Ideas please for brake upgrade
Discussion
Just purchased a set of AP TVR Logo calipers and 320mm disks from Hans in holland, there the same brake on the Tuscan and sag, they look the dogs b......, will let you know how they perform as soon as i get them fitted! Came in a little cheaper than the willwood conversion although i noted there seems to be quite a price variation between different dealers??
Alternative DIY route:
Use Escort Cosworth 4x4 calipers (the single piston type) with their carrier brackets and use RWD Sierra Cosworth 283mm dia discs. You might need to file out the carrier brackets slightly in order for the 283 mm discs to clear as they are designed to be used with a 278mm disc from the Sierra/Escort Cosworth 4x4.
Pair of second hand Escort Cosworth or 4x4 Sierra Cosworth or 2.9 Scorpio Cosworth Calipers off ebay from £70 (single piston variety, not the 4 piston RWD Sierra type). Refurb them with a Caliper seal kit from 'Bigg Red' at £22 and improve their appearance with some elbow grease and High temp paint from £8.
283mm RWD Discs are available for £45 pair with Escort/Sierra Cosworth 4x4 pads from £20.
Whole job done for some time and effort and approx £165.
Use Escort Cosworth 4x4 calipers (the single piston type) with their carrier brackets and use RWD Sierra Cosworth 283mm dia discs. You might need to file out the carrier brackets slightly in order for the 283 mm discs to clear as they are designed to be used with a 278mm disc from the Sierra/Escort Cosworth 4x4.
Pair of second hand Escort Cosworth or 4x4 Sierra Cosworth or 2.9 Scorpio Cosworth Calipers off ebay from £70 (single piston variety, not the 4 piston RWD Sierra type). Refurb them with a Caliper seal kit from 'Bigg Red' at £22 and improve their appearance with some elbow grease and High temp paint from £8.
283mm RWD Discs are available for £45 pair with Escort/Sierra Cosworth 4x4 pads from £20.
Whole job done for some time and effort and approx £165.
Edited by Marty V8 on Saturday 5th June 11:36
My Griff has a Willwood Big Calliper upgrade to the front, with bigger discs and bigger ? discs on the rear with std Callipers, but i am Very Unimpressed. It just hasnt got the stopping power that i expect a larger Calliper set up to have and to stop it quickly requires a really hefty shove on the pedal. Fluid was changed on purchase.
Not sure what discs have been used but my previous Griff which i fitted with new std dscs stopped far better.
My car had stood for 3 years ( garaged )before i bought it and maybe ? the pistons are seized .
Any one else care to comment on the Willwood set up ?
Not sure what discs have been used but my previous Griff which i fitted with new std dscs stopped far better.
My car had stood for 3 years ( garaged )before i bought it and maybe ? the pistons are seized .
Any one else care to comment on the Willwood set up ?
neutral 3 said:
My Griff has a Willwood Big Calliper upgrade to the front, with bigger discs and bigger ? discs on the rear with std Callipers, but i am Very Unimpressed. It just hasnt got the stopping power that i expect a larger Calliper set up to have and to stop it quickly requires a really hefty shove on the pedal. Fluid was changed on purchase.
Not sure what discs have been used but my previous Griff which i fitted with new std dscs stopped far better.
My car had stood for 3 years ( garaged )before i bought it and maybe ? the pistons are seized .
Any one else care to comment on the Willwood set up ?
What pads are you using? Not sure what discs have been used but my previous Griff which i fitted with new std dscs stopped far better.
My car had stood for 3 years ( garaged )before i bought it and maybe ? the pistons are seized .
Any one else care to comment on the Willwood set up ?
What brakes you can upgrade to on the front depends largely on the wheels you have on the car. If you have standard 15's up front you are still able to upgrade, just not to some of the big kits available.
Wanting to keep my Estorils I 'updated' rather than upgraded.
I got hold of a pair of 500 front calipers from BB who had done an even bigger brake upgrade.
Then swapped the rotors for EBC GD150's, braided lines and DOT5.1 fluid.
Total cost less than £200 if you do it yourself.
Do yourself a favour gateeast, put some information in your profile and at the very least a picture of the car. It helps a lot when answers could differ depending on your car or your location. You'd be surprised what help people offer when they realise you are local to them.
Wanting to keep my Estorils I 'updated' rather than upgraded.
I got hold of a pair of 500 front calipers from BB who had done an even bigger brake upgrade.
Then swapped the rotors for EBC GD150's, braided lines and DOT5.1 fluid.
Total cost less than £200 if you do it yourself.
Do yourself a favour gateeast, put some information in your profile and at the very least a picture of the car. It helps a lot when answers could differ depending on your car or your location. You'd be surprised what help people offer when they realise you are local to them.
neutral 3 said:
My Griff has a Willwood Big Calliper upgrade to the front, with bigger discs and bigger ? discs on the rear with std Callipers, but i am Very Unimpressed. It just hasnt got the stopping power that i expect a larger Calliper set up to have and to stop it quickly requires a really hefty shove on the pedal. Fluid was changed on purchase.
