Need Advice, experience & recommendations on Big Brake Kit

[Ryan S]

queue the sarky comments about brake bias

[GeorgeL]

Haha I was thinking about that myself actually! Waiting on someone jumping on it.

To be fair though as much as some go on about it all... There is only one kit available for the sw20 that has been properly developed to be balanced and that's the tarrox kit.

I would be doing the back as well as the front.

(I had looked at the BBK brackets to take the supra/rx8 set up but just don't know how good they are compared to what I'm after)

It's just to save me having to go to the hassle of getting brackets and bells etc
Made to adapt a custom set up I had in mind. Probably save money too lol!

[Ryan S]

i thought about doing that too, just the adapters and bigger discs, from what i've read, the 200sx calipers with supra discs doesn't have that bad an affect on the brake balance, also, would putting carbotech pads on the front shift the balance?? i doubt it, upgrading a 20 year old design can only be a good thing.

[GeorgeL]

Very true mate.. I'd love to try someone's who has got it done to see how good it was. Hopefully someone will shed some light on it. It's definitely a much cheaper option to compared to some of the stuff I've seen :0

[Ryan S]

mine will be going on shortly and i'm in Glasgow every other week, you're more than welcome to try mine

[slipping clutch]

queue the sarky comments about brake bias

Here you go - wouldn't want to disappoint you.
Although I would have thought a comment from some one who has actually upgraded their brakes would have been looked upon more as useful rather than sarcastic.Please note my comments are made solely around my rev 1 set up and my experience in setting up my own car.
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=177058

[Peter Gidden]

would putting carbotech pads on the front shift the balance??

Potentially dangerous. Putting Carbotechs on one axle can create enough imbalance to upset the ABS system.

[Ryan S]

would putting carbotech pads on the front shift the balance??

Potentially dangerous. Putting Carbotechs on one axle can create enough imbalance to upset the ABS system.

meh, i'd rather just upgrade the brakes completely anyway.

[JAAASH]

(I had looked at the BBK brackets to take the supra/rx8 set up

Are these still available then? Or is it just a case of waiting for someone to sell up?

[Peter Gidden]

would putting carbotech pads on the front shift the balance??

Potentially dangerous. Putting Carbotechs on one axle can create enough imbalance to upset the ABS system.

meh, i'd rather just upgrade the brakes completely anyway.

Unless you're tracking the car, decent pads are all that are needed for a fast road car.

Admitedly, big brakes showing through wheels will have a higher KFC car park innit factor than pro. spec. pads.

[Ryan S]

i've had 4 mr2s Peter and every one of them have had the discs warp on me. on my current car i'm 100% getting shot of these, my personal opinion is that the brakes aren't big enough, as for asthetics, i don't really care about that, as for the 100s of mr2s that the discs haven't warped on, then the drivers clearly aren't breaking as hard as i am

just to add, my rev2 tubby, i actually felt the discs warp as it happened during an emergency stop

[Peter Gidden]

i've had 4 mr2s Peter and every one of them have had the discs warp on me.

Weird. Never had a warped disc in my workshop in 11 years. Including 3 or 4 customers that track their cars very regularly.

I'd also say it is impossible to warp an OEM quality disc in original condition just by doing an emergency stop.

Still, that's your experience, so who am i to argue.

[Ryan S]

i've had 4 mr2s Peter and every one of them have had the discs warp on me.

Weird. Never had a warped disc in my workshop in 11 years. Including 3 or 4 customers that track their cars very regularly.

maybe just bad luck, actually, my rev3 uk never warped the discs but it had ABS, none of the others did. i've used cheap discs, expensive discs and they've all warped. my current car actually came to me with warped discs. admittedly the brakes do stop the car fairly well, i just can't put up with the constant warping

[slipping clutch]

i've had 4 mr2s Peter and every one of them have had the discs warp on me.

Weird. Never had a warped disc in my workshop in 11 years. Including 3 or 4 customers that track their cars very regularly.

maybe just bad luck, actually, my rev3 uk never warped the discs but it had ABS, none of the others did. i've used cheap discs, expensive discs and they've all warped. my current car actually came to me with warped discs. admittedly the brakes do stop the car fairly well, i just can't put up with the constant warping

Are you checking the run out on the discs properly when you install them?

[Ryan S]

Weird. Never had a warped disc in my workshop in 11 years. Including 3 or 4 customers that track their cars very regularly.

maybe just bad luck, actually, my rev3 uk never warped the discs but it had ABS, none of the others did. i've used cheap discs, expensive discs and they've all warped. my current car actually came to me with warped discs. admittedly the brakes do stop the car fairly well, i just can't put up with the constant warping

Are you checking the run out on the discs properly when you install them?

yeah with a proper gauge, although my current discs i never bothered as i knew i was replacing them anyway.

[slipping clutch]

maybe just bad luck, actually, my rev3 uk never warped the discs but it had ABS, none of the others did. i've used cheap discs, expensive discs and they've all warped. my current car actually came to me with warped discs. admittedly the brakes do stop the car fairly well, i just can't put up with the constant warping

Are you checking the run out on the discs properly when you install them?

yeah with a proper gauge, although my current discs i never bothered as i knew i was replacing them anyway.

