headers or AP's

[habitualvoyeur]

I've got my 56 VXR booked for the full exhaust Wortec conversion (performance Pack)next month.....
However last night I had a scary moment with the brakes on a dual carriage way @ 80 ish
the lights 200 yards in front changed to amber..... I thought shall I or shall I not...
I decided on the stoping option, however the brakes were not there for me, and I sailed through a red light.
My old E46 M3 could have done it I'm sure......
So now I'm thinking should I forget the headers and have the AP's - I can not afford the lot.
Regards Neil
(No comments on the legal aspects of the situation please)

[AM04ARO]

Do the brakes, AP's are great and although the headers giver a little more power and noise I would go for the brakes.

[greens vauxhall]

AP's!!!!!

[tiler]

greens vauxhall said:

AP's!!!!!

yep ap,s

[v8m3]

beleive me its no good having the bhp if you cant stop it

Edited by v8m3 on Saturday 17th February 22:21

[Island boy hsv]

AP's are great a must!

[bennno]

habitualvoyeur said:

I've got my 56 VXR booked for the full exhaust Wortec conversion (performance Pack)next month.....
However last night I had a scary moment with the brakes on a dual carriage way @ 80 ish
the lights 200 yards in front changed to amber..... I thought shall I or shall I not...
I decided on the stoping option, however the brakes were not there for me, and I sailed through a red light.
My old E46 M3 could have done it I'm sure......
So now I'm thinking should I forget the headers and have the AP's - I can not afford the lot.
Regards Neil
(No comments on the legal aspects of the situation please)

did the abs trigger? if not then you werent pushing the pedal hard enough.....

the standard brakes are more than capable of locking the wheels and triggering the abs

The grip of the tyres in this situation as opposed to the size of the brakes is all important

Bennno

[yorkkie]

noise is important stopping is for sissys

[Paul-C]

Get Monkfish to fit you some of their ceramic pads in your standard calipers and go for headers. The difference is amazing for both.

[Stigmundfreud]

Island boy hsv said:

AP's are great a must!

no they aint, standard cv8 brakes which work more than adequately on the road though I am planning an upgrade but may choose another option to AP's.

[Island boy hsv]

I think you will find AP's are the best brake option for our cars, if the standard one's are ok why are you upgrading and to what? The question was AP's or headers, my response was AP's.

[habitualvoyeur]

cheers Guys

I didn't push hard enough for the ABS to kick in....
I whimped out before I got to that stage as the road was wet.

I think I will go for the AP's as I like to think that one day I might
be able to afford a supercharger.

regards Neil

[VXR_Daz]

Without doubt AP's first.

A lot of people (myself included) have done headers first but now I have them I wish I would have done them first!

[bennno]

habitualvoyeur said:

cheers Guys

I didn't push hard enough for the ABS to kick in....
I whimped out before I got to that stage as the road was wet.

I think I will go for the AP's as I like to think that one day I might
be able to afford a supercharger.

regards Neil

before you spend a couple of k go and find a quiet road, wet or dry and try stamping on the brakes. the whole purpose of abs is to enable hard braking on wet or slippery roads i.e. if you didnt press hard due to concerns it was wet then the ap brakes wouldnt have made the slightest difference

bennno

[Dan_S V8]

I would definitely look at swapping the pads first, much much cheaper option than the AP's which are in many situations just overkill really. IMO the headers are a must, every time I hear a VXR with a set I keep thinking, I can't not have this noise in my life!

[Paul.H.]

Paul-C said:

Get Monkfish to fit you some of their ceramic pads in your standard calipers and go for headers. The difference is amazing for both.

How much are the ceramic pads...have you experienced them? Would like to know!

[Stigmundfreud]

Island boy hsv said:

I think you will find AP's are the best brake option for our cars, if the standard one's are ok why are you upgrading and to what? The question was AP's or headers, my response was AP's.

because the standard brakes wouldnt be much cop on track = why upgrading. Looking at AP's but they are not the only option (like Wortec isnt the only upgrade path ) Wilwood are an alternate to name one good alternate.

For the road I stand by my comment than standard brakes are ok, more than up to the job.

[Stigmundfreud]

habitualvoyeur said:

cheers Guys

I didn't push hard enough for the ABS to kick in....
I whimped out before I got to that stage as the road was wet.

I think I will go for the AP's as I like to think that one day I might
be able to afford a supercharger.

regards Neil

neil I know you said dont pull you up on legalities etc but 80mph on a wet road approaching a controlled junction and you think buying AP's will improve things? Save yourself 2 grand and just wind the speed in a little bit to match the conditions on the road. And wimping out to avoid using ABS because the road is wet?!? What is that about?

also before applying the brakes hard try giving them a quick dab then release then dab again

Edited by Stigmundfreud on Sunday 18th February 14:23

[gareth h]

I fitted the Monkfish pads they are a definate improvment over the standard pads, but are still not upto the performance of the car, if you can't run to the APs I would consider fitting pads as an interim.

[habitualvoyeur]

Stigmund - I take your point
It's not quite as bad as it sounds - the speed limit is 70MPH
and the junction in question is access to a few houses and a closed coal mine
It is very rarely ever red.
I didnt wimp out because I thought the ABS might come on, but because I didnt feel I would stop before the white line.
It was one of those "amber gambler" calls.
Another thing I'm not sure the car behind me had AP's he sailed through behind me !
I could have got the chance to test the rear crumple zone otherwise.