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Been researching brake kits and still uncertain about which ones.
1996 C4, Hoosier R7's, HDPE, about 3 weekends a month when possible.
I read in this forum that the reduced cost of pads would help cover and/or pay for the
cost of the upgrade over time. Im not sure how. Do the pads last longer on some of the kits?
I love my carbotech pads and they are cheapest for my J55 C4.
I looked at Baer, Wilwood and Stock. The pads cost more not less.
Wilwood does not make a rear kit for the C4.
I am leaning toward the Baer for this reason. I like the looks.
Does stoptech make a rear kit?
It sounded like guys are moving the front to the rear. Not ideal for looks but if it works.
Can anyone guess how much more life you get from the pads with one kit or the other?
Im thinking I should get the kit with the best cost per year for pads. That means I have
to account for life span not just purchase price.
I hear very little about Baer kits is there a reason more people do not use them?
Is there another brand I should look at?
I would love to figure out a way to know how much performance I would gain. Brakes are so hard to compare.
Its not like a cam or exhaust where you know you gain this much power. A big brake kit is more then most C4
cost. I would hate to not see a large improvement.
I see a lot of people use C5 calipers. Why... C5 guys are using C6 calipers cause the C5 are not very good.
I have a C5 and don't care for the calipers. Seems if you can use a C5 you would just use the C6 calipers.
C3 guys get C4, C4 get C5, C5 get C6 and next C6 will be using C7. We need to create a trade down system.
everyone chips in to buy a big brake kit for the newest car then everyone passes the calipers down a generation.
Sorry for all the questions. I have been reading posts about brakes for a few weeks and
I just come up with more questions. Thanks for reading.
My future plan (after winning the lottery, or getting kids out daycare) is to go to the AP stuff, after riding in a Z06 that upgraded to the AP brakes, wow, suck your eyeballs out. http://dougrippie.com/products/ap-ra...brake-package/
Also I talked to a guy that took his front J55 setup and moved it to the rear of his C4 as an upgrade there, not sure where to get the brackets, but that means only having to buy a front kit. And you get a kit for a C5, and just get the adapter brackets to go from C4 to C5.
hmm... how do you know the adapter for stock C5 calipers will work for an after market kit?
Seems like if Im spending $4k to $6k on brakes I should get ones that are made for my car.
If its as easy as changing a bracket why don't the manufacture include the bracket?
$900 C6 Z06 for calipers, $200 for bracket and I have baer 13" 2 piece rotors.
That sounds like a great way to go and just forget the kit. Also already have the metal lines.
1996 C4, Hoosier R7's, HDPE, about 3 weekends a month when possible.
I read in this forum that the reduced cost of pads would help cover and/or pay for the
cost of the upgrade over time. Im not sure how. Do the pads last longer on some of the kits?
I love my carbotech pads and they are cheapest for my J55 C4.
I looked at Baer, Wilwood and Stock. The pads cost more not less.
Wilwood does not make a rear kit for the C4.
I am leaning toward the Baer for this reason. I like the looks.
Does stoptech make a rear kit?
It sounded like guys are moving the front to the rear. Not ideal for looks but if it works.
Can anyone guess how much more life you get from the pads with one kit or the other?
Im thinking I should get the kit with the best cost per year for pads. That means I have
to account for life span not just purchase price.
I hear very little about Baer kits is there a reason more people do not use them?
Is there another brand I should look at?
I would love to figure out a way to know how much performance I would gain. Brakes are so hard to compare.
Its not like a cam or exhaust where you know you gain this much power. A big brake kit is more then most C4
cost. I would hate to not see a large improvement.
I see a lot of people use C5 calipers. Why... C5 guys are using C6 calipers cause the C5 are not very good.
I have a C5 and don't care for the calipers. Seems if you can use a C5 you would just use the C6 calipers.
C3 guys get C4, C4 get C5, C5 get C6 and next C6 will be using C7. We need to create a trade down system.
everyone chips in to buy a big brake kit for the newest car then everyone passes the calipers down a generation.
Sorry for all the questions. I have been reading posts about brakes for a few weeks and
I just come up with more questions. Thanks for reading.
