Front Brake Upgrade

[Ponymedic]

Looking for opinions from the brain trust. Have non power complete kit brakes looking for an upgrade.No track days just some mildly agressive street driving. I would assume that I would need for 87-93 GT Mustang but someone please confirm. I have read alot about Hawk GPS but thoughts from the group?

[michael everson]

If its a Mark 4 is 1999 brakes not 87-93 You can actually buy Cobra 13 inch brakes from Rock Auto fairly cheap. I think less than $400. They ae even powder coated red. They do not have "Cobra" embossed on them.
Mike

[ggunter]

Mike, do you know what rear brakes Rock Auto has to replace the standard rear brake set up on a three link rear for a MKIV. Someone said they were 88 Tbird brakes. Not much to choose from there. I was hoping to get some Mustang replacements and powder coated red.

[Ponymedic]

Mike just looking for pads unless there is a real advantage to upgrade to the rock aut setup

[rich grsc]

What is your question?? Are you wanting to upgrade your brakes, or just find better pads? You need to look at the rear brakes, not JUST the fronts. These cars are rear weight biased, so they need more rear braking than say a Mustang,

[Ponymedic]

Rich looking to find better pads can do front and rear rear end out of a turbocoupe

[Gordon Levy]

Hawk XP or XP+, EBC green, Carbotech 8, Porterfield R4S will all help you stop better. Do all 4 corners.

[rich grsc]

I have Porterfields on the rear. I thought it was a big improvement

[NAZ]

Pads make a huge difference and are less expensive than the calipers and rotors most look at changing first. You want a pad compound that gives you lots of brake torque when cold. Many mistakenly look for some special high fade resistant racing compound only to find out they can't get enough heat into them to lock up the wheels no matter how hard they push the pedal. Then they start looking for a power brake option. High coefficient of friction at room temp is what you need for a street car (and for a drag racer) and even if you're a cone-head that likes to drive around empty parking lots on weekends knocking over cones, you're not going to heat those racing pads enough to work properly.

I use Hawk DTC-50 compound pads on my race car and they will lock the wheels when cold and stop my car from 150 MPH with no hint of fade. They have high torque when cold and an aggressive but controlled initial bite without feeling grabby but they are not the quietest pads and they leave a lot of dust and are easy on the rotors.