Bigger brakes ?

[Melb-Mike]

My newly acquired MK4 has OK brakes but not great by any means. How much improvement can I get from going to the bigger Wllwood Rotor/caliper option ? Mine has manual brakes, pedal is firm, but hard braking seems impossible. I have Cragar chrome spoke 17" wheels. Any advice please?

[Gordon Levy]

My systems are far larger and work far better than the stock system you currently have. Please feel free to call me at 520-494-2745 and I would be happy to talk you about the different systems available and how to make them better.

[edwardb]

Going to bigger brakes i.e. Wilwood is an option. Not a cheap one though. Likely you could make a big difference with different pads. There are several options. Lots of guys are running these with stock brakes and are happy with the braking once they find the right pads. But also depends on what you're using the car for.

[Bob Cowan]

Installing Gordon's big Wilwood kit is probably one of the best things you could do for your car. Braking on the street will be effortless. On the track, you'll be able to out brake almost anything out there. Unless you have good tires, you'll have to be very careful not to lock them up. Call Gordon tomorrow, and get it done.

But, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. :)

[FFRSpec72]

These cars don't need much brakes, as I can out brake many cars on the track with the stock Cobra (twin piston, 13" front, single piston 11.5" rear), but if you can go with bigger brakes then get Gordon's BIG package

[Gordon Levy]

Tony, try a really big brake system sometime. You will have a OMG moment.

[FFRSpec72]

Tony, try a really big brake system sometime. You will have a OMG moment.

I will when I build my R coupe hopefully latter this year

[Duke]

Tony, try a really big brake system sometime. You will have a OMG moment.

This. Gordon knows braking.

[JIMOCO]

edwardb, you mentioned that there are lots of guys running stock brakes with better pads. I am running stock brakes (FFR Mk4 complete kit - 11" front, 11.65 rear). I am not happy with them but do not want to invest in an new system at this time. Do you or does anyone have recommendations regarding the best pads to choose?

[2FAST4U]

http://hawkbrakesdirect.com/m-24-hawk-performance.aspx?FilterCategoryID=63&FilterCategorySEName=brake-pads&gclid=CLLWsqbUxNICFQx6fgodtqoMYA&

[edwardb]

edwardb, you mentioned that there are lots of guys running stock brakes with better pads. I am running stock brakes (FFR Mk4 complete kit - 11" front, 11.65 rear). I am not happy with them but do not want to invest in an new system at this time. Do you or does anyone have recommendations regarding the best pads to choose?

Unfortunately, my response was based on forum posts not personal experience. So I can't give any personal recommendations. But here are some threads where various pads and options were discussed:

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/350506-brake-pads.html

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/265041-hawk-brake-pads.html

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/289419-aftermarket-brake-pads-what-people-using.html

There are many more threads, but most with similar info. HTH.

[Mesa Mike]

my advice is to drive several thousand miles with your current brakes and then you will realize, "bigger is better".

[Railroad]

On the edge of the friction material there are 2 alpha characters in ink. They are double characters, like EE , GG or FF.
The deeper into the alphabet the higher initial coefficient of friction. So FF would be a better stopping pad than EE. If you can go to the parts store and compare these letters, you may get some improvement. Naturally, you need to know what pads you have now. We have a clutch and brake friction shop nearby, which can reline most. If you have something like that, they may be able to provide some insight to the best brake material. Performance pads, usually operate best under hot conditions and not normal stopping, not something you encounter on the street, normally.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

I am running HAWK HP+ pads & am very happy with them. Started with the FFR 11.65 rotors & the kits standard pads which IMHO scared the c**p out of me. Moved to HAWK HP's & found a big improvement in stopping distance & pedal effort (Manual Brakes). Went to the HP+ as an experiment for Auto-X I am very pleased using them as a DD pad. Stopping is very positive with excellent feel.

So far about 500 miles & the pads have exhibited no bad habits. IIRC their working range is 100*F to 800*F. Overall the car has near 7,000 miles on it mostly with the HAWK

[Jacob McCrea]

A company out of California called Fully Torqued Racing makes some nice adapter kits to put 2007-12 GT500 front Brembo calipers and the 14" rotors on SN95 (and FFR) spindles. They also have a kit for adapting some other 14" Mustang factory front setup, which I think has 2-piston calipers, to that spindle. The downside is that wheel choice becomes extremely limited with the Brembo calipers due to the lack of offset in the rotor, which requires 18" or 19" wheels with a ton of spoke clearance, and also due to the specific backspacing/offset required. I can't speak to the other kit (14", 2-piston calipers). You might be better off just buying big brakes which fit your existing wheels.

[Melb-Mike]

On the track I've run Carbotech pads on both my Z06 and Lotus. I didn't notice anyone responding to my thread saying they used them. I've used Hawk pads before, good but dusty.

[Gordon Levy]

carbotech tend to be a bit aggressive for street use. When cold the pad does not work well and tears up rotors.

[Melb-Mike]

Gordon, I'm going to call you tomorrow regarding the options for my car. Carbotech pads that I used on my Z06 were the XP-12 on the front and XP-8 on the rear for track use only, using DBA rotors. I'm not going to track the FFR MK4 but these stock brakes worry me. I would like to avoid adding a brake booster if possible. I would rather go to a bigger rotor, even at the sake of greater expense. I look forward to discussing this with you. You're in AZ, 3 hour difference so I'll call tomorrow afternoon.

[Gordon Levy]

2 hr difference and I will be in Orlando all next week.

[JIMOCO]

I greatly appreciate your thoughts on pad selection and references to the other forum.

Thanks
Jim

[GoDadGo]

1998 Cobra 13" rotors PBR

 CENTRIC 12061045(120.61045) Right Rotor
 CENTRIC 12061044(120.61044) Left Rotor
 RAYBESTOS FRC10603 Right Caliper with Bracket
 RAYBESTOS FRC10604 Left Caliper with Bracket

NOTE: I got this information from John George so I think he knows way more than yours truly about going fast and then stopping.

Steve

[Melb-Mike]

I called Gordon today to talk about the brakes. He recommended the 11" for my intended use for the front and the rears are standard for either the big or small brake systems. I ordered them from Gordon and will wait to get them. As to pads, Willwood supplies their own so I will use them as supplied. It's not cheap to upgrade but running into the back of another car isn't cheap either, or worse yet a tree or power pole.

Thank you to all of you who contributed advice and related your experience to me on this matter. I may know high performance cars but I am really green when it comes to these cars and what is available. Fortunately this forum has many contributors that take the guess work out of these issues.

[JIMOCO]

Good luck Mike. I will be interested in hearing your results.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Agree the HP+ pads are a lot more dusty than the HP ones.

[Melb-Mike]

Good luck Mike. I will be interested in hearing your results.

Gordon is shipping it out. I'll try to keep you posted on how well it worked out. Gordon was concerned with the type of master cylinder and if the pedal had been modified. After I provided the info, he was satisfied this would work.