I don't know about the others but the reduced cost of Wilwood Pads along with some of their thicker pads such as the 7420 means you can get more track days out of them at sometimes a 50% lower cost than stock track pads. I don't know the price of C4 track pads but typically you can get a 7420 or the 6620 with the H compound for around $200. I do know I could get 10 track days out of a 7420 pad with the use of spacers and flipping the pads to counteract longitudinal taper.
The problem with a rear kit on your car is the parking brake mechanism. Other than I see a Baer system that is supposed to work with 84-96 parking brake I don't know of anybody who makes a rear brake that will work with that mechanism. There are rear brake kits that fit the 84-87 cars but they require changing the 88-96 C4 parking brake back to the 84-97 parking brake. That gets pretty involved since more than the parking brake needs to change. If you decide to go Baer make sure they really do work with your rear parking brake before purchasing. Just because the add says they do doesn't mean they do. Your rear brakes use the GM caliper to apply the disk brake while the early cars had a parking brake shoe/drum inside the rotor.
If you decide to forego a parking brake then one of those might fit but you should be ready to do a lot of custom fitting.
People use C5 brakes because the calipers are better than the heavy duty calipers on your car. The C6 floating calipers are better than the C5 ones. However, the C6 Z calipers aren't worth your time and effort let alone the cost.
hmm... how do you know the adapter for stock C5 calipers will work for an after market kit?
.
I don't, I was only trying to answer your original question "Are there other brands I should look at". Isn't it worth a call to Essex or DRM to ask them what they think?
The reason they don't have a C4 specific kit is R&D Dollars. How many guys running C4s are willing to put brakes on their car that are worth 50-100% of the cars value? Not many, but there are TONS of c5/C6 guys that are looking for upgrades, thus they get the R&D $s.
If its not worth the phone call to you to ask the question that's fine with me. My guess of what they will say is "we cannot suggest the use of adapters we have not properly tested" but that doesn't mean it doesn't work.
1996 C4, Hoosier R7's, HDPE, about 3 weekends a month when possible.
I read in this forum that the reduced cost of pads would help cover and/or pay for the
cost of the upgrade over time. Im not sure how. Do the pads last longer on some of the kits?
I love my carbotech pads and they are cheapest for my J55 C4.
I looked at Baer, Wilwood and Stock. The pads cost more not less.
Wilwood does not make a rear kit for the C4.
I am leaning toward the Baer for this reason. I like the looks.
Does stoptech make a rear kit?
It sounded like guys are moving the front to the rear. Not ideal for looks but if it works.
Can anyone guess how much more life you get from the pads with one kit or the other?
Im thinking I should get the kit with the best cost per year for pads. That means I have
to account for life span not just purchase price.
I hear very little about Baer kits is there a reason more people do not use them?
Is there another brand I should look at?
I would love to figure out a way to know how much performance I would gain. Brakes are so hard to compare.
Its not like a cam or exhaust where you know you gain this much power. A big brake kit is more then most C4
cost. I would hate to not see a large improvement.
I see a lot of people use C5 calipers. Why... C5 guys are using C6 calipers cause the C5 are not very good.
I have a C5 and don't care for the calipers. Seems if you can use a C5 you would just use the C6 calipers.
C3 guys get C4, C4 get C5, C5 get C6 and next C6 will be using C7. We need to create a trade down system.
everyone chips in to buy a big brake kit for the newest car then everyone passes the calipers down a generation.
Sorry for all the questions. I have been reading posts about brakes for a few weeks and
I just come up with more questions. Thanks for reading.
pads in the 7416 or 720 shape will cost less than the factory plate shape - wilwood and ap both use this shape for some of their kits.
Big brake kits can lead to longer life but thats not always the case. increased pad area and larger rotors are the two big factors there
the biggest difference youre going to notice in brake upgrades is the pad choice - if youre really budget constrained, start with a pad upgrade
Do you have a decent fabricator in your contact list? I had a sweet Wilwood kit on the rear of mine using SL4 calipers and lighweight discs. The discs were less than $50 each. I'll find some pics.
I don’t think the OP was ONLY talking about increase in performance, but also the cost of consumables over time. The board is full of guys who have tried EVERYTHING to improve cost/performance on tracked Corvettes. A lot of knowledge to be gleaned here.
