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Looks interesting - any take on quality/performance?
The Brembo looks interesting too but I can't find anything on whether they need spacers or what not with stock wheels or any reviews.
My understanding is the Brembo kit doesn't fit stock wheels, you can pull a template from their site. The Brembo kit I saw was 360mm rotors just like this kit.
Some of the things I like about this one.
360mm rotors fit under 18" wheels for the track
Stainless pistons w/no rubber gaskets to melt
You can buy the Thermolock pistons for further heat rejection
Great feedback on the Spec 37 rotor
The value a front and rear kit can be had for less than any other kit out there.
Consumables are also very affordable. Pads are like $200.
My buddy has these same calipers on his 1000hp C5Z, they work awesome, real neck breakers. Pads are pretty cheap, rotor rings are decently priced as well. Installation is very simple, would be no different on the C7... Pretty good upgrade for the money.
Really not a fan of all the 0.029" "spacing" washers being used to align the rotor into the middle of the caliper or of the "registration adapters" on the hubs to fit the hats over. Seems like a very poor excuse for a properly fitted brake kit. Please make the brackets fit without any spacing washers and get rid of the hub adapters and size the holes in the hats appropriately. It's not like the OEM brake kit uses washers or hub ring adapters. Oh, and the hats don't even come attached to the rotors!
Really not a fan of all the 0.029" "spacing" washers being used to align the rotor into the middle of the caliper or of the "registration adapters" on the hubs to fit the hats over. Seems like a very poor excuse for a properly fitted brake kit. Please make the brackets fit without any spacing washers and get rid of the hub adapters and size the holes in the hats appropriately. It's not like the OEM brake kit uses washers or hub ring adapters. Oh, and the hats don't even come attached to the rotors!
Not a serious effort.
I will argue that the washers are not always needed. Its a case by case basis from what I have seen with the wilwood kits. The spacers are supplied to compensate for factory machining tolerances on the cast knuckles in my opinion as well as save a little bit of money by having a radial mount that is used in more than one application. I have seen the same car need different amounts of shims on both sides to achieve the same measurement.
The radial mounts are solid and from a engineering stand point you loosing very little if any rigidity using .029" worth of shims as long as the bolts are properly torqued.
I agree that I do not care for the hub ring adapters, ive never seen that before, its not in the C5/6 kits....
I bet if you measure the factory calipers vs rotor center it will not be perfect. You could easily install the kit without the shims and probably be within the factory tolerance but I have yet to have a chance to measure that to verify it.
Are there some possible "corners cut" on this kit. I guess its possible. But also look where it is priced. If you want top notch, go spend the money on a set of Billet AP racing brakes... You get what you pay for, but I can say from first hand experience that these wilwoods have NO problem slowing a 1000whp C5Z down from 180+mph time and time again at Road America.
Last edited by breecher_7; 01-14-2015 at 09:34 AM.
is there a measured weight difference between these and stock brakes?
The article says the calipers weigh 4lbs less than the front stock.
I am sure there are better kits out there but you get a lot of bang for your buck on these. You can even upsize the rotors to 15" if the 14.25's aren't enough.
They are forged calipers with a fixed bridge and stainless pistons, Maybe their engineering isn't as perfect as AP, but they share a lot of similarities.
I also have spoken to SCCA racers who say the Spec 37 rotor is the real deal.
The article says the calipers weigh 4lbs less than the front stock.
I am sure there are better kits out there but you get a lot of bang for your buck on these. You can even upsize the rotors to 15" if the 14.25's aren't enough.
They are forged calipers with a fixed bridge and stainless pistons, Maybe their engineering isn't as perfect as AP, but they share a lot of similarities.
I also have spoken to SCCA racers who say the Spec 37 rotor is the real deal.
The Fixed bridge is the newest design. When I spoke with the Wilwood guys at LS Fest last year they were pretty new and were the replacements for the long running W6A caliper. They said they went to the fixed bridge because there was some complaints of the W6A design being less ridged. Personally, I prefer the W6A design as ive never seen any signs of the caliper being less ridged and it was nice that you could replace the pads without removing the calipers. Just pull two pins and they slid right out.
Really not a fan of all the 0.029" "spacing" washers being used to align the rotor into the middle of the caliper or of the "registration adapters" on the hubs to fit the hats over. Seems like a very poor excuse for a properly fitted brake kit. Please make the brackets fit without any spacing washers and get rid of the hub adapters and size the holes in the hats appropriately. It's not like the OEM brake kit uses washers or hub ring adapters. Oh, and the hats don't even come attached to the rotors!
Not a serious effort.
There are a lot of SCCA racers who use them and swear by them. I have spoken to a few. I agree the hub adapter is definitely not a good design but it is what it is.
The article says the calipers weigh 4lbs less than the front stock.
I am sure there are better kits out there but you get a lot of bang for your buck on these. You can even upsize the rotors to 15" if the 14.25's aren't enough.
They are forged calipers with a fixed bridge and stainless pistons, Maybe their engineering isn't as perfect as AP, but they share a lot of similarities.
I also have spoken to SCCA racers who say the Spec 37 rotor is the real deal.
Wilwood is a big name in drag racing, which is what I grew up with. I have no issue with them. Of course a road racing application needs to be more robust than drag but I don't see why they couldn't do it.
The tag line that you get what you pay for is one of the biggest myths there is.
People who follow that philosophy often get far less than what they paid for.
When you purchase an aftermarket brake kit you are looking to increase the braking capability of the vehicle with a reliable/durable product. The Wilwood kits give you that with some great looking calipers (added benefit) at great prices.
Yes, you can buy higher priced supposedly better engineered products but do they truly perform any better or last any longer???? Do StopTech, AP or Brembo brake pads stop the car any better at any price? Probably not. Do StopTech, AP or Brembo rotors last any longer???? Probably not. Do StopTech, AP or Brembo calipers hold up any better??? Probably not. So what is it that you are getting for the extra money????
A name??? Probably not since Wilwood is a recognized high performance brake supplier.
Some people are worried about the hub registration ring but that allows Wilwood to provide a rotor hat that can be used on multiple vehicles thus reducing the production cost of the hats. The registration ring is probably far less costly than a specifically designed hat and that cost difference shows up in the price of the products.
Remembering that quality is excellent when a product does the job it is designed to do with reliability/durability does it reduce the quality of the product?? Not in any way that I can see.
I know this isn't a C7, but this is the car I was mentioning earlier in the thread with the W6A/W4A calipers (generation before the current ones). Car has been flawless with them for 3 years. Fit and finish is great, I would recommend Wilwood to anyone.
01-10-2015, 08:07 AM
Wilwood has a new Front and Rear Brake Kit
