Best budget brake calipers

[zefarelly]

another consideration is tyres

no point having truck type braking power if your running 145R13 slipwell never grips!

[Copperbottom]

I run 7" wide slicks

[DaveGT6]

Originally Posted by Copperbottom

That's what I have done already (bias box,comp pads,braided lines,slightly bigger front discs and discs on the rear) but I want Better brakes

Originally Posted by Copperbottom

I'm sure that I could go faster IF I had better brakes so could brake later.I also get a small amount of pad knock off with the princess ones! Mind you I don't use the brakes very much anyway,(I haven't worn out the 1st set of pads yet!)

Sorry but you're losing me here. You say you want better brakes then go on to say you don't use the brakes much and imply you have low pad wear. Seems that you are contradicting yourself. Either your brakes are well up to the job you don't put a lot of wear on them or your not going fast enough now to need better brakes.

If you've got pad knock-off check your discs for run-out. I used to run Princess 4 pots with Capri 1.8i discs. Suprising how quickly the discs went out of true but a quick grind to true up made huge difference (if you have access to facilities)

[Copperbottom]

I aim to be much quicker with more power and less weight for 2010,apparently "I need to change my driving style as I tend to go in hot with too much speed (caused one collision as a mini driver didn't see me coming up his inside at Lydden hairpin) so I throw the car in and scrub off speed". I don't really brake hard enough imo.
Knock off only really happens after I've used the kerbs.

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by Copperbottom

Knock off only really happens after I've used the kerbs.

I had that on an MK1 Escort once - how are your front wheel bearings? When did you last change them - or re-torque them? It can't be the calipers - only the disc pushing the pads back because they a) have permanent run-out or b) occassional run-out brought on by something 'moving' when you hit the kerbs. I doubt it is your spindles themselves flexing - but in rallying we used to beef up the joint between the strut and the spindle; in the trade they were called 'wedged struts' but it was simply some extra triangulation welded in.

[Al Weyman]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

Best budget brake calipers . . . .

the ones designed for the car . . .

very well set up, maintained, with decent pads.

you could do a lot worse than spend your money optimising what you have.

I cant agree with that surely depends what you have in the first place. Have you ever heard of the one good stop theory for brakes by manufacturers? Basically if the car will stop from high speed down to a halt its not deemed neccessary that it will be required to repeat the feat immediately as the brakes will cool down before being called on again this at least was the theory American car manufacturers apparently worked to and no doubt most other standard passenger car makers and if you have ever tried to do several fast laps with standard single piston sliding calipers as fitted to a heavy old camaro even with uprated pads and find you have no brakes you will see what I mean.

[Copperbottom]

Originally Posted by phoenix

I had that on an MK1 Escort once - how are your front wheel bearings? When did you last change them - or re-torque them? It can't be the calipers - only the disc pushing the pads back because they a) have permanent run-out or b) occassional run-out brought on by something 'moving' when you hit the kerbs. I doubt it is your spindles themselves flexing - but in rallying we used to beef up the joint between the strut and the spindle; in the trade they were called 'wedged struts' but it was simply some extra triangulation welded in.

Yep struts are wedged,spindles strong,bearings tight enough,discs straight etc, I think it's the vibration through the wheel that causes pad knock back,it is possible that the alloy hubs are flexing or heating up causing the bearings to become loose,mind you it could even be the rears(which would mean that the 1/2 shaft's are flexing!).

[Supercar]

Here is my hierarchy of brake calipers:

- Alcon, AP Racing, Brembo
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- StopTech
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- Brembo from old Porsches/Ferraris
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- stock brakes

StopTech makes excellent calipers at an excellent price. Stiff, inexpensive, reliable. Same goes for their rotors. Top notch.

[Jan K]

Cheap and good is second hand ones from a Porsche Boxster =Brembo monoblock

[EvolutionVII]

Originally Posted by Supercar

Here is my hierarchy of brake calipers:

- Alcon, AP Racing, Brembo
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- StopTech
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- Brembo from old Porsches/Ferraris
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- nothing
- stock brakes

StopTech makes excellent calipers at an excellent price. Stiff, inexpensive, reliable. Same goes for their rotors. Top notch.

