Goldeneye

Currently got standard Subaru 4 pots and I'm now considering a bigger brake upgrade to complement the other mods I've done and got planned for the future.

I've got the wheels to accommodate the Brembos but the question is do I go for these (second hand) or the AP's (probably the 4 pot 330mm setup)?

Has anyone gone from the Brembos to the AP's and found a vast difference at all? I don't generally test the limits of my current set up, but there is the odd occasion.

Trackdays could be a possibility in the future, too.

Thanks

stockcar

the AP caliper is far superior in terms of outright stopping power and also heat dissipation (being alloy rather than cast iron!! of STi Brembo's)
so you will see a benefit from the AP set-up even if you have a std STi7-8, etc..........
also much more suited to hard trackuse being 2-piece discs rather than solid (that you will 'warp' if used to excess!!)

personally if the cash is not at issue wouldn't go past the AP's................
alyn - asperformance.com

Goldeneye

Cheers Alyn.

MrFlibble

Passed the magnet test - had me worried there for a moment!

dbasteve

Both the STi Brembos and AP calipers are Aluminium. The old 4 pot Subaru caliper is Cast iron. Pre 2002 STi.

The Sti Brembo has 40mm and 46mm pistons where the CP5200 AP 4 pot has 38.1mm and 41.3mm pistons which will reduce the clamp pressure for the same pedal effort. The advantage of the AP will be a firmer pedal as less pedal stroke is required.
Both are good calipers. The Brembos are less prone to squeal as they have the mount cast in the body where the Ap's require a bracket.

stockcar

they may both be ali, but check the weight difference (which was my point!!).....................and the brembo's are mass produced fashion items
the STi brembo's are very poor in all areas in comparison to a "proper" caliper!!

try asking any "evo" or hard used "sti" owner about the probs they experience.....

dbasteve

No doubt AP make the best race calipers around!

I wouldn't put down either product because they designed for different purposes. The Brembo's are an O.E complient street performance caliper (I.E NVH Complient) and the AP's are a high performace street/track caliper where noise doesn't concern serious drivers.

I look after the brakes on a couple of STi's in GTP racing and I've seen a few O.E calipers toasted at that level of use. No argument there.

Note: Goldeneye is not doing track days.

NVH = Noise, Vibration, Harshness.

Regards
Steve Gavin
Engineering Manager
Disc Brakes Australia

MrFlibble

Interesting comments. Do APs squeal?

dbasteve

In some cases they can.

I've been called out to look at plenty of cars with a nice AP kit that has a noise problem. Not because of a fault in the product. But because they are fitted as a show peice and aren't driven hard enough.

stockcar

sorry steve have to agree to disagree.........
have experience of the "brembo" street caliper in various forms of 'production' spec race and rally cars (and also lots of evo & sti road customers) and the biggest problems with this caliper are specifically NOISE, heat retention and ultimately stopping ability (although we are talking at trackday / competition level)
in 99% of cases where we have converted to an AP set-up the customer has reported less NOISE (in cases with same friction or even higher friction pads!!) and an increase in ability in all other areas...............

the original question was to specifically compare these two and potentially use on trackdays...........
cheers, alyn - asperformance.com

p.s. maybe their are specific spec. differences Australia to UK which take account of our differing experiences??

Goldeneye

Steve

As I said in my original post, trackdays are a possibility in the future.

Having read all the very informative comments on here, I don't think the Brembos are going to be the route for me, partly due to the fact that they won't fit under two of my three sets of wheels (and I don't want to change them) and partly because of the cast iron (pun intended ) reputation of AP's for top quality braking performance.

dbasteve

Maybe the Aussies I have had to deal with drive like big girls...
The workshops that sell these kits usually make up their own brackets which may be the problem too.

O.K you win!

Are the 4 pots you get in this kit CP5200's?

CP5200's and CP5570's are the most popular AP's here.

STi Paul

Hi Peeps
Just to put my penny in, when I changed the OE pads (to ferodo2500) in the Brembo caliper it made a big differance to the performance, ie very little fade on the track, but the caliper got VERY hot, hot enough to warp the discs, even after a couple of no-brake cooling down laps, also around town, eg slow speeds, they squealed a lot.
Since changing to the APs I have had no squealing, and not much extra noise, (I did get a little, which I expected, using grooved discs) zero fade and no warped discs yet.
Although I have the 6 pot, the design for the 4 is the same.
I would highly recommend the AP set-up, from street, to track.

Paul

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

DBA Steve, where were you when I wanted some of your loverly 2 piece discs for my std 4 pots? I tried to get them from MRT without success. I have seen them for sale via a distributer over here now and if it weren't for the fact that I had to buy AP 4 pots, I'd have a set of your discs now.

IMHO from what I've seen of the Brembos on track, driven by complete loonies, they have stood up quite well with only one set 'warping' on a relatively mildy driven car (and that may have been the problem). I hated Brembos but the STi set up looked up to the job of stopping Stis on track (and they weigh slightly less than a small planet). I have to admit that if the Brembos were the same price as AP's then I'd get APs every day. Only go for the Brembos if half the price or less.

F
PS DBA do the bells in nice colours too!

dbasteve

I've been hiding on Tracey Island with Brains and Virgil.
Silverfish Performance sell our product in the U.K now.

From experience with production car racing the wheel bearings usually flog out before the calipers work too hard.