I agree --- the C5 and C6 slide caliper will stop the car well. I never ran out of brake, but I was ALWAYS fiddling with the brakes – if not the rotors, the pads, if not the pads the calipers themselves. Rebuilding the calipers was an annual job and it seemed that pads and rotors were only good for one (3 day) event before replacing. Add in the swapping of pads daily, etc… forget about it. Got tired of my buddies cracking beers and smoking cigars while watching me sweat my tired *** off at the end of a day. And all of this was after adding a quality duct kit, Castrol SRF, and KNS rotors. All of a sudden I was like every guy and gal before me; tried everything to avoid coughing up for a “real” brake kit made for “racing”.
For me the worst, and I mean the absolute worst aspect was the inconsistent soft pedal. Whether it was knock back regarding hubs, this, that -- every other brake zone felt like playing "Let's Make A Deal". I HATED wondering "where should I begin braking."
My advice is from my personal experience with the AP Racing Endurance kit. This kit solved every brake issue I ever had and changed my life at the track with the Corvette. The kit takes all the abuse you can throw its way and there is no change in how the pedal ever feels. The pads being thick seem to last for day after day after day… the floating rotors seem to show no wear. I used to carry lots of rotors in the trailer and at least 2 extra sets of pads… I now will use one set of rotors for more than one season and if I use two set of pads it’ll be a lot. No more soft, inconsistent pedal, no more looking at my rotors on a daily basis expecting cracks to the edge… no more wondering if I have enough pad for the weekend, day or session; no more jacking up the car at the end of the day having to deal with SOMETHING with the brakes. The AP kit fits perfectly, didn't have to the change the master, concern myself with shims (SHIMS! ) or fiddle with a bias valve - just installed the kit and said see ya.
Perfection.
Was 4k (including pads) worth it? Not even close. I got the way better end of the deal for sure. Now my days at the track are much more enjoyable and I have the confidence on track of not wondering what each braking zone is going to feel like on each and every lap.
If you are going to track a Corvette with decent power -- deal with what you have now, but wait, save up and then pony up when you can so you won't have to pour over thread after thread after thread that always leads to the same conclusion.
I'm a real nut about brake temps. I like to keep the rotors below 1,100 degrees. Some friends at GM suggested the following things on a C4.
I installed vents directly one the front calipers. They allow the hot air from the brakes to escape. I lowered the temps several hundred degrees with that modification.
The other modification was adding the little lip on the front of wheel opening. That creates a vacumn and pulls more heat out of the brake rotor.
I also drilled/machined out the caliper pistons. This allows air from the back of the brake pad to escape.
Do you have a decent fabricator in your contact list? I had a sweet Wilwood kit on the rear of mine using SL4 calipers and lighweight discs. The discs were less than $50 each. I'll find some pics.
Awesome work
If the OP wants to keep the parking brake and update to a rear C5/C6 setup:
The mounting ears on the spindle are the same for all C5/C6 OEM brakes.
I thought the C5 and C6 2 piston PBR calipers were the same other than the "Corvette" script cast into the caliper but I maybe wrong. The piston bore did change on the rear single piston caliper with the C6 Z51 caliper.
Interesting topic. I haven't tracked a stock brake setup but the guy I bought my C5 MovIt kit said rotors and pads lasted longer than the stock C5 setup. The kit used Brembo bigreds and Porsche 993 rotors (322mm) on custom hats.
Haven't done anything to my C4 but did upgrade my C5 for track. Things to consider: you already know about considering the pad replacement costs but whatever calipers you decide upon (don't just barely upgrade - go for a very good, one time upgrade!) you have to consider the pedal travel. More piston, greater volume does require more fluid from the M/C. Make sure you upgrade it too in order to fill the calipers without a very long travel.
PO check out this thread i cover brake kits in it. you do need to watch out because 90% of the kits available won't actually net you any advantage. and most (what i call) Junk yard big brake kits are just an exercise in burning money and time.
05-19-2016, 11:26 AM
Been researching brake kits and still uncertain about which ones.
) or fiddle with a bias valve - just installed the kit and said see ya. 