Sorry for bring such an old post back to life.

You didn't mention Wilwood, CompBrake and Doppler.

They are that bad?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Supercar]

Originally Posted by EvolutionVII

Sorry for bring such an old post back to life.

You didn't mention Wilwood, CompBrake and Doppler.

They are that bad?

I have never heard of Doppler, and I could not find them on the internet, which is a big warning sign already. I have never heard of CompBrake, which does not add credibility. But I found their website. Some of their calipers appear to be copies of old Brembo, some appear to be copies of Wilwood.

Wilwood is one big old American brake company that tries to stretch its old success. They still think they are the only custom brake company in the market, and it is true, if you ask someone who owns a vintage Mustang/Camaro or a DIY kit car. Their mean looking Nascar calipers cannot compete with AP/Brembo/Alcon on weight. And all their other brake calipers cannot compete with modern OEM calipers on brake pad size and caliper stiffness. If you call their tech support and ask these questions, they wouldn't even understand what you are talking about. They are only in business on the basis of inertia of their customers.

[EvolutionVII]

Originally Posted by Supercar

I have never heard of Doppler, and I could not find them on the internet, which is a big warning sign already. I have never heard of CompBrake, which does not add credibility. But I found their website. Some of their calipers appear to be copies of old Brembo, some appear to be copies of Wilwood.

Wilwood is one big old American brake company that tries to stretch its old success. They still think they are the only custom brake company in the market, and it is true, if you ask someone who owns a vintage Mustang/Camaro or a DIY kit car. Their mean looking Nascar calipers cannot compete with AP/Brembo/Alcon on weight. And all their other brake calipers cannot compete with modern OEM calipers on brake pad size and caliper stiffness. If you call their tech support and ask these questions, they wouldn't even understand what you are talking about. They are only in business on the basis of inertia of their customers.

I don't anything about Doppler.
A friend of mine is installing in his Escort.

He said that it is made from dura alluminium which is pretty lightweight.

It's this caliper:


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[big andy]

on 13" wheels use 2.8 capri discs and 2nd hand AP monte carlo forest/old f3 calipers far and away better than any modern budget calipers.i used these on my mini and it transformed it..

[Supercar]

Originally Posted by EvolutionVII

I don't anything about Doppler.
A friend of mine is installing in his Escort.

He said that it is made from dura alluminium which is pretty lightweight.

It's this caliper:

These look pretty budget to me. Cast aluminum. Adjustable width design. The pads rattle and ride on bare aluminum. No rubber dust boots. No corrosion protection of any kind. They should be priced very cheap, IMO.

[EvolutionVII]

Originally Posted by Supercar

These look pretty budget to me. Cast aluminum. Adjustable width design. The pads rattle and ride on bare aluminum. No rubber dust boots. No corrosion protection of any kind. They should be priced very cheap, IMO.

Thanks for the advise.

I will look forward to some good brand.

Which caliper do you recommend for my use?

1994 Ford Fiesta running with a Fors Focus Duratec 2.0 engine.

The car weight is around 800kg and it will have 250hp.

I will use 13" wheels with slicks.

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[terence]

Try searching under Nissan 300zx,those brakes are plentiful/cheap and very lightweight.

[Dom]

Thanks to this thread i'm now lusting after a pair of AP calipers! However would i actually see any 'improvement' to braking? I'm currently running a 900kg Fiesta (net weight) on standard calipers and disks, with Ferodo pads and on list 1b tyres. I can merrily lock the fronts up and have in my opinion reasonable feel.

Other than a weight saving (both static and rotational), is there seriously any point in upgrading to fancy 4 pot calipers and floating disks when my standard brakes can lock the wheels?

