The Stranger

Looking for a "budget" brake upgrade for my c5 z06. My stock calipers have caliper spread and need a rebuild. Pretty much garbage. The knockback I get is incredible. I'm looking into perhaps c6 z06 brakes, but will obviously need larger wheels.

Thoughts?

AU N EGL

for street use you will be ok, for track use you may want to consider something better. Track wise you will burn though a set of C6Z06 brake pads in a weekend.

StopTech are some great brakes.

The Stranger

I'm primarily concerned with track use. I would use dedicated track pads, and rotors. The problem is that "something better" is quite a bit more expensive, as I would like to upgrade front and rear brakes.

AU N EGL

I understand, even with track pads you will burn through a set in a track weekend.

some of us just toss the old calipers and buy new calipers each winter.

The stock C6Z wheels will fit over.

The Stranger

Stock c6Z wheels will not fit on my c5 z06 as the offsets are different. Unless I'm missing something here?

charger21

Use the 18in rear C5 ZO6 wheels at all 4 corners. Many people run this set up with C6Z brakes

The Stranger

If the factory 18's will clear the c6z brakes then that may be the most cost efficient option.

mgarfias

You can slide on a wide-5 set of wilwoods (not the skinnys) to use the stock rotors for about $1100. No thermlock pistons, but you can upgrade to those later.

Pads are the 20mm thick 7420, and freaking cheap compared to pads for the OEM calipers.

LG makes the mounts, and you can get the calipers for under list if you make phone calls. I suggest van steel.

0Superman09

Shoot me a PM if you're interested in an affordable Big Brake Kit. No cheap z06 rotors, includes 2 piece fixed or floating rotors, aluminum hats, 6 piston front, 4 piston rear calipers, single piece pads, all hardware, 14" front and rear!

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...r-xyz-hre.html

John Shiels

Wilwood SL-6 as above 7420 pad. Thick pad.

The Stranger

So what you're saying is to purchase just the Wilwood calipers, and install those instead of the factory units? Will just a caliper upgrade improve my braking performance?

Bill Dearborn

The LG G Stop kit works well. I used one on my 03Z for several years until I sold the car. Uses the 7420 pad which gives great pad life, stock rotors and fits under the OEM C5 Z06 front wheel. With Wilwood 7420 H compound pads I could get 8 to 10 track days out of a set of pads and the pads ran right around $200 a couple of years ago. The kit is for the front only. My stock calipers were fine but the Wilwoods gave me consistent brake pedal effort and stroke. The pedal was the same each time I hit it.

Bill

longdaddy

the advantage of going to 18" wheels in the front is that you can run bigger rotors. bigger rotors - longer rotor life.

i went wilwood route and while it is nice to have longer pad life and calipers that don't change shape after a season, if I had to do it again, I would have gone to bigger wheels/rotors.

on the other hand, if i had to choose between stock rotor sizes + wilwoods or C6z sizes + C6Z PBR calipers, I would probably still do wilwoods. PBR is not in the racing business and it shows in their products.

The Stranger

Will that LG G stop kit fit under the c5 z06 stock 17's up front, or will I have to do the 18" rears?

longdaddy

yep you can keep 17

mgarfias

Exactly. The pedal feel is much better, especially when hot. If you do it though, make sure you run with the wide-5 radial caliper. PM me and I can get you part #s. The "skinny" SL6R uses a 7416 pad, which is 4mm thinner, and there is less meat in the caliper.

Other than that, its just a bolt on. Yeah, you're still on the crappy c5 rotor, but at least they're cheap. You could also "upgrade" to a c6 rotor with its thicker cheeks, OR if you wanted to spend some cash, call up hardbar and get his T1 rotor kit with a two piece floating setup.

I wouldn't even consider the C6Z caliper simply due to pad cost.

longdaddy

your theoretical maximum braking performance in terms of stopping distance will likely stay identical - tires determine most of that, as long as your brakes are still functional.

the pedal feel will stay more consistent, tapering issues will not cause you to throw away pads with third to half the material still left (although you will still see some taper), and it will take higher level of abuse to glaze or otherwise damage your pads, and generally, one set of pads will last much longer.

just because of longer lasting, cheaper pads, I calculated that if I keep the car for another 2 years or so, doing the events with same frequency, the kit will actually pay for itself in pad cost savings!

also, the benefits of more predictable pedal feel could translate into being able to brake later and closer to the threshold of traction/ABS, mostly because you will have higher confidence.

mgarfias

What longdaddy said. Absolute stopping distances won't change much, and if they do get better its because you have better modulation over the brakes and can ride a bit closer to lockup/abs.

What they do help with is inspiring confidence. When they get hot, the pedal doesn't sink all the way to the floor. They're not an AP race caliper though, don't expect miracles. But the bang for the buck is awesome.

The Stranger

You aren't referring to the same AP 4 piston race caliper that Gary at Hardbar sells are you? If that T1 brake kit really is up to par with all the hype then that may be something that I should look into.

mgarfias

I was mostly referring to a real AP race caliper in general, be it the T1 kit, or a set of Radi-cals. I don't have any experience with the AP kit, but others here have that I trust, and If i could afford it thats what I'd go with, provided I had to stay inside the 17" wheel.

Check though, it might not fit inside the OEM 17" wheel.