Brembo Brakes????????

[kingman]

HI

I was talking to a fellow vette owner of a 96 LT1 and he said that he was putting Brembo brakes on his vette because he needed the extra stopping power. He claims he takes his vette up past 100mph very often.

Question is this an expensive venture and are they that much better then Delco brakes.

Of course if l decided to keep my 96, l would play with the exhaust and the brakes.

Thanks

Alan

 

[jsinga]

Yes, it's expensive.

Brembo (they're on Porcshe, Ferarri ect) Wildwood, Alcon, Stoptech, Movit, Baer are all aftermarket highend brake companies. Doug Rippie, Lingenfelter, Mallet and all the other corvette tuners use their parts in kits. To upgrade calipers and rotors (not just drilled but 2 piece race rotors) are @ $2k. Plus your wheels more than likely won't fit over them.
The easiest brake upgrade is to move up to good pads and a bias spring. Then C5 parts, can be done with used parts and brackets for $500 or so. C5 brakes will put a thicker rotor and a little more pad on the car. Good for a little more than C4 stuff and the stock C5 rotors are under $30 each so people just use them up and chunk them.
If you have sawblades I hear they need a spacer to go over C5 calipers.

JS

 

[c4cruiser]

You 96 already has 13" rotors which should provide plenty of stopping power. Good high performance pads are a excellent way to increase your stopping power and these type of pads will work even after repetitive hard stops. Examples of good C4 pads are EBC Greenstuff, Hawk HPS, and Performance Friction "Z" pads.

Some performance pads may generate more brake dust so there will be more wheel cleaning to do, but for the extra stopping power you get, it's worth it.

I currently run the EBC (English Brake Corp.) Greenstuff pads on my 87 autocross car. I do a few track days each year with them and I have yet to see any problems. YOu can get these pads from the Tire Rack along with Hawk pads. The PF-Z pads are available from your local AutoZone parts store.

One other thing that you should do is a flush of the brake fluid and replace with a good grade of DOT4 fluid. I use the Ford Motorcraft High Performance fluid and it works very well and I have yet to boil the fluid. Takes just under a quart for the system. Another mod would be stainless steel flexible caliper lines. Earl's or Goodridge lines work well and are actually cheaper than replacing the OEM lines. Add a set of Speed Bleeders to the calipers and you can bleed your brakes by your self in just a few minutes. I bleed my brakes before each event and after every track day.

I run stock rotors instead of high-dollar rotors. I usually use up a set every year and the replacement cost is cheap at the local parts store and they are easy to get. Stay away from the cheap drilled/slottet rotors if you intend to do track days or carve mountial roads. These cheap rotors are drilled after casting and the holes will cause cracks to appear around these holes and can lead to rotor failure (coming apart!).

 

[kingman]

Cheap Rotors??????

Hi C4Cruiser

When l picked up my C4 two years ago from a guy who ran out of money, l had a terrible rattle coming from the front.

All it was, was a set of pads without the clips that hold them in place. I changed the pads with Delco's ($300 installed) with the clips and the problem went away. I remember that the service advisor, a past member of my Corvette Club told me that l had cross drilled rotors and that they were fine for now.

That makes me think, are they cheap ones, which l'm sure of now. But as long as they work l'll keep them.

Last year l only drove it a couple of thousand miles and since l picked it up l think l only drove it 3200 miles. The only time l have to really drive it is on the weekends. But l make sure it is driven once a week.

Thanks

Alan

 

[JPS]

I just love Brembo's. They are simply the very best. If you do some extreme driving these are essential! If, like myself, you take it a little bit easier than soft pads and a stainless steel brake hose can prove very effective and not very expensive!