Neil Smalley

One off i'm afraid. I bought the prodrive PD7's with SO2's AND AP 6 pots for 2100 quid(800 quid for brakes, 1200 for the wheels and SO'2, 100 quid fitting) fully fitted. RRP of AP 6 pots are 1900 quid inc VAT.

The brakes came off a car that was being sold through the dealer. The cars new buyer did'nt want them(was he mad!!) so they were going spare.

IF you can wait, people do sell AP 6 pots second hand, but not very often. Reckon to pay 800-1000 quid 2nd Hand

Try a few of the dealers that advertise on here and see who offers the best deal, then play them off against the other to get some more money off.

Yep it is a stealth wagon, which is just what I intended it to be Thanks

Danny Fisher

Medders, my opion would be to go for AP/Brembo 4 pot brakes. These give great results. These also give a little better feed back from the pedal. I moved from AP 4 to AP 6 pot brakes sometime ago. The 6 pots give a little less warning about when they are going to lockup the ABS.

Dan

wacko

AP 6pots on a P1 are awesome. Only thing to remember is your space saver spare wheel may not go over them. Which means puncture at the front..... wheel off the back put on the front, and space saver put on rear.
They don't affect ABS, and brake dust is not a problem.

medders

Does anyone here have them? Are they truly wonderfull as has been suggested?

Are there any downsides (dust etc)
Does ABS still work?

Cheers

Medders

Neil Smalley

yes
Stunning performance, only thing that stops you quicker is a brick wall.

Yes
Expensive to run 200 quid pads, 480 quid discs and wear the tyres a lot. Also you will probably need to uprate the suspension as the back end gets very light under heaby braking.

Dust seems ok and easy to clean off.

Yes

The AP/Brembo 4 pot kit from scoobysport/mania is nearly as good, but is cheaper to buy and run. BUT if you must have the best AP 6 pot is the way to go

medders

Cheers Neil

Have you had to replace any discs yet?

Do they have the same warping / cracking problem that was common amongst standard turbo's

Have you got 17" wheels on your car?

Cheers

Neil Smalley

No because I bought a new set when I bought the brakes 2nd hand from a dealer(long story, bargain of the year etc etc ) The existing discs were fine, just that they were drilled and vented,grooved wear better. I also got new discs for a mega saving too.

No they have'nt warped or cracked yet(2K miles on them) but was very careful to bed them in properly (see

medders

Nice "stealth wagon"

Thanks a lot for all the info.

I'd heard that the official prodrive upgrade was prone to cracking and short wear times.
These look the business.

You have made my mind up

Was the source of your brakes deal a one off or do you know of a cheap dealer?

TopCat

Medders you could get an interesting offer if you had a mail address for AP brakes.

Send me your mail address or mail me

Moe

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

Medders

Interesting you mention about the problems with the Prodrive kit. These were due to the wrong pad being specified by Prodrive(DS3000). This is a track pad that gives a very high wear rate. The pad to fit is the DS2000 - All problems and claims were sorted by Prodrive. I had a new set of pads/discs and front wheels because the dust eat into them. the new DS2000 are no problem.
I too changed to a P1 and swapped the brakes over as well. Personally they look MUCH better than the AP picture above. Certainly don't look £2k worth ! Looks like some bolts are going rusty.
I've e-mailed a piccy for you to see.

Edited to say - I can't mail you as you don't have an address ?? Mail me if you want the piccy.

Steve.

[This message has been edited by SteveB (edited 03 September 2001).]

Mike Tuckwood

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Neil Smalley:
<B>yes
Stunning performance, only thing that stops you quicker is a brick wall.

Yes
Expensive.... 480 quid discs [/quote]

You're paying too mach then Neil, AP 330mm discs should only cost around £380.00 (the would from me anyway).

If you check the price of the Alcons <I>(which are only 4 pots and are nowhere near as good looking as the AP's), </I> you will find a frighteningly different (higher) price when you need to change a pair of those!


Mike.

Mellow Yellow !

iTrader: (1)

Had mine fitted last week by Mike at Scoobymania and put them through their paces at Trax and have to say they were fundamental in helping me lap several cars on the last session, I had a group N set up before but these babies are awesome ! Mike's sure to offer a good deal for serious people.

Adam M

AP six pots are the most amazing thing I have ever bought for my car. To say the alcons are better looking is also utter drivel, opinion is irrelevant the six pots look better

On another note, the alcons do not have separate discs and bells, so when the discs go you have to replace the lot in one shot! and as mike says they are more expensive.

Agree with danny though. They are the ultimate on the track, but since they have more breaking power for the same pedal travel than say the 305 mm disc, it would be easier to select your breaking power with a smaller disc.

On my one and only track day, I went out with danny, who kept talling me to stay of the brakes until 25 to 50m after the big BRAKE warning provided by the track organisers. To this day, I cannot believe how easily the car could shed 100mph. Of course the tyres being hot is a big help, I kept expecting the car to lock up, but it just simply stopped like hitting a brick wall.

awesome.

If thinking about the alcons just remember one thing, the formula teams dont skimp on brakes. What do they use?

admittedly ferrari with infinite budget use Brembo, but since Brembo now own AP, I think it is academic.

Neil Smalley

Mike, Typo on my part, thanks for pointing it out You're right, should be 380.

medders

So, 6 pots are the best.
Do they have to be warmed up ?
Where's the best place to get some?

