. 99% of the time the OEM brakes yield the shortest stopping distances.

gnx7

iTrader: (10)

Most cars under 3,000lbs don't need larger than 13" rotors with good calipers. ie AP racing, Stoptech etc.

Remember that most aftermarket big brake systems typically cost more than what people paid for their FC's. Stoptech doesn't offer one for the FC....

Corksport does based off of AP calipers $2850: http://corksport.com/store/category/...rx-Brakes.html

noah419

before my rotary (91 N/A) crapped out on me i went through the trouble of ordering vented drilled rotors. after trying to put them on, i realized the rotors were thicker than the calipers would allow room for so i ordered a new front pair for the vented discs to fit on. for the life of me though i cant remember if the new calipers were 2 or 4 piston. im heading down to the shop today to see how my car is doing, i will look to see what i got. assuming they are 4 piston i guess i should be all set. for what its worth here is the set i was looking at getting...

http://horsepowerfreaks.com/price/Ma...Big_Brake_Kits

Black91n/a

FWIW, all the front rotors on the S5's are the same, no matter if it's a 1 piston or a 4 piston caliper car. The rear brakes are different, the 4 piston cars have vented rears, the 1 piston cars have non vented rears that are also smaller in diameter than the vented rotors. If the front rotors didn't fit then there's a problem (you did retract the piston right?).

There are no 2 piston calipers for the FC, it's either 1 or 4.

Nihilanthic

Id change your tires and then your brake pads before Id change the calipers and rotors.

Most people who get big brake kits are just blinging out and dont even realize theyre messing up their bias.

noah419

my bad ok so they were for sure single piston calipers. what im tryin to figure out then without my car being in front of me is wheather the calipers i got for the front are 4 piston since i upgraded from solid to vented rotors. can anyone tell me what the size of the stock front rotors are?

noah419

i have had my fc for over 2 years now and havent spent much time with it since my project began so my memory on the cars details are hazy. so i guess i asked this question to get a feel for what the car's braking capability is like when doing a swap and increasing horsepower. and right now i am just looking to get my car up to daily driver status so i wanted to have a clear idea of what the brakes could handle.

owen is fat

indeed!
but I machined some caliper adapter brackets out of aluminum so my friend could use Stoptechs from an Integra Type R application on his FC

http://homepage.mac.com/owen_the_soy...m/whammy01.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/owen_the_soy...m/whammy26.jpg

yeah 13" (maybe 14") vented rotors that are super thick and directionally veined and he cryo treated them but his car was purpose built for OneLapOfAmerica and Enduro use... its definitley overkill for a streetcar. and not cheap either! that setup is $2000 or so and it took me a few full days to design and machine the brackets.

I guess I'm used to my car at 2700 pounds with huge wide tires for excellent stopping power with factory 5 lug brakes.

maybe at 3000+ pounds for a fully optioned S5 T2 or something and you might want to look into larger rotors but even then you can space the stock calipers out over whatever 2-piece Wilwood rotors you can use... that a super simple solution.


ooooooo.... AP Racing.... /drool/

Black91n/a

Fronts are 10.9", vented rears are 10.7", solid rears are 10.3".

The stock brakes are very capable. They're plenty for most of the guys who drive on the track, even with Turbo power and weight. Only when LOTS of power and tires come into the equation do they start to be in need of upgrades.

Get the system working as best as it can, then, as the saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". So if it's up to the task at hand, then don't bother with upgrading it.

noah419

thanks for the advice everyone

Merc63

I'll repeat this once again...


http://www.teamscr.com/grmbrakes.htm

http://www.teamscr.com/rotors.htm