Brembo brakes

[Annibal702001]

I'm looking to upgrade the brakes on my camaro and was trying to get some options. I have a 2012 2ls with the 18 inch heritage wheels. I was looking into doing the ss brembo upgrade until another option I saw. I know the ss brakes won't fit my car without bigger wheels. That was gonna be a later project. I was planning on putting foose outcast chrome wheels on. I was reading that Cadillac ats brembos may fit the 18 inch heritage wheels. Does anyone know for sure? If a spacer is needed, now big? I was thinking about this option if it will fit so I could put the crappy ugly 18s on in the winter time instead of messing up my foose wheels. If I remember right, the ats supposedly can use the stock v6 rotors. Will the ats brembos work and what would the stopping power be? If the ats brembos do fit, do I need to get an ss master ?

[olblue75]

Dont mess around do it right the first time and go 6 piston. These will fit a 20 inch wheel and you can use the CTS-V rotor which are pretty cheap.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-OEM-2015-...pXjqUb&vxp=mtr


an use this thread for install.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=418667

Im building my set from used calipers.

[Norm Peterson]

A V6 car doesn't need 6-piston Brembos unless it's being extensively modified for very serious HPDE, road course time trialing, or outright wheel to wheel racing. With at least another hundred HP at the wheels than stock.

If it is possible to make the heritage wheels work with a relatively thin spacer, plan on replacing the lugs on both front wheels with something longer and stronger. ARP is probably the go-to solution here. Separately bolted spacers/adapters have their own considerations, and are almost certainly a lot thicker than what you need.

Don't skimp on lug nut thread engagement (at least one stud diameter's worth of threads fully engaged) or you'll risk unpleasantness up to and including loss of a wheel.


Norm

[olblue75]

Need and want are two serious foes LOL!!!

[Norm Peterson]

True. But it's so easy to get carried away / get all starry-eyed.


FWIW, I told myself I'd move up to the 14" 4-piston Brembos only when I felt I was getting closer to the limits of XP12 pads on my car's original (read: little 12.4 inch)setup. Experience strongly suggests that the above Brembo kit that's sitting in boxes in the family room will be all I need, given that I only have 315 HP or so at the crank. So I think for most folks it'd be enough for a tracked sixxer 5th gen as well.


Norm

[Sleepy]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

A V6 car doesn't need 6-piston Brembos unless it's being extensively modified for very serious HPDE, road course time trialing, or outright wheel to wheel racing. With at least another hundred HP at the wheels than stock.
Norm

My understanding is larger brakes lower temperature and allow for less aggressive pads to be used on track. If 6-piston Brembos allow V6 cars to use stock pads on track, that will save the hassle of switching between street and track pads, constant bleeding with high temp fluid, leaks from melted seals, and caliper discoloration. Stock pads have less bite but if the car is on street tires, is it still a concern? I guess my question is will the 6-piston Brembos with stock pads be sufficient for track use with street tires or is the 4-piston enough to do the same? Norm, I like to know your thoughts on this subject.

[Norm Peterson]

I'll defer (mostly) to the following, which I've got saved as a file. Red emphasis mine from a couple of years ago. Basically, once you get past an introductory speed-limited lead-follow arrangement I don't think that pads with under about 1200° rating belong on your car when it's on the track. Maybe especially for freshly minted 'solo' drivers, as the tendency to go easier on the brake pedal for longer periods of time is likely to still be present.

Bigger rotors make for bigger heat sinks, meaning that peak temperatures won't get quite as high. But I'm not at all convinced that temperatures can be kept within street pad temperatures (guessing 800° - 900° max here).

Larger rotors also improve the 'leverage' that the pads have for making brake torque, which changes the front to rear balance. While you do have ABS available to keep things from getting out of hand, I think what you really want is a balance that minimizes ABS intervention (this is why I'm dropping back to XP10's with the new bigger front rotors).

Chances are that once you've run pads with better bite, you won't want to step back to OE. I've attached Hawk's mu vs temperature plot (admittedly, their view of OEM seems a bit pessimistic relative to the sort of pads you'd expect to find on a car fitted with 6-piston calipers as OE).

2. Can I have descriptions of the different compounds? FROM SAFERACER
Carbotech™ Bobcat 1521™
The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known for its awesome release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. Like our AX™ & XP™ line of compounds, Bobcat 1521™ is a Ceramic based friction material offering minimal rotor damage and non corrosive dust. Bobcat 1521™ offers outstanding performance, even when cold, low dusting and low noise with an excellent initial bite. This compound’s virtually perfect linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Bobcat 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 900°F. Bobcat 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle, police cruiser, and has won multiple SCCA Solo 2 and Prosolo National Championships. The Bobcat 1521™ compound has been found to last two-three times longer than OE pads you can purchase at a dealership or national retailer. Bobcat 1521™ compound has also been found to extend the life of your rotors 2-3 times. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use.
Carbotech™ AX6™ (1106™)
The AX6™ takes the place of the Panther Plus™ compound that was so successful. AX6™ was specifically engineered for Autocross applications. A high torque brake compound delivering reliable and consistent performance over a very wide operating temperature range (150°F to 1250°F +). Advanced compound matrix provides an excellent initial “bite”, high coefficient of friction, and very progressive brake modulation and release characteristics. AX6™ offers high fade resistance, rotor friendliness at all temperatures, excellent cold stopping power, and non corrosive dust. As a result, AX6™ is an excellent choice for Autocross & novice track day drivers and beginner high performance driver education (HPDE) drivers on street driven cars using street tires eliminating the need to change brake pads at the track. AX6™ has gained tremendous popularity with SCCA Prosolo/Solo2 competitors for its fantastic bite, release & modulation. Many drivers use the AX6™ for street driving as well, even though Carbotech doesn’t recommend street driving with AX6™ due to possible elevated levels of dust and noise. AX6™ is NOT a race compound, and should not be used as such. AX6™ shouldn’t be used by any intermediate or advanced track day drivers, and should not be used with “R” compound tires (racing tires). Cars in excess of 300hp and/or 3,000lbs should not use AX6™ for any track use.
Carbotech XP8™ (1108™)
A high torque brake compound with a wide operating temperature range (200°F-1350°F+). Carbotech XP8™ is the first of our racing compounds. Outstanding initial bite at race temperatures, high coefficient of friction, excellent modulation and release characteristics. Extremely high fade resistance, very rotor friendly with 100% non-corrosive dust. Excellent as a front brake pad for lighter ITA, ITB, ITC, SRF, H4, H5, and other cars that weigh less than 2,400lbs. Perfect for novice, intermediate and advanced track day (HPDE) use with any tire, and can still be driven safely to and from the track. There are several vehicles that use XP8™ on the street, autocross, and at track day (HPDE) events. Carbotech does NOT recommended XP8™ as a daily driven street pad due to elevated levels of dust and noise.

Norm

[woodside783]

Powerstop makes some great pads and rotors

[Sleepy]

I originally thought a brake system designed for a 580hp car will be fine for a car with half the power. That's like short shifting a ZL1 at 3000 rpm. It didn't made sense to me at first but I gave it some thoughts and I think your opinion have some basis. It looks like a car needs about 8 times the energy to double the speed but kinetic energy gained is only 4 times for brakes to slow down. The rest are lost through drag. So basically, engine power and braking power requirements do not increase linearly. Thanks for your input.