[Supercar]

Something that everyone forgot to mention. Before one contemplated messing with stock brakes, he needs to know the theory of braking, and what will happen once the changes are made to the current brakes. Do not spend a penny on anything other than brake pads until you read and understand this:

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...alance-matters

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...rade-selection

http://www.stoptech.com/docs/media-c...mics?sfvrsn=10

http://www.stoptech.com/docs/media-c...raking-systems

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...brake-upgrades

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...big-brake-kits

[Supercar]

I built custom brake kits using Wilwood, AP, Brembo, StopTech, OEM, and other calipers. Once I discovered StopTech, I didn't want to look anywhere else. If you want budget brakes that work better than stock, IMHO, StopTech is the only way to go, if you are running a stock brake system with a single master cylinder without a balance bar. They have a top quality hardware and a caliper piston selection from 28mm to 44mm in 2 mm increments. With other companies you are forcing one-size-fits-all racing calipers to work with OEM master cylinders, proportioning valves, and ABS, which is always a compromise with occasionally benign but sometimes dangerous (and always expensive) pitfalls. My first StopTech kit lasted me 8 years (original rotors and all). Then I sold it for 60% of the purchase price. Brake pads have been my only expense.

[Notso Swift]

Originally Posted by Dom

Thanks to this thread i'm now lusting after a pair of AP calipers! However would i actually see any 'improvement' to braking? I'm currently running a 900kg Fiesta (net weight) on standard calipers and disks, with Ferodo pads and on list 1b tyres. I can merrily lock the fronts up and have in my opinion reasonable feel.

Other than a weight saving (both static and rotational), is there seriously any point in upgrading to fancy 4 pot calipers and floating disks when my standard brakes can lock the wheels?

Generally less improvement than it is worth. You are on a relatively low grip tyre in a low downforce environment, if you have control and maximum retardation, not much more to it, is there?
When you say you can lock on demand does that included during the breaking event? Because that is what I consider control, being able to lock up at any point.

Some cheaper 4 pots are actually worse than the OEM sliders as they spread under high force. Remember you can get sliders (also in 2 pots) in an alloy calliper (and steel carrier) that is often is lighter... Bigger weight savings on 2 piece rotors, but often offset by being larger. I have kept my rotors reasonably small, because I just don't need bigger and critically I can buy S/H Nascar rears for my front, super cheap and excellent brands in common sizes (12 1/4 x 1 1/4) They throw away what will last me for 5 years!

Floating disks have some merit if you move to opposed pistons as you will get a more even contact on the disk, but again, small improvements

One of biggest advantages to a "race" calliper I have found is the pads are SO much cheaper (pads are about 1/3 a proprietary shape) and there is a wider range of compounds, and compound is where most of the improvements seem to be.


Just my opinion, first improve what is your weakness (which may be your brakes) and remember that Fangio always said brakes just slow you down

[chormy]

Run Dynalite (wilwood) on my MGC no issues and big improvement over originals. EBC discs and Hawke blue pads. Rears standard drums, Not a problem to lock up, car + fat boy 1160kg 285hp.

[Tarmac Terror]

I run Wilwood P6R calipers on the front of my track spec Nissan Skyline R32 GTR



Pads are just MASSIVE!!



and Wilwood IR-GT calipers on the rear.




HUGE stopping power and NO fade or pedal issues whatsoever!!


On the GTROC forum I frequent there is a certain snobbery from some who think that anything OTHER than AP, Alcon, Brembo or Stoptech is just going to be rubbish. I have flown the Wilwood flag for a while and will continue to extol the virtues of their products.

TT

[Copperbottom]

As this thread has now been revived I thought I may as well add that I settled for (used)radial mount APs with 267mm 2 piece discs and DS3000 pads (5 kgs lighter overall than princess 4 pots one piece discs) and now have brakes that I'm confident can stop the car and along with wider rubber have reduced my lap times around the Brands Indy from mid 55s to high 54s.... Not bad for a crossflow powered Mk1 Escort

[Goran Malmberg]

One should not exaggerate mark hysteria with calipers, not with anything else either. If you have money then, however, the best known brands is usually a safe bet qualitatively. The big problem is lack of knowledge of what to do. A large kalipper is better than a small one, is often thought of as a recipes, which is not right. Racing brakes should be kept at the right temperature and the wrong size, both small and large, can create anomalies. If you use no power assist so it is important with low flexe in the cliper, otherwise you get bad pedal at large hydraulic ratios. Flex in the caliper can be measured with a dial indicator. For a car that runs a lot on open roads and on tracks sometimes, a larger brake system may be better if using more normal brake linings as these works from cooler operating temperatures.

[terence]

Have a look on Ebay for some Nissan 300ZX four pots