Cheers

Medders

Mike Tuckwood

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by medders:
<B>So, 6 pots are the best.</B> YES!<B>
Do they have to be warmed up ? </B>No.<B>
Where's the best place to get some? </B>

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

Medders,
Let just hope you don't have a warranty claim ! I've seen a few threads on here from people with problems.

Neil,
If my brakes had that much rust on them i'd put in a claim.

You all need your eyes testing if you think the shoddy finish on the AP's is better than the Alcons!

Cheers

Steve

medders

Oh christ. I'd just got my head sorted and you say that

I was under the impression that the only part of the warranty it could mess with would be direct brake problems.

Please enlighten me.

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

Paul,

I didn't mean with your car warranty but any problems you may encounter with the brakes. ie, warping discs etc. I'll try and find the post.

Steve.

Danny Fisher

Steve, IF you warp AP discs, then your doing someting WRONG....

I have taken them on track 4 times now, and still haven't warpped them.

If you was to warp them then AP should replace/skim them for you.

Dan

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

Have a look

Mike Tuckwood

You've got to compare like for like, the picture on the link SteveB is on is of a brand new set of Alcons in a showroom.

The picture Neil Smalley posted is of a set that have seen battle.

AP kits come with braided hoses, seperate discs and bells and have an <B>un-rivalled</B> reputation fro provis=ding the best brakes in the world.

How much of the F1 or WRC grid is on Alcons?
Why did Brembo buy AP Racing?

Mike.

polarbearit

Paul,
if its the Alcons you are after then they are £1300 at Tileys in Bristol at the moment. As to whether they are better than AP's, I'll leave that argument to the experts.

Jon

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

Mike,

Fair comment, but then, yours isn't exactly an unbiased view is it ?
I've had my Alcon kit on for around 15 months now and thay DO NOT show any signs of rust or corrision as the AP set on Neils car above.

From the various threads on the brake subject and the problems people have had with claiming for various problems from various suppliers(yours included), I felt it safer to go with a Prodrive product from my dealer(I had a claim and this was dealt with to my satisfaction). As I don't have my kit fitted to either a WRC or a F1 car, what they fit is irrelavent.

Steve.

carl

On that basis, which cars WRC teams use is irrelevant to the ordinary driver who does not rally their car.

So, why do you have a Scoob? (and why have Subaru et al invested a <I>lot</I> of money in their WRC programmes -- it sure isn't for love)

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

I'm not naive enough to think my car is anything like a WRC. It's a bit like saying BMW's must be the best cars because their engines are the most powerful in F1 ?
I love my car car for various reasons not associated with rallying.

Steve.

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

Hey, It wasn't me that started saying "Ap's are best, everything else is cr#p" ! I was just trying to give my view after a fairly lengthy decision process. After all some of the upgrades that are on offer aren't cheap but have had considerable problems(Alcons asside), Brembo discs spring to mind. I remember mike stating on a thread that he could warp a set within 10 minutes of road use !

Adam, I didn't pay £32k for my P1 nor do people pay £20k for a new STI. I don't think we need to get into that debate again.
I didn't watch rallying before I bought my Scoob.

I don't believe there is much difference in all the full upgrade kits. I t maybe just th at the people with the AP kit on this thread are more vocal.

medders

Thanks for all the info guys.
I wasn't expecting such a fierce debate.
I like the sound of keeping my full warranty with the prodrive kit, but if I was spending in the region of £1500 I did want "the best" (and I'm not saying which is best cos I don't know)

From what people are saying the prodrive kit is now sorted but AP's have the edge with performance.

Has anyone been back to a dealer with wheel or brake problems whilst they've got AP's on?

I remember the reception I got from a dealer when I took my first modded scoob back to them. They helped, but were very wary indeed!

This will be the clincher I feel....

wacko

My Subaru dealer happily services my car, and will replace pads under a service for me if required. Although he may have to order pads in, or i can supply and he'll fit.
In the event of a problem, just keep your old disks and calipers. However, fitting AP will only invalidate warrantly on the bits you have naturally replaced not the entire car.

Mike Tuckwood

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by SteveB:
<B>Mike,

Fair comment, but then, yours isn't exactly an unbiased view is it ?Steve.[/quote]

No, you're quite right it isn't.
I have had a couple of brake discs changed under warranty, with no problems out of all of the kits I've sold over the last 2 years(tracked down to one particular production run).

Far less than "warranty issues" all widely posted on here relating to ANY other manufacturer, (particularly Alcon).

Ask Arron Bird about his Alcon kit "issues" or Chuckster about the same.

Primarily the difference is better kit, better looking, Cheaper, cheaper to up-keep, Does Not affect warranty!

AP kits are fully warranted, though the chances of ever needing to use that warranty though are tiny!

This has been covered loads of times, for a dealer to refuse the failure (in the UK) of any item, they would have to PROVE that the modification directly caused the failure.

And as the cars are clearly capable of having "Big Brake" kits fitted, they are obviously happy that componenets in that sytem are capable of carrying the extra loads..

I'm not aware of any failures or issues in that area. Check out alternative pad prices and discs etc, but then again if money is no problem.

SteveB

I think you will find that, what you can see in those bolt heads is pad residue/crap, The area that is dirty is coated and as that area is fixed at manufacture, it can't have had the coating taken off. perhaps Neil can confirm?

Mike.