AlexM

They do need a while to bed in, and will need a bit more peddle pressure to stop you quickly when just fitted.

The AP racing kit says that you should brake gently at first, and gradually build up the pressure over 150-200 miles.

I noticed that the pedal felt slightly 'springy' until the pads had bedded in - if it doesn't improve then bleed the system again.

Cheers,

Alex

Deep Singh

Just had the following fitted on my STi4;AP 4 pots 310mm crossdrilled discs and greenstuff pads( steel hoses/5.1 fluid)I've read people describe this setup as awesome(I know it's usually with AP discs though) but mine feel almost worse than my original set up! The people who fitted them say it will take a few hundred miles to bedin and that at present only something like 20% of the pad and disc are making contact.Is this true, and how many fold will they increase in stopping power once bedded in.I may have saved some money by buying the Willwood discs but the setup still cost me £1100!! and unless it gets much much better it seems like I've just wasted a hell of alot of money. Can anybody reassure me.
ps also d'ont have any better pedal feel that so many people describe with the Goodridge steel hoses.Thanks in advance, Deep..

Deep Singh

Thanks for that Alex.Will the braking power significantly increase once bedded in then?
Anybody got experience of the Wilwood discs I'm running? Cheers. Deep.

JonH

Deep Singh,

I had my AP 4pot brake kit (purchased direct from AP with 304mm grooved discs and AP type ZC pads) on my STI 4 installed 2 weeks ago. However, I'm still in the process of bedding them in. What is the problem you're experiencing? If it's a soft pedal, all you need to do is bleed the brakes again. The people who installed my kit did not do a good job bleeding the brakes the first time around and the pedal felt extremely soft. I had them do it again right away (huge difference) and if done right, the pedal should be rock hard.

Deep Singh

Hi Jon thanks for replying.The problem is not only do I have a pedal feel that is no better than before but the braking power also feels no better than before.I thought that with this sort of set up I could basically stop with the sort of power that would have the passengers face on the windsreen.Can you tell me did your AP set up brake more effectivley than your originals right from the beginning?Thanks again. Deep.

Danny Fisher

Deep, you are bedding in NEW discs and pads at the same time. This will take longer than just running in a set of pads or discs.

Dan

AlexM

Deep,

I remember that mine felt pretty good from the start, but they get quite a bit better when fully bedded in.

Braking power is MUCH better than the STI 4-pots I had on my car previously.

You can trigger the ABS at very high speeds now if you're trying - the old brakes never generated enough braking force to do this and the car simply stands on it's nose. I need a suspension upgrade because it's too soft at the front to resist dive..

You still have to apply a reasonable amount of peddle pressure to do this, but you don't want it to be over sensitive anyway. Initial bite and feel is very good too.

I think I am using AP Japan pads, as supplied with their kit

Cheers,

Alex


[This message has been edited by AlexM (edited 08 April 2001).]

Deep Singh

Thanks everyone.Danny;thanks for the advice and sorry to have to ring you(again!!)
Alex,mine d'ont feel'pretty good from the start' but I'll wait a few hundred miles until they are bedded in before I start wondering if something is wrong.Cheers,Deep.

Rich_R

Did you remember to get the Goodridge hoses for the rears as well - quite a lot of people forget?

You mention that you are using greenstuff pads - you might want to experiment with other pads later if you are still unhappy. I tried greenstuff ages ago and didn't think much of them when really pushing.

My kit felt great after about 100 miles of 'careful' bedding in. I've got the AP 4 pot kit with AP Japan pads for road and carbon metalics for track.

Rich.

Stef

Deep.
The AP kit will not stop your car much quicker than a standard set-up, but it will allow you to do multiple stops without affecting the braking performance (with the right pads in). Greens were the best pads I had ever used on the road, but I haven't tried them in my AP's.
My kit worked fine from day one, literally! It was fitted the day before a track day at Donno!

Stef.

AlexM

Stef,

Sorry to disagree, but with the OEM setup I would get judder and vibration DURING a single stop from... any 3-digit speed , accompanied by a pretty bad drop off in retardation.

My conclussion was that the standard disks are absolutely crap and have lots of localised hot spots (lots of 5-10mm blue spots on the disks). Fade resistance was absolutely terrible, and the juddering and roughness was the worst I have ever experienced from any OEM setup.

As I said, I could never trigger the ABS at high speeds with my old 4-pots so I suspect that the pads and disk material have a higher coefficient of friction than the OEM setup. The disks are a little bigger too.

Cheers,

Alex

Deep Singh

I'm not sure if steel hoses were put on the back,I'll have to find out.I d'ont quite understand Stef's comment that the AP's w'ont stop the car quicker than the original set up.I've seen pictures of CK1 stopping and the front end car was almost touching the ground,my originals would never allow that!! I've also been in Danny Fisher's car(AP 6 pots though) and that certainly can stop harder and faster than my car. Cheers,Deep.

JonH

Deep,

I can say that the AP setup has been better right from the beginning as compared to my previous setup mainly because my old discs/pads were practically worn out (they were expensive ENDLESS/ZEAL grooved discs and ENDLESS CC-S pads with the STI 4 pots)

I think what Stef is trying to say is that in normal street conditions, the STI 4 pots (pads/discs in good condition) can produce enough braking force to stop the car (i.e. can take the tires to the limit of adhesion and/or engage ABS) and therefore the limit becomes grip from the tires and not necessarily the brake system. Where the standard system fails is in its inability to REPEAT these stops from high speeds without fade.

Hope this helps

JonH

Deep,

I can say that the AP setup has been better right from the beginning as compared to my previous setup mainly because my old discs/pads were practically worn out (they were expensive ENDLESS/ZEAL grooved discs and ENDLESS CC-S pads with the STI 4 pots)

I think what Stef is trying to say is that in normal street conditions, the STI 4 pots (pads/discs in good condition) can produce enough braking force to stop the car (i.e. can take the tires to the limit of adhesion and/or engage ABS) and therefore having more powerful brakes WITHOUT more grip will not help you stop any faster. Where the standard system fails is in its inability to REPEAT these stops from high speeds without fade.

Hope this helps

Stef

Alex.
AP did a test at Milbrook using an Audi A6, and there was hardly any difference in the stopping distance for the first couple of stops, but then the standard set-up faded rapidly whilst the AP kit was unaffected. The most imprtant part of the set-up though is the pads. I could put poo pads in my AP's and get worse performance than a standard setup with decent pads. Oh, and I believe the maximum limit on the Queen's highway is 70?

Deep.
I was using slicks in the pictures you're referring too, together with DS3000 pads, the most grippy pad I've ever used.

Jon.
That's exactly what I was trying to say, thanks

Stef.

Hoppy

Stef, weren't you on 16in wheels when those red-hot pics were taken? How did you get the pads to fit (bearing in mind that when worn that pad shape can foul the bells unless you get 4mm machined off the depth)?

Were they machined or were you just taking a chance?

In the interests of research etc...

Richard

ptholt

I have to admit that after reading all the glowing references on here i was VERY disapointed in my AP four pots for about the first 2-3 weeks.

Then i presumably got them nicely worn in and I have to say there much better than my standard STI stuff.

Deep Singh

Thanks everyone for your responses.Perhaps I misunderstood what the setup was going to give me.Also I'll have to reserve final judgement until everything is worn in.Maybe I've bought a setup that can only be fully appreciated on track,unfortunatley I d'ont do track days.Thanks once again to everyone for the advice given. Deep.