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Should I get brembos?

3K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  FuelforFire87 
#1 ·
So I was considering getting brembos for my stang after she comes out of hibernation since I am supercharged. I know it seems like a no-brainer to get a big brake kit since I am making 550 rwhp but I've read some other threads on here about the stock brakes vs the brembos and it seems that the conclusion is that unless you are autocrossing the car (which I wont be), they are basically just for looks and won't really help you stop quicker. My car is 95% street driven with once or twice a year at the drag strip and that's about it. Currently I've taken the stock brake system to its limits by upgrading the pads, rotors, fluid and lines (stoptech slotted rotors, hawk hps pads, pentosin DOT4 LV, and Russel SS lines). The brakes feel better than they were stock, but I still feel like there could be room for improvement. I like the hawk hps pads but they need a little bit of warming up before they bite good. I could also probably go with a better brake fluid but the cap said DOT4 LV and pentosin was the only manufacturer I could find that made this. I'm guessing that running regular DOT4 with a higher boiling point would be better because the LV is for winter with lower temps and I don't drive my stang during the winter anyways so I could probably go to something like Motul or ATE with a higher boiling point.

Anyways, back to the original question, my only reasons currently for not upgrading are:

1) I have a base auto that came with a spare tire and would not be able to use it in the front because of the clearance with the brembos.

2) When my car is in storage I put the stock 18x8 rims back on which would not fit the brembos without running wheel spacers.

3) I actually had originally tried to upgrade to the brembo 4 piston kit from american muscle when I first installed my procharger but UPS kept damaging the calipers because of the poor packaging from ford racing. If I decide to buy this kit again I would probably go with the vorshlag kit or someone who ships Fedex because in my experience UPS is terrible when it comes to damaging packages.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
 
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#2 ·
Have you ever had a problem with the stock brakes? Mainly, have they overheated / faded on you? Or failed to stop the car for some reason?

That is really the only performance benefit to the stock brakes. They will take the heat from repeated stops better and are more resistant to fading.

What is the "room for improvement" that you are getting at? If it is that the pads don't bite well when cold -- that is because they are a semi-track oriented pad, which needs some heat in it before it bites best. In that case, regular street pads probably would be better. The main thing about track pads, is that they work better when hot; but the trade off is that they don't work as well when cold, as a street pad.

The higher boiling point of the fluid only matters if you are boiling the fluid currently -- which takes a few repeated aggressive stops to do. If you are not boiling your current fluid, then there really is no benefit to going with a higher boiling point.
 
#3 ·
Thanks Jbert, I guess I'm just thinking that having brembos will give me a more commanding feeling compared to the stock brakes. I know the 2 piston stock brakes are more than enough for street driving and the occasional drag strip show but I'm an engineer so I like to have my **** covered if you know what I mean. Tires is the most important part to stopping and I have nitto nt555's in the front so I'm not too worried. I want to upgrade to the nt555 gen 2 but my current tires still have too much tread on them to warrant the upgrade.
 
#4 ·
The brembos do offer a better feel than the stock stuff.

In my experience, hawk has pretty terrible pedal feel. You might just try a different pad first.
 
#5 ·
Upgraded brakes over stock only really make sense if you are doing repeated stops from fast speeds (like when autocrossing) where the brakes heat up and start to fade. Standard driving and a single fast stop won't make a big differences.

My car has the Brembo Pkg and they look cool, but for normal driving they don't add anything. If your going to track the car they might make sense.
 
#6 ·
Do it - no question, not only will you every once in a while, get aggressive on a back road and quickly discover that you have no stopping power and a really bad smell but also just as Csam states - the Brembo's are so much more competent that they provide way better feel than the stock GT brakes.
I actually set the right front on fire one afternoon in my '12 V6 perf pkg which had the stock GT brakes, I'm not talking a bit of smoke - I'm talking about actual flame licking up the rim and above the fender, and it really only took me about 3 minutes of hard driving through twisty, hilly countryside....


550hp blown 5.0? - yeah you want the Brembos......




Scott
 
#7 ·
I would do the brembo it cant hurt and it might save your life one day
 
#9 ·
If you apply full braking pressure on dry pavement (in ideal weather for your tires), can you engage ABS? If the answer is no, then Brembos will improve your braking ability. If the answer is yes and you don't road course your car, you need better tires to take advantage of a Brembo upgrade.

Despite what some people here are saying, the 4-piston Brembos will absolutely apply more braking force than stock. They do also hold up to heat much better, but that's a non issue for most people. I wouldn't go up to 6-piston unless you just want the looks of the huge rotor and caliper.
 
#10 ·
. . . Despite what some people here are saying, the 4-piston Brembos will absolutely apply more braking force than stock. . . . .
I wasn't really trying to say that; yes the larger diameter rotors and larger surface area pads will apply more braking torque.

But, like you said, it does not matter for one or two stops in a row -- as long as you can lock up the wheels, or activate the ABS, more braking torque is not going to make any difference. The main benefit is standing up to heat from repeated stops.

And yeah like csamsh said, they do have better braking feel for sure.

In summary -- yeah they are nice; but not sure they are worth the hassle of the other factors for the OP.
 
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#11 ·
I had Brembo's and then switched to six piston 15" StopTech's. It was mostly for looks, because I switched to 20 in. Forge Star's. Like most have said, if your not making repeated stops, or racing, pads, fluid, and tires are plenty. You can improve the feel more with some braided lines.

