355 brake upgrade? Any suggestions?

[lambo_xx]

I've been thinking about upgrading the brakes on my 355, they're ok but no where near as good as the ones on my 997 or Gallardo. I'd like to keep the original wheels and ideally the callipers too but keep the car looking standard.

Any suggestions on what to do/get? I'm not mechanically minded so please make it as simple as pssoible . Also what sort of prices am I looking at?

Thanks

Edited by lambo_xx on Thursday 13th August 16:58

[F355GTS]

Speak to QV in Ascot, I think they do a kit to upgrade to the 550/575 Calipers

[Angelis]

AP Racing brake kit. Easy to fit and fantastic bit of kit.

- Black Caliper Kit Number;-
CP5555-1028.G8
RRP = £1871.74+VAT / Summer Sale Price £1684.57+VAT

- Red Caliper Kit Number:-
CP5555-1028R2.G8
RRP = £1894.55+VAT / Summer Sale Price £1705.10+VAT

http://www.apracing.com/info/products.asp?product=...





Before.....



After......

[lambo_xx]

Angelis said:

AP Racing brake kit. Easy to fit and fantastic bit of kit.

- Black Caliper Kit Number;-
CP5555-1028.G8
RRP = £1871.74+VAT / Summer Sale Price £1684.57+VAT

- Red Caliper Kit Number:-
CP5555-1028R2.G8
RRP = £1894.55+VAT / Summer Sale Price £1705.10+VAT

Ok thank you. Is that price for the new calliper and brake disc or just the calliper? Do you know if it's possible to get them without the writing on them?
Also, is that you car in the pictures? Did you notice a big difference with new brakes?

Thanks again

[Basher]

I upgraded the brakes on my 355 to the AP big brake kit (thru Karl at Verdi's) ... they were excelent as was the warning from Karl for first using them ...!!! They were unbelievably good... pagid pads, big drilled AP discs adn 6 pot AP at front .... very very good...although could 'squeal' quite a bit with pagid pads ... cost around 2.5k back then (2003)i think....have pictures of them on but being useless i dont know how to upload them here !

[Basher]

Forgot to add i had mine repainted to have ferrari logo on them.....

[Lagerlout]

Gruppe M do a nice set of brake hoses FWIW.

Great looking setup Sy. Very drool worthy. What pads and fluid are you running?

Edited by Lagerlout on Thursday 13th August 16:35

[Angelis]

lambo_xx said:

Ok thank you. Is that price for the new calliper and brake disc or just the calliper? Do you know if it's possible to get them without the writing on them?
Also, is that you car in the pictures? Did you notice a big difference with new brakes?

Thanks again

Yep, that's my car. It's had a lot mods done to it over the years now. 360 carbon seats, start button, carbon fiber, brakes, engine mods etc. I ordered my brake kit from Burton engineering. AP Racing are a pain to deal with. they wouldn't paint them yellow for me and they lost the original calipers. Ended up waiting 14 weeks for them.

The kit comes with calipers, brackets, discs, Ferodo DS2500 brake pads and goodridge brake hoses. I think it even came with high performance brake fluid. Everything you need to install and it's a simple job to do.

I was never very happy with the original 348 brakes and they tended to fade after a few hard trackday laps as well. Changed pads to ferodo DS2500's and to be honest didn't notice much of an improvement.

The new brakes are very good, although they do tend to lock up the wheels a bit more on heavy braking. The big test for me was at last years Ferrari Fun Day at Newbury where we were giving charity rides. The course comprised of lots of 90 degree corners. Whilst others had to stop to cool down their brakes, I just kept on going.

If any 348/355 owner is interested in enhancing the performance of their car, those brakes should be at the top of their list.

Plus, when I come to replce my discs, I have the option of installing carbon dics and pads and retaining the existing 6 pot caliper kit.

As for changing the logo, the AP Racing logo is engraved into the caliper. However, when my 348 was having a respray, Al at Alsa Automotive added the Ferrari logo on them for me. He won't tell me how he did it though.

Pics below of how it looks now.

Lagerlout said:

Gruppe M do a nice set of brake hoses FWIW.

Great looking setup Sy. Very drool worthy. What pads and fluid are you running?

Edited by Lagerlout on Thursday 13th August 16:35

Thanks mate.

I have Ferodo DS2500 pads and AP Racing brake fluid with goodreich braided hoses.

Edited by Angelis on Friday 14th August 07:17

[The Milfman]

Have a look on Fchat, I was wondering the same thing a week or so back and found out all I needed to know there, also spoke to a couple of owners, Shiltech & Rardley.

I came to the following conclusions -

Although a big brake kit would be great I thought it might be overkill and have been informed that the biggest improvement comes from uprating the pads. PAGID or the aforementioned Ferodo are the way to go. I've gone for PAGID black ceramic based.

A better brake fluid and metal hoses (as they dont expand when the temperature is up) are recommended for more consistency. I've not changed the hoses as the little difference is probably not noticeable unless you're doing a lot of track work. The fluid has been upgraded to the same stuff that Shiltech use on their race cars (standard practice for them in a service I believe).

Good luck, let us know what you go for and how you get on with them!

Angelis - great looking 348 with a lot of very interesting work done, good job.