Not sure what discs have been used but my previous Griff which i fitted with new std dscs stopped far better.
My car had stood for 3 years ( garaged )before i bought it and maybe ? the pistons are seized .
Any one else care to comment on the Willwood set up ?
I was unimpressed with them, also, and finally managed to spread the calipers due to pressing so hard at a sprint. I now have 4 pot Brembos and 330mm rotots which are awesome, but slightly uncheap.Not sure what discs have been used but my previous Griff which i fitted with new std dscs stopped far better.
My car had stood for 3 years ( garaged )before i bought it and maybe ? the pistons are seized .
Any one else care to comment on the Willwood set up ?
I think it is running Ferrodo Pads but will have to check. Bit worried now re possible "spreading" of the Willwood Callipers. For a big Calliper set up such as my car has, the brakes are a huge disapointment, they just lack power. My SXI Corsa has better brakes!!! Can the Willwood set up be modified/improved.
If you have ever ridden a Ducatti 998 , you will know what i mean by Eye ball popping brake/stopping power, courtesy of Brembo. And if money were no object i would throw the Willwoods over the hedge and go for Brembos.
If you have ever ridden a Ducatti 998 , you will know what i mean by Eye ball popping brake/stopping power, courtesy of Brembo. And if money were no object i would throw the Willwoods over the hedge and go for Brembos.
The Griff brakes seem not too bad to me but then I've only had the car a short while. I am thinking about replacing the flex pipes with the braided ones though as I understand that does make a difference so whilst everyone focuses on the more expensive solutions what sort of difference does the simple braided brake lines make? Is it just a firmer pedal or is the braking a bit better as a result?
Jim
Jim
Does sound strange. I have the Griff 500 setup on my 4.0 with Mintex pads and SS braided hoses and not complaints at all. But when I tried the 300mm Willwood setup I was very impressed. Possibly I just have low standards?
But if you are not really getting stopping power, then you may have a system problem.
What is the exact problem? Too much pedal effort to stop the car? Excessive fade?
But if you are not really getting stopping power, then you may have a system problem.
What is the exact problem? Too much pedal effort to stop the car? Excessive fade?
neutral 3 said:
I think it is running Ferrodo Pads but will have to check. Bit worried now re possible "spreading" of the Willwood Callipers. For a big Calliper set up such as my car has, the brakes are a huge disapointment, they just lack power. My SXI Corsa has better brakes!!! Can the Willwood set up be modified/improved.
If you have ever ridden a Ducatti 998 , you will know what i mean by Eye ball popping brake/stopping power, courtesy of Brembo. And if money were no object i would throw the Willwoods over the hedge and go for Brembos.
Definitely try a different pad set-up, this is the biggest factor in feel, also worth checking that the hoses aren't collapsing / restricting flowIf you have ever ridden a Ducatti 998 , you will know what i mean by Eye ball popping brake/stopping power, courtesy of Brembo. And if money were no object i would throw the Willwoods over the hedge and go for Brembos.
The Ferodo DS3 are very good but pricey, EBC Green stuff are cheap and a reasonable pad
One of the downsides to running a big brake set up is getting heat into the pads and discs when pottering around town and the pads can glaze over which will give you the feeling you seem to be getting, more likely to happen if you run track/race orientated pads...may be worth checking the pads for glazing and roughing them up again.
I run DS2500 pads on my AP callipers and they are prone to doing it in the winter when not getting used hard.
I run DS2500 pads on my AP callipers and they are prone to doing it in the winter when not getting used hard.
My first ever track day (Oulton - very heavy on brakes) made me upgrade the front. At the time Tower View did a conversion to 320mm rotors and 4 pot Wilwoods - v expensive, about £800 IIRR. I think these are probably a bit over the top in diameter, as I now also need spacers to stop the wheel (15") rubbing the caliper when hot. 300mm would be fine. But it doesn't half stop.
I have had problems with the 2500 friction material, as I cook it - either I am a late and heavy braker and/or lousy driver. After a couple of tracks days, the brakes judder like mad when hot (not when cold, so pretty sure it isn't a warped rotor). The man at Frodo reckons that when the pads degrade some of the resin gets onto the rotor, which then melts/sticks when hot. Sounds reasonable to me. I have now gone to full competition pads, and these are superb for the track, but need heating up. I will swap back to 2500 for road use.
I have had problems with the 2500 friction material, as I cook it - either I am a late and heavy braker and/or lousy driver. After a couple of tracks days, the brakes judder like mad when hot (not when cold, so pretty sure it isn't a warped rotor). The man at Frodo reckons that when the pads degrade some of the resin gets onto the rotor, which then melts/sticks when hot. Sounds reasonable to me. I have now gone to full competition pads, and these are superb for the track, but need heating up. I will swap back to 2500 for road use.
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