At first, I tried factory... wasn't very happy, even on the street. Brakes just had very little grab & didn't want to stop the car, even in bumper to bumper traffic. Pads felt soft & low friction, and that I'm not used to from my other cars.
Mod 1: Castrol SRF fluid & Mintex Xtreme Motorsport pads. Just bleeding the brakes & changing to this fluid made the pedal firmer than it was stock. These pads also had a slightly harder feel & greater friction level that improved overall braking. They need to bed in properly & transfer material to the rotors for best braking, as their chemical makeup is different than stock.
Mod 2: Added Racing Brake 2pc front rotors with aluminum hats & slotted discs. More bite & brakes felt much better overall. Car should have _at least_ came from the factory like this. If I had also put the rears on, it may have been OK for the most part, until pushed at near race pace anyway...
Even with this setup, some problems I found included brake pads that still wore out a little faster than I liked. Especially with 20 pads that were a slight pain to change. The Mintex last longer than stock, and were a great dual purpose pad, but I got tired of changing 20 pads before every track weekend. I also noted some pad/piston "knock back" that left me with the pads not touching the rotors in some circumstances, and that millisecond delay in brake application I hate...
Mod 3: Full AP Racing brake kit front & rear. Haven't tracked it yet, but it feels nice after I bed in the pads & expect it to work well. Rotors are all 2pc and slightly larger than stock. Pads are all easy change, with 6 piston fronts & 4 rear. I'll post updates after the track event.
Next mod is to cover the front steering knuckles to protect from radiant brake heat & possibly add spindle ducts if needed.
Thanks very much for your reply. I am looking for a night & day difference to be honest with you. My friend's BMW M6 feels so tight, smooth, and confident when braking. This is definitely the feel I want. Someone told me nothing is better than Brembo's - is this true? or just opinion? My tuner said $8k for a full set? (ouch)
Thanks very much for your reply. I am looking for a night & day difference to be honest with you. My friend's BMW M6 feels so tight, smooth, and confident when braking. This is definitely the feel I want. Someone told me nothing is better than Brembo's - is this true? or just opinion? My tuner said $8k for a full set? (ouch)
Brembo & AP are now the same company (Brembo bought AP I believe), but I think most of their technology is still seperate. They have always been the top 2 choices in most forms of motorsport, and make up the majority of the grid at many events. StopTech is a relatively new company (by comparison) but has been gaining a good following.
Personally, I've had Brembo & AP before this car & both are excellent. A buddy has StopTech on his BMW & feels they are good, but didn't rave about them. My big reason for going with AP over the Brembo was pad selection & pad change method. I didn't like having to drop the Brembo caliper to change pads & there aren't many pads available yet (I'm sure more will come out eventually though). With my AP's, it's a regular quick change pad setup, so I could do it before & after events without breaking a sweat if I wanted full race pads at the track. Also I went with the black AP calipers (you have a choice of red or black) as the black have a special paint treatment that is more resistant to damage from brake fluid or pad dust in racing environments.
Maybe I can get a chance this weekend to take some pics for 'ya. Track feedback wont be for another 3 weeks.
Thanks very much for your reply. I am looking for a night & day difference to be honest with you. My friend's BMW M6 feels so tight, smooth, and confident when braking. This is definitely the feel I want. Someone told me nothing is better than Brembo's - is this true? or just opinion? My tuner said $8k for a full set? (ouch)
One question... are you just looking for "better feel" or are you going to track the h*ll out of the car & looking for ultimate high temp stopping reliability at the track?
If it's "better feel", I think you can probably get away with keeping the stock calipers & upgrading some other components... (pads, rotors, lines, fluid)
Brembo definitely has the name. Stop Tech definitely has the following. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. You want top quality, look into Alcons. Good luck.
Porterfield R4 will work well, but squeal. R4S will not be "enough" for track use, but fine on the street.
If not wanting to swap the full system yet, I'd suggest you try Castrol SRF fluid, Hardbar front 2pc rotors (solid face, not slotted or cross drilled), and Racing Brake 3pc rear rotors, and Mintex Xtreme Motorsport pads.