Well thats a strange one - I would love to know what is causing your discs to fail - I could understand it if it was one disc on one car doing it repeatedly but as you've had it on a number of cars with o.e.m. and aftermarket discs and I am guessing with O.E.M. pads and aftermarket its a bit of a puzzler
I will ask in our workshop on Monday what the probable causes could be.

[GeorgeL]

(I had looked at the BBK brackets to take the supra/rx8 set up

Are these still available then? Or is it just a case of waiting for someone to sell up?

I'm not sure mate at all but all I'd need is dimensions and if get them made or if someone sold like you say. But then I don't know if they are what I'm after.

[slipping clutch]

Are you checking the run out on the discs properly when you install them?

yeah with a proper gauge, although my current discs i never bothered as i knew i was replacing them anyway.

Well thats a strange one - I would love to know what is causing your discs to fail - I could understand it if it was one disc on one car doing it repeatedly but as you've had it on a number of cars with o.e.m. and aftermarket discs and I am guessing with O.E.M. pads and aftermarket its a bit of a puzzler
I will ask in our workshop on Monday what the probable causes could be.

Took me a moment to find this - I was reading it back last week, Its quite an interesting article http://www.stoptech.com/technical-suppo ... ther-myths

[GeorgeL]

queue the sarky comments about brake bias

Here you go - wouldn't want to disappoint you.
Although I would have thought a comment from some one who has actually upgraded their brakes would have been looked upon more as useful rather than sarcastic.Please note my comments are made solely around my rev 1 set up and my experience in setting up my own car.
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=177058

Thanks for that mate.. I know a guy who out gt4 brakes up front and had similar issues to yourself. The nosedive effect and the back end becoming far too light..
I had assumed this may be the case unless altering the bias or upgrading the rear to even it out somewhat.

I would be doing both front and back as the last thing I want to do is shift too much weight to the front and lighten up the back end too much and have it skip on me.

Ofcourse the big flashy brakes do look nice in the carparks but there is only so far a great set of pads will go before a larger diameter disc with more powerful calipers will be required to take it that bit further. It's not going to be a carpark car lol

[slipping clutch]

Your welcome, when I did the conversion a few years back now I made a post on one of cantfindausername's thread but I cannot find it now - the comparison I made was with a stock rev 3 car set up with stock brakes and new pads - annoyingly I came to the conclusion having spent loads of money and time sorting out my brake set up that it was no better than the stock rev 3 set up. However on a track day the tables are reversed a little bit as I can adjust the brakes accordingly.
Strangely enough I only started the project because I also thought about gt4 brakes on the front and contacted a guy who had actually done it - he warned me off of doing it as he had been having problems setting up the brakes - it was far too front endy but he hadn't the time to go any further with it.
I also downgraded my pads from redstuff to greenstuff - the reds made the pedal feel far too 'wooden' under heavy braking - your foot really felt remote from the braking system and although you were slowing and stopping it just didn't inspire confidence. The softer greens, which most people seem to hate, suited my set up and my braking much more - I got the pedal feel back that I wanted and to be honest I am much more of a progressive braker than a slam then on at the last moment type - the trade off being loads more black muck all over my wheels compared to the redstuff.
Initially I kept the stock rev 1 master cylinder and bias valve but had way to much pedal travel to feel confidant in the car - it literally went halfway down before it did anything to three quarters down before it really made the brakes bite. I swapped out to a rev 3 master cylinder and bias valve and got a massive improvement but it still wasn't right - hard braking still saw the nose diving down and the steering getting a bit squirrely so I added the manual bias valve in the cabin which was a big help apart from the set up period when I seemed to go from one extreme to the other and on one memorable occasion testing in the car park at work after hours I left a big fat number 11 across the directors parking space with my locked up rears.
If you go down the route of fitting a manual valve in the cabin make sure you get one that you can lock into place - I didn't and it seemed when ever I took the car somewhere who ever got in it just had to dial the valve in or out which is massively annoying. ( to me any way as I am not the most tolerant person you will ever come across)
Annoyingly a few companies make up front brake kits for the mr2 but I never found one that made a matching set for the rear although I think it was Wilwood who made a disc caliper with integrated handbrake that I looked at for the rears , I just couldn't find some one who would be able to make the mounting brackets for me at a sensible price and was of course willing to take the risk of manufacturing something that could fail when the car was braked from speed - the claim and blame scenario was the biggest hurdle I came across with that one.
I should also mention that the first modification I did to my brakes was the most basic but overlooked - I changed the brake lines to stainless steel braided items which were a huge improvement on the ( at the time ) 15 year old rubber items that were on the car. I then had to change the front lines again to suit the new four pot calipers when I swapped over to them.
Hope all this is of some help to you - having read it back it seems a bit negative to what you are thinking of doing - its not meant to be its just you do need to think about maybe having your stock brakes refurbished by a reputable company, some decent discs and of course some decent pads to achieve the same results as I have with my brake set up.