AP Brakes? (a little off topic)

[Miraz]

Has anyone encountered any problems with factory AP braking setup?

I've roasted the brakes on my daily driver and am being offered an uprated AP setup as a replacement, before I shell out an obscene amount of money I would like to know of any potential pitfalls.

[ultimapaul]

What car are they for? Before doing any kind of upgrade like this do your research, maybe find a forum or chat room specialising in your car. I have not heard of anyone having any problems with the A.P. set up on the Ultima, but that is my only experience with them.

There may be another solution out there more suited for your car, it may also be cheaper?

Paul

[Miraz]

It's for an HSV...one of the few road going cars that has a brake setup of similar size to the Ultima.

I'm looking at 365mm/6-pot fronts and 330mm/4-pot rears - afaik these have not yet been supplied to anyone operating HSV's outside Australia...yet.

I have pitched the question on a couple of Australian forums - but figured that this was probably a good place to find a group of users who were likely to find the limits of a road going brake setup.

[tuffer]

May not be relevant but you must inform your insurance company if you go ahead with the upgrade as they will see it as performance enhancement (not a safety device)!!

[Sieze]

I know people who have run them on Subaru's and skylines with no problems. The disc are excellent quality and the calipers are race proven. You should have no problems with those size disc (as far as fade is concerned)you will need 18 inc wheels though and even then it will be a queeze.

[Miraz]

The kit is being offered by Holden & AP as a solution for the caliper failures on these cars over here - unfortunately it isn't covered by their warranty package.

[TFIVEUK]

I run an AP setup on a Volvo T5 estate and they are fantastic; standard Volvo factory discs warp too easily and this is a common upgrade. Nobody I know experienced problems with these however AP have changed from drilled rotors to slotted recently to prevent the discs from cracking at stress points - never known it happen though

www.T5UK.com

[james]

It's impossible to say that one manufacturers brakes are good or another are bad. It depends on what the spec of the kit is, and what car it's going onto. You could get an AP setup that is way too underpowered for your cr, or equally get a cheapo set that was more than adequate. The best thing to do is to consult a brake expert, to see what he will recommend.

I have a Brembo setup on my Ultima, and they work beautifully, but then I got my friendly expert to sort them out for me (there is an almost infinite variety of brakes you can fit to any car). I know a reasonable bit about braking systems, but I would always seek expert advice before specifying anything to go onto any car.

James