So, for those that have driven a brand new BMW, you know what I'm talking about. I'm looking for brakes that when you barely touch em, they stop. Car is a daily driver, so I know I'm looking for overkill. But I do miss that feeling. I love the look of the two piece rotors, but I'm not sure if that's the right path or not.


My car is 97 and is a daily driver with 150k on it. I don't drag race or track the car. Currently has 20" wheels with little rubber bands for tires. If anyone has suggestions for pads/rotors, please let me know.


Doing research, things change over the years. People have recommended different brands and such throughout the years. I was originally going to just get ac delco everything. Off rockauto it's $380 for everything.


OBVS looking for best bang for buck, even looking into used c6 parts. Let me know what ya'll think. Thanks!

 

If you want immediate feel, you're going to want to research brake fluid and master cylinders. The tire is the most important part of actual brake performance. Pads, calipers and rotors are more about longevity, ie, how many stops can you get out of them. Pads can alter feel though, depending on the compound and heat resistant qualities. Hard to explain over the internet though. You'll get a million different answers.


What sort of tires do you have?

 

None of BMW's OE brake pad suppliers (ATE, Pagid, Textar, Jurid) make street pads for the C5 (Pagid makes race pads for C5 front calipers). What you're looking for is something with high initial torque/"bite" (i.e. a more aggressive pad). Hawk HPS is popular, although I run Akebono pads on the street (I used their Euro Ceramic pads on my BMWs, and they were awesome - same feel as OE but without the horrendous dust). Your rotors won't affect brake feel that much, they mainly affect fade resistance (not as important on a street car). The hydraulic system can be a big factor, too. Installing stainless lines and flushing the system with new fluid helped my car a lot.

 

I think getting stainless brake lines would also help.

 

From a brake pad/rotor/tire combination, you probably have the same capability as a BMW. The difference will be in the amount of boost the power brake assist provides to the system as a function of your foot pressure. American autos just perform differently. I don't know of a way to change this as there is no setting I know of of to change it.

there may be some brake pads that will give you more "bite", but at the cost of more dust and wear. I expect the brake pad sales force to be calling soon to this post. They will have plenty of ideas on how to spend more money on your brake system. At the end you will still have the same foot pressure.

nothing beats the brake performance of a set of the pads appropriate for your driving needs, and a well bedded rotor. However the foot pressure will not be affected but marginally for the stopping power.

 

I have hankook evo2 tires. They aren't very good. They aren't great, but they aren't good. They've been decent. These are the only low pro tires I could get to fit on the car with the 20's. Yes, I have 20's on the car. If I could get this wheel style in 18's and 19's I would.


Tire size:
245/30zr20
285/30zr20


A forum vendor recommended these:
http://www.knsbrakes.com/c/car-serie...5.0+Brake+Pads

 

hps 5.0 pads will do what you want. maybe even try hp plus, although i have no experience with those.

 

I use these on the track and love them for their stopping power.
https://www.powerstop.com/product/track-day-brake-kit/

Pros - will rip your face off when heated up

Cons - very dusty and squeal.

 

Pads:

Carbotech™ Bobcat 1521™ The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known for its awesome release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. Like our AX™ & XP™ line of compounds, Bobcat 1521™ is a Ceramic based friction material offering minimal rotor damage and non-corrosive dust. Bobcat 1521™ offers outstanding performance, even when cold, low dusting and low noise with an excellent initial bite. This compound’s virtually perfect linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Bobcat 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 900°F. Bobcat 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle, police cruiser. The Bobcat 1521™ compound has been found to last two-three times longer than OE pads you can purchase at a dealership or national retailer. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use.

Rotors just get some Centric premium rotors.

 

I think he means the feel of the pedal...

I had many cars where I've upgraded pads and rotors, lines, but our vettes suck in feel.. the pedal feels so dead.... flaky...floaty...

I've had the calipers seals/etc... all rebuilt, new pads, new rotors, new fluids, ss lines and it still feels like junk in terms of response, solidness and feel.

I guess it comes down the MBC and booster... I don't think many vette owners care...

I run HP+ pads and compared to my other cars where I ran HP+ pads... they don't feel the same and that sucks...

 

adam, what is the friction on those. would you have a graph?

 

There is no graph. Peak friction coefficient .47

 

did you loose the graph? 0.47 is pretty low.

 

No Carbotech does not produce a graph.

Here is there post from years ago.


Originally Posted by ZR1 MK View Post

Carbotech
Why dont you and other brake pad manufactures publish their friction graphs like Wilwood?

Ive been using PF 01 pads front and rear for many years. What Carbotech product would have similar characteristics?

Seems most use a milder pad in the rear. I average 130 degree less in the rear, but Im happy with the same pads all around. Your thoughts.


Because there is no set standard for testing CoF. You can set the test up to show the kind of numbers you want to see. There are too many variables. This is exactly why a lot of companies have gone away from having those graphs.

 

In stock form the C5 brakes are very good for a street car. Back in the day Car and Driver ran a few 0 to 150 to 0 performance tests and C5s did very well in those due to their power and braking. Just don't try to do more than 2 or 3 150 to 0 stops in quick succession with the stock brakes as they will over heat.

Grabbier brakes don't mean the car will stop any quicker. They just require less pedal pressure on initial brake application. That is something that can be different from car to car even within the same brand/model depending on which brake pads are used.

If the brakes are capable of locking all 4 wheels (within what ABS permits) then you have plenty of brake capacity for the street and stop and go traffic.

Bill

 

Does BMW use fixed mount calipers? If yes, then a C6Z setup with fixed mount calipers might help your feel. But, a different master setup is likely to give the most difference.

 

the best your ever going to get,is clean/replace pads,and flush fluids,and make sure everything is fresh and all pads and calipers slide evenly,

 

I did a MovIt Brembo front big brake kit on my last C5 FRC, and my current Z06 has a Stillen AP kit front and rear. My college roommate has a FRC with an Essex AP kit which uses stock size rotors. It is amazing how much a big brake kit improves brake feel.


A high torque pad with good fluid, and stainless lines is much less expensive starting point.

 

what about that essex kit. how much better that stock is it? front only?

 

He has a front kit designed for stock dimension rotors. He is currently running their J hook rotors and track oriented pad. The beauty of the kit for the weekend HPDE guys/AutoXers is you can swap to an OEM rotor and less agressive pads for street driving which still provides better pedal feel and stopping than stock. Essex has multiple versions stock 13" or larger 14" rotors with matching larger rears. It is a very nice upgrade.

If you are going for track time I would very much look at the Essex kits. If it is a street car I may look at a C6 Z06 upgrade if you're wheels will clear them. The LG Gstop maybe another option which again allows for stock 13" rotors. I think the AP caliper in the Essex kit would be more rigid than the Wilwood in the LG kit but I maybe wrong and on the street I doubt you would notice.

The Autocross section has had some good brake discussions, I would read up on there.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-or-f14-s.html

When buying a BBK look at prices and availability of consumables (rotors/pads) and what your goals for the upgrade are. The LG Gstop and Essex sprint kit are as close to my old MovIt kit (12.8" rotor 4 piston Brembo "big reds") as you can get, which was a major improvement. I was running a standard street replacement pad for a Porsche 993TT.

MovIt is in Germany which maybe convenient for you.