Vince99FRC

The C5's come with 2 piston front and 1 piston rear calipers.. Even Ford rides out with 4 piston fronts.. How does GM get away with running such a meager brake system when the majority of people mod the hell out of their cars..?

I guess that is why the C6Z rolls on 6 pistons.. What does the regular C6 run?

Timz06

They get away with it because the system works fine.

DeeVeeEight

It keeps the folks at SEMA happy too!

gkmccready

C6 non-Z runs the exact same calipers as the C5. Opinions on the C6Z calipers seem pretty negative...

davidfarmer

the number of pistons means nothing. The thing that makes them crappy is the weak "backbone". They flex too much, permanantly after only a handfull of events (with aggressive pads and driving).

outnumbered

They are also the same as earlier Mustang GT's

BQuicksilver

Relatively big pads....

AU N EGL

The stock PBR corvette caliepers with race pads and race brake fluid can stop harder and underbrake( stop quicker ) then most BBKs. The number of pistions means nothing.

I have driven a Porsche with a BIG RED <KOFF KOFF> BBK and I sware ther thin would never stop. The owner said it had race pads on too.

Vince99FRC

If what you guys say is true then something must be wrong with my braking system. I purchased the AC/DELCO C5 cross drilled and slotted rotors in hopes of better braking along with the AC/DELCO pads.. The only difference is I dont have the shutter when braking hard from trying to stop at 180mph. I changed the brake fluid to DOT5 last year and I dont notice any better stopping. My Supra with 4 piston stock toyota rotors and stock Toyota pads stops better and its heavier..

I got in my buddies 4000lb Cobra and with the stock calipers and brembo rotors along with Hawk brake pads his car out stopped mine..

AU N EGL

Drilled rotors are only for bling, not performance stopping. Companys only put drilled and slotted rotors for marketing purposes as customer want them.

Those of us who track the c5 use the plain sided $25 NAPA rotos.

Next brake pads, the stock Chevy C5Z06 brake pads are a good combination of street and light duty track pads. For strickly track use some race pads, PFC01s, Wilwood H, Hawk DTC70 & DTC60 for the rear.

an other race pad that can be use on the street somewhat are the Carbotech XP12 front and XP10 rear.

Last is your brake fluid. Need to change to fresh DOT 4 brake fluid. DOT 5 must NEVER be used. It is silcon fluid and does not work with ABS systems.

Castrol LMA or Valvaline synth power will do in a pinch. Otherwise ATE Super Blue ATE 200, Motul 600 or Castral SRF


HTH

Vince99FRC

Then I will change my fluid when my Rotors Online Rotors arrive. I will change to the Carbotech XP12 and 10's when I get back home for good this coming January.

thehammer69

Cross drilling and slotting actually reduce brake pad contact area. There was a time where race pads needed that type of rotor for outgassing, but for the most part, you get superior braking with solid rotor faces.

As far as your brake fluid...I sure hope you meant Dot 5.1

Hammer

Vince99FRC

I actually had the parts and fluid installed at the dealership. Maybe they did use DOT 5.1. I told them what I had planned for the car..

AVB

You'll love those pads Also, SS lines will add to firming things up if you don't already have them.


Arnel

Vince99FRC

I just want to be able to stop my TT Vette.

NoOne

High end braking is not all about stopping.

I'd take the wild guess that my Z06 pads and my H pads stop me in about the same distance....once....I can stop 10 times in a row with my H's, while about the 3rd stop your reaching for the prayer book.

Stopping anything from 180 unless done properly is not going to last.

On top of that ceramic pads are probably the worst out there for brake performance, they just do not dust.

The stock system is fine for the street and if the calipers did not stretch or have a problem with tapering they'd be great for light to moderate track duty.

Stopping power is a matter of friction, you can get the same clamp load with 1 piston or with 8. Consistent performance, no pad taper, longer pad life, even pad wear, better heat shedding, etc is more the function of multiple pistons.

1 piston is a giant heat sink draining heat into one area of the caliper. 8 pistons distribute 1/8 the heat to 8 different places. 8 pistons push the pad evenly across the rotor.

Clamp load seems to be the easiest thing in braking, its all the rest of the stuff that is tough to sort out.

I'm more concerned by the compliance in the front end. In my FD I could stand on the brakes, 4 piston tiny little Brembo's with Hawk Blue's and the car would about stand on nose. I barely had to hold the wheel dropping from 140. In the C5 I can do the same but I'm driving the car down from those speeds, it doesn't stop as straight and true.

IMO from what your doing or wanting to do its best to start things like this into your own hands. Do your own research, do a bit of your own work and get a better understanding of how it all works.

Paying the dealer to do this kind of work, for the speeds your talking, is putting your life into someone else's hands.

TooManyIDs

Too Tall Bob

Your local dealership is only going to install brake parts that will bring the brake system back to OEM specs. They have no idea what it takes when running these brake systems at the track.

Honestly, with proper brake lines, Napa rotors, good high-temp fluid changed regularly, and good track pads that were listed earlier, the stock brakes are pretty darn good! And, don't forget the brake ducting for repeated hard stops!

Bill Dearborn

Car and Driver ran a 0 to 150 to 0 test several years ago with stock C5s and moded C5s along with some other make tuner cars. The stock C5 didn't win the overall but it had the best braking performance in the group.

Bill

John Shiels

always safer to make it stop fast before go fast. They are OK for street use and track use for a short time. Pad choice is the most important if you want to stop fast even once.