This will give you a setup with more grip, better feel & better overall performance than stock. You'll still spend about 2.5k for it all though...
One question... are you just looking for "better feel" or are you going to track the h*ll out of the car & looking for ultimate high temp stopping reliability at the track?
If it's "better feel", I think you can probably get away with keeping the stock calipers & upgrading some other components... (pads, rotors, lines, fluid)
I'm not tracking the car anytime soon... I'm just looking for tight, confident feeling brakes. No fluttering, etc. "Track quality"y wouldn't be a bad thing, but not necessary...
I'm not tracking the car anytime soon... I'm just looking for tight, confident feeling brakes. No fluttering, etc. "Track quality"y wouldn't be a bad thing, but not necessary...
I might be the contrarian here, but I think a BBK is a big waste of money, especially considering your goal. I've owned a couple of BMW M3's, a Porsche 997S, and have driven the M6 your reference. With the right pads, the C6 ZO6 brakes are better than any BMW I have driven, and fully equal to the Porsche, maybe a bit over-boosted compared to the Porsche, but just as effective, and better than the BMW. But, if you are having disappointing performance in street driving, that doesn't sound like the pads. The OE pads are fully competent for street conditions, both in friction level and feel.
I'm not tracking the car anytime soon... I'm just looking for tight, confident feeling brakes. No fluttering, etc. "Track quality"y wouldn't be a bad thing, but not necessary...
Then you might want to try the setup I mentioned yesterday with the pads, rotors & fluid. While you're in there you may want stainless lines, but their improvement is minor at best.
Location: siberia or some place with similar weather
Posts: 253
Re: Upgrade Brakes: 2008 Z06 - Suggestions?
Excuse me if this is ig'nant, but I don't fully understand the complaints about the brakes. Relative to a Boxster S I had before getting the 'Vette, they are less linear. Initially soft then grabbier, so the car is less easy to brake smoothly, but I don't think they're much less effective if any. Is that the thing?
Location: siberia or some place with similar weather
Posts: 253
Re: Upgrade Brakes: 2008 Z06 - Suggestions?
I do hate all the dust. I've never had this much brake dust on everything. I wiped my rims this morning and they're coated pretty well already... The boxster never had that kind of problem.
I do hate all the dust. I've never had this much brake dust on everything. I wiped my rims this morning and they're coated pretty well already... The boxster never had that kind of problem.
That goes away after the first few thousand miles.... but the brakes just plain suck. GM dropped the ball BIG TIME with the brakes. The fact that everyone who tracks the car replaces everything before they do so is a perfect example...
That goes away after the first few thousand miles.... but the brakes just plain suck. GM dropped the ball BIG TIME with the brakes. The fact that everyone who tracks the car replaces everything before they do so is a perfect example...
Our track experiences are obviously very different. I don't believe over 10% of the C6 ZO6's I run with have non-OE brakes, probably less than the average among other street cars used on track. Most of those are folks who replace stuff for the sake of modding. Nothing wrong with that, but in this case, not necessary. Unless you have a mechanical problem unique to your car, I believe you can find a pad that will offer the performance you seek. The Hawk DTC 60 and 70 have worked very well for me, but driving styles and track demands differ.
Z06 brakes are "good" from the factory, but not the greatest I have ever used. Will they stop the car? Of course... But out of all my cars, they do in fact have the worst feel, both in grip, linearity & overall performance. Not to mention the 20 "padlets" suck to change before & after every event. That was a big factor in me upgrading to the AP's.
Bottom line, is that the factory system can work just fine for _most_ people, whether it's street or track. It will just have some limitations, that _some_ people won't want to put up with. For me, it was the pack knock-back on the track that left me without brakes for a few milliseconds that pissed me off, combined with the 20 pads to change & ridiculously high unsprung mass of the front rotors.
But hey, I admit I'm picky, and that most will be fine with stock calipers, if they just upgrade the fluid, pads, and rotors.
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