Brembo

[TOENHEEL]

Does anyone know if Brembo 4 pots can be bought for the front of an exige? im just curious to see the costs vs AP if you can.

[bogie]

I havnt seen a kit, although Im guessing that they do some that will fit if someone sorts the brackets ...there are other mnaufacturers kits out there that fit, Ive seen some on US sites ...all around a similar price though

the Exige/Elise is still a low volume car compared to mass market brands, hence aftermarket parts are usually more expensive anyway

[TOENHEEL]

bogie said:

I havnt seen a kit, although Im guessing that they do some that will fit if someone sorts the brackets ...there are other mnaufacturers kits out there that fit, Ive seen some on US sites ...all around a similar price though

the Exige/Elise is still a low volume car compared to mass market brands, hence aftermarket parts are usually more expensive anyway

Im really just trying to find alternatives to see the difference in costs, my front discs will be shot soon and i think a nice brake upgrade could just finish the car off although the standard brakes are very good anyhow.

[NeilC]

I haven't tried them myself but eliseparts sell a 4pot kit too thats a bit more straighforward to fit. It may seem like you may as well spend the extra £80 on the AP's but they also require GT hubs at £785 (nice as they are).

[Scuffers]

the issue is that 99.99% of 4 pot callipers are designed with much larger pistons than the Elise application requires, hence why the old MS setup needed a new master cylinder and rear calipers to match.

the new AP/lotus kit uses very small pistons to resolve this (as do the EP ones)

as far as I know, these are the only two options available off the shelf

[bogie]

I had the big AP kit on my old Elise.

I cant remember exactly, but you dont get much change out of nearly £2K byt the time its fitted

What did I gain for mixed road/trackday use?

Well, less pedal effort for the same braking force, so the brakes "felt stronger"

more resistance to fade after many laps on a trackday, probably just due to the fact that the discs and pads are bigger

thats it really - if you fit decent pads and discs like AP + RS42 (what I used to run on the big discs too) then the "upgrade" isnt a big "wow" - certainly not for the cash anyway

oh - Id run RS42s with them from the start - mine came with RS14s, I suffered pad transfer then actually managed to warp a set the first time and it took me 3 months of waiting for AP to test them before they gave me some new ones - I changed to 42s and never had a problem from then on .....

[TOENHEEL]

I was quite impressed when me and a friend tried the AP's, they are exspensive but felt bloody tremendous and gave you more confidence in braking later.

Fitting wont be a problem i will leave that to my dad . Im running yellowstuff at the moment and although there is mixed opinions i've found them to be quite good and a lot better than the standard pads they havent wore a great deal considering the stick they have had, could be wearing the discs out quick though.

[chris7676]

Do you really need them though ?

[TOENHEEL]

chris7676 said:

Do you really need them though ?

If its going to add to the enjoyment of the car why not?

[bogie]

I guess it depends what you are coming from

I already had AP discs + RS42s + hoses before I upgraded to the 4 pot fronts

if you have just regular discs now, then yes, the extra performance and reduced pedal effort will give you more confidence

have a walk down the pits next time you are at an Elise Trophy race and see how many race cars have them fitted ...i think you will be surprised at how few do ...but then again...most of them are going to be 200-300Kg lighter than a modern road going Elise LOL

[Scuffers]

chris7676 said:

Do you really need them though ?

Honestly?
no.

std callipers with decent pads and disks are well up to the job, only tangible benefit of the 4 pots is pad life (as they are physically bigger)

that said, 4 pots do look a lot better! (BOGIE!)

[TOENHEEL]

bogie said:

I guess it depends what you are coming from

I already had AP discs + RS42s + hoses before I upgraded to the 4 pot fronts

if you have just regular discs now, then yes, the extra performance and reduced pedal effort will give you more confidence

have a walk down the pits next time you are at an Elise Trophy race and see how many race cars have them fitted ...i think you will be surprised at how few do ...but then again...most of them are going to be 200-300Kg lighter than a modern road going Elise LOL

Yeah a few had mentioned that a lot of Elise trophy cars were running standard brakes with uprated pads etc. I think my minds made up, save the pennies and buy some AP's for the front. I found at the ring although the car pulled up well enough the pedal was still a tad soft, i would prefer the bite to be further up and the AP's from what i hear will achieve this.

[Scuffers]

TOENHEEL said:

bogie said:

I guess it depends what you are coming from

I already had AP discs + RS42s + hoses before I upgraded to the 4 pot fronts

if you have just regular discs now, then yes, the extra performance and reduced pedal effort will give you more confidence

have a walk down the pits next time you are at an Elise Trophy race and see how many race cars have them fitted ...i think you will be surprised at how few do ...but then again...most of them are going to be 200-300Kg lighter than a modern road going Elise LOL

Yeah a few had mentioned that a lot of Elise trophy cars were running standard brakes with uprated pads etc. I think my minds made up, save the pennies and buy some AP's for the front. I found at the ring although the car pulled up well enough the pedal was still a tad soft, i would prefer the bite to be further up and the AP's from what i hear will achieve this.

that's a disk/pad/fluid issue, not a calliper issue...

the biggest upgrade you can do is change the disks (and pads)

[TOENHEEL]

Scuffers said:

TOENHEEL said:

bogie said:

I guess it depends what you are coming from

I already had AP discs + RS42s + hoses before I upgraded to the 4 pot fronts

if you have just regular discs now, then yes, the extra performance and reduced pedal effort will give you more confidence

have a walk down the pits next time you are at an Elise Trophy race and see how many race cars have them fitted ...i think you will be surprised at how few do ...but then again...most of them are going to be 200-300Kg lighter than a modern road going Elise LOL

Yeah a few had mentioned that a lot of Elise trophy cars were running standard brakes with uprated pads etc. I think my minds made up, save the pennies and buy some AP's for the front. I found at the ring although the car pulled up well enough the pedal was still a tad soft, i would prefer the bite to be further up and the AP's from what i hear will achieve this.

that's a disk/pad/fluid issue, not a calliper issue...

the biggest upgrade you can do is change the disks (and pads)

So for the Exige S which discs and pads are the best?

[bogie]

bearing in mind I have not driven ALL the options I would have to go with AP discs and RS42s

[Scuffers]

what Bogie said, AP 304mm disks and Padgid's..

remember, AP have a large range of disks, from 'budget' to 'performance', you very much get what you pay for.

[mrdemon]

there is a big price change on the AP 295's to the 304'S

If your not a track day we then the 295 AP disks will be fine.

[Scuffers]

mrdemon said:

there is a big price change on the AP 295's to the 304'S

If your not a track day we then the 295 AP disks will be fine.

once again, it depends which 295 disk, AP do at least 4 that I know of...

the better 295's cost almost the same as the 304 (they are from the same casting I believe).

[randy]

I would avoid the thin wall AP's at the moment as they seem to be having issues with their quality control and I've seen loads cracking.

[TOENHEEL]

Thanks guys the Lotus forum proves yet again that there is still some life left in PH Cheers.

Phil