Improving clamping force
 

Hi all,

I want to improve my Brakes, I will do the usual better discs and pads but was curious if many people bother or look at changing Master and slave cylinders to increase braking force?

Is this worth bothering with? Anyone done this or any experts who can advice please? This is on a 2003 JDM. I am not really interested in going to a big brake set up just improving upon the Brembos and make it as good as it can be. Thanks for any advice.

Rory

Cusco/ tegiwa brakestopper and also braided brake lines will help

Zany,

Yeah that's on the list as is on my Bug STI already, was just trying to think outside the norm see if playing around Master/Slave would have any benefits as well. Thank you though for your reply 👍🏼

Interesting that it's a JDM. I bought an 04 JDM recently and the brakes have virtually no feel at all. I have Brembos with grooved disks and braided lines but they just have no bite to them. Its like constantly having cold track pads. I'm pretty sure my problem is probably just the pads so need to swap them for something a little softer but not sure of what people are recommending. Don't really want EBC but open to other suggestions.

It is not popular and I really can't figure out why but I have Stoptech disc and pads, new fluid, goodridge braided lines and a brake stopper but for the life of me I don't know which one.The disc & pads are great together but as said not hugely popular. Stops fantastic, this may sound stupid but you really feel them stopping well. Some set ups work well but you don't feel it working well, I'm sure I will get grief for that statement. This is on A Prodrive Bug STI so no DCCD so in theory a lighter newage which possibly helps. The JDM is now on braided lines, brake stopper, Tarox discs & DS2500 pads. I will be picking it up later today & will let you know what it's like. Would still be interested to know if anyone has experience of messing with cylinders to improve clamping forces as it is common on other makes to improve braking.

A decent pad will sort out the "feel" issues. Forget about Brembo pads, DS2500, or EBC - try Carbone Lorraine RC5+, RC6, Carbotech XP10, Performance Friction Z or PF08.

Clamping force isn't really a problem with STi Brembo calipers - with a decent pad they perform extremely well under normal operating temperatures. The weakness of the Brembo is they retain heat and therefore contribute to fade / fluid boiling when used extremely hard, which why the typical upgrade path beyond pads, fluid and braided lines is two-piece discs.

I was all set to bin my Brembos and get something bigger/better* but when some Performance Friction discs and PFZ pads came up on here I jumped on them and they transformed the car. As said, the heat dissipation is the weak point on the Brembos with single piece discs.

I really enjoyed Cadwell with the PFs on, even though the Z rated pads are more fast road than track apparently.

Well picked up the JDM & im sure the brake set up is better on the Bug but I'm sure they will need bed in and get a few good heat cycles in them before I can say for sure. I will look at heat management as by the sounds of it the rest is easily remedied. Thank you to all for the info along the way. Rory.

The pad combination will have a huge effect on braking in my experience.

Interested to hear how you get on with the tarox discs and ds2500. Which discs did you go for? The sport japan ones are supposed to be decent.

Also curious to hear about the Cadwell experience - did the discs get deposits or warp at all?

I wonder how far a good quality single piece disc and pad in conjunction with the standard brembos can go while tracking a newage STI. I'd love to get a girodisc, PF 2 piece setup or something but the costs are just quite high for a car that might get tracked once or twice a year.

G88 discs, really need get them bedded in then have a bit of a thrash and see what's what. Need wheels balancing first as it moves about a bit under heavy braking at the moment which is a pain. Will get back to you though about the disc/pad combo when I have had a play!

At Snetterton, a very brake-heavy track, I ran single-piece discs and CL RC6. By mid-afternoon the fluid had boiled and the caliper had got so hot that it changed colour from the OEM gold to a dark bronze. When I got the car home and inspected it I noticed all of the front piston seals had melted.

That was running with the backing plates still installed - these have since been removed.

Curious how your Tarox discs ended up performing? Funny story that, Plenty. I can imagine you cooked them really good, especially with a decent pad. Heat dissipation is the issue with the Brembo calipers!! Hence my curiosity on what the 'higher end' single piece discs end up being like - i.e. if you could get away doing a track day or two a year and not going too nuts on them.

Two piece ones seem quite excessive for a car I might take out once or twice a year.

Drakesnow,

I have found them to be pretty good now bedded in. I have ATE Superblue brake fluid which I'm led to believe is very good (have no idea personally). The one issue I have so far with the discs is under moderate braking I can feel the grooves through the brake peddle, under harsh braking that sensation goes away. Yet to do a track day with them but so far I like them. Obviously time will tell but so far I've done about 900 miles pleasure driving, no commuting or school runs and they are doing well. 👍🏼