If it's somewhat for looks, make sure you paint them, and use some Brembo decals. (eBay)

 
#12 ·
...3) I actually had originally tried to upgrade to the brembo 4 piston kit from american muscle when I first installed my procharger but UPS kept damaging the calipers because of the poor packaging from ford racing. If I decide to buy this kit again I would probably go with the vorshlag kit or someone who ships Fedex because in my experience UPS is terrible when it comes to damaging packages...
We use FedEx, UPS and USPS depending on who makes the most sense, but, the important thing is that we don't drop ship these sorts of parts. We have them at our shop (usually in stock) and repackage and wrap them so they can be shipped safely. It sucks to open a package and find damaged or dinged up parts.

But your main question, should you upgrade, yes. You should. The change in modulation and brake feel alone is worth it. Longer life span of the rotors and pads is another. And should you decide to dip your toe into some more aggressive sports, you'll be prepared.
 
#13 ·
3) I actually had originally tried to upgrade to the brembo 4 piston kit from american muscle when I first installed my procharger but UPS kept damaging the calipers because of the poor packaging from ford racing. If I decide to buy this kit again I would probably go with the vorshlag kit or someone who ships Fedex because in my experience UPS is terrible when it comes to damaging packages.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I had the exact same thing happen to my kit in shipping.
The brembos are just in a cardboard box with no protection whatsoever. A new toaster gets packed 1000 times better than that.
LMR sent a replacement caliper so all was good.


I say go for it for your power level.
 
#14 ·
Cool, looks like I'll probably be getting brembo's then. I really want a more confident pedal feel along with better initial bite. I was looking at the Vorshlag kit with the carbotech pads and was wondering what pads I should get. Looks like the 1521 would be the most suitable since its designed mainly for street use. Should I change the rear pads too? currently running hawk HPS for both front and rear.
 
#15 ·
Personally, I would change the rear pads out to the exact same pad series or at least similar spec/compound as the fronts if you are on the street mostly. I have found that works good for me.

For those doing plenty of road racing it is not uncommon to have a different compound up front to battle over/understeer in aggressive braking and cornering situations.

Not to derail your thread, do you mind saying how you like the Lund tune?
 
#16 ·
Kind of a related question:
Can I upgrade my stock brakes with better rotors, pads, and stainless lines and achieve better braking, better feel, and less fade to the point I can lightly track my car or autocross it instead of upgrading to a Brembo package?
 
#19 ·
From my experience if you just put some higher temperature pads to reduce brake fade you should be fine. I have some on my 88 LX with stock brake components, yes drums on rear, and can run 20 minute sessions on road course with no problems. These pads not real good for street use cause they need some heat in them to work well. https://youtu.be/ldrDFD59NQU
 
#17 ·
I really like the Lund tune. I especially like how he tuned the trans since I'm an auto. Doesn't upshift as quickly as stock and the shifts are nice and firm. Any custom tune that requires datalogging is almost always going to be better than a canned tune IMO.

Back to my original question, does anyone know if vorshlag offers a forum discount or coupons?
 
#18 ·
You can, but, with how cheap the brembo upgrade is, if you're going to be doing any real track activities, it doesn't make sense not to just go ahead with the better calipers
 
#20 ·
Just pulled the trigger on the brembo kit from vorshlag. I think that the color scheme of the stock brembo calipers with the red logo would work well with my car. Plus the fact that they pack well is even better. Hopefully I will notice a difference compared to the stock brakes.
 
#21 ·
IMO and experience the braking requirements for road courses and autocross are quite different. On a road course the speeds are much higher and the time on track is much longer. The SN197 Mustang is a fairly heavy car and brake fade is a real concern. Track capable pads, high temp fluid and air cooling ducts will be necessary especially as skill levels increase. In autocross the speeds are lower and the time on track is much shorter. If you're on track for much over a minute in an autocross the course is either unusually long or you're just slow. The main braking requirement in autocross is good initial bite and modulation. The last thing you want in autocross are pads that need to build up a lot of heat before they work well. The only thing in autocross that taxes the brake's fade resistance is the fact that the corners come at you much more quickly than they do on a road course. During an autocross usually your left foot is either braking or hovering just above the pedal while your right foot is operating the throttle. On a road course even in a fast car with a skilled driver there is a little time between corners for the brakes to cool a bit. This is where air cooling ducts really come into play. The only time I got the brakes fairly hot at an autocross was several years ago in my '72 'Cuda at a fun autocross where we could make as many back to back runs as we wanted. It was a fast course and I was giving rides to some friends. At the end of the third run I could smell the brakes coming across the exit timers. It still stopped OK, but I didn't think a fourth run would be a good idea either.
 
#22 ·
So I finally got a chance to unbox the brembo kit from vorshlag and I have to say they did an A+ job with the packing. Everything arrived undamaged and in mint condition. They weren't kidding when they say they pack well. Maybe they should give lessons to the people at ford racing since their brembo kit really contains no packing at all, they just throw everything in a cardboard box. Now I'll just have to wait until the weather warms up so I can install them. On a side note, does anyone know where I can get replacement washers for the russell stainless brake lines? I already have those installed and will be reusing them when I install the brembos
 
#23 ·
OP;


Be sure to but some anti-squeal stuff for the back of the pads and the backer plates. I installed some ceramic pads without it, and they squeaaaaaled like little piggies. I can't remember what stuff I bought, but it was red and almost like a silicone sealant, and it works very well.
 
#24 ·
For sure. Hawk provides an anti squeal compound with all of their pads as that is what I am going with. I put it on the stock GT size pads and they are quiet as fudge. In my experience ceramic pads squeal more than other high performance pads. I tried american muscle's pro stop rotors and pads before going HPS and they sucked, worse than stock braking. And they squealed like a pig, haha.
 
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