When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
We are posting this thread at the request of a few RX8 owners to see if there is interest in producing an RX8 version of our FD Track-Day Big Brake kit. Utilizing many of the same components from our AP Competition Big Brake Kit, our Wilwood based brake kit uses the same pads and rotor size, but at nearly HALF the cost. The rotors can be upgraded to AP Rotors at a later date as the hat is the same.
Regarding the RX8 specific kit, if we can get 20 people on board, we can produce this kit! Price for the brake kit will be the same as the FD at $1600, however first-time introductory pricing would bring the base kit down to $1275 + shipping!!! We dare you to find another track worthy BBK for a similar price . This kit will only happen with enough people on board (and PAID). As many of the components are shared with the FD brake kit, we could potentially turn this kit around in a few weeks after close.
And now for the details!
Building on the success of our AP Competition Brake System, we produced this brake kit, with the intention of bringing race-inspired engineering to the broader motorsports market. Utilizing many of the specifications of our AP kit, we have designed what is in essence, a light-competition brake system, employing high-end track & street components. The result is a system which provides incredible performance for cost, accessible to the broader driving enthusiast market, which can be easily upgraded to race-performance components if you choose.
Forged Superlight Calipers use the same 20mm Brake Pads that our AP kit uses. These not only add additional thermal barrier between the rotor and caliper, but will also last longer than a standard competition brake pad. Many other calipers use pads that are 12-17mm’s thick resulting in reduced thermal insulation (potentially more brake fluid boiling), and significantly increased pad replacement intervals. In essence you're getting more brake pad material for the same cost of a set of brake pads. Thanks to using a very common pad shape, replacing pads will also be significantly cheaper and easier to source.
Our SBG Premium Brake Rotors have been designed to provide the highest possible performance for cost. Our design utilizes race-inspired directional veins, which drastically increases air flow compared to a stock, straight vein rotor. Our proprietary slot design improves the responsiveness of braking, with better bite, and prevents excessive brake dust build up, keeping brake components clean and improving mechanical engagement. Optionally this kit is offered with an upgrade to AP Racing Floating Rotors for extreme track use.
This is the perfect package for customers looking for the maximum bang for their buck when it comes to brake performance. Our Package Includes:
• Wilwood Forged Superlight Calipers
• 6061 Billet Caliper Mounting Brackets
• SBG 325x32mm Solid Mount Premium Brake Rotors or Optional 325x32 Floating AP Rotors
• SBG Designed 2024 T351 Aluminum Rotor Hats
• DOT Approved Stainless Steel Brake Lines with dirt/abrasion sleeves
• Full Pictorial Installation Guide
Test fitting with various wheels.... you WILL need 17's.
(custom kit we put together for our shop car)
Massive 20mm thick (and cheap) racing pads do a great job of insulating the caliper from brake heat to prevent fluid boiling, and 32mm thick directional curved vane rotors add lots of rotor cooling! Our SBG custom valved Ohlins plus the front and rear brakes have drastically improved the handling of our shop RX8!
We do have oversized (20mm vs 18mm stock) two peice directional curved vane rotors, (similar to those used in our s2000 RX8 caliper retrofit kit) in the works which uses the stock rear caliper. If there's interest we can always do a 4 pot rear, however in the FD community the stock rear caliper is typically used, for cost reasons. Everything engineering wise is possible, but it really boils down to what people want or need. We feel the up-sized directional 2 piece rears work very well and are well balanced with the front in terms of thermal management but upgrading calipers is all up to you guys, and how well the front kit does popularity wise
Thanks for the quick response. I just assumed you would kind of retrofit the same kit you have listed for the rx7.
you know I'm a Sakebomb fan. I would be interested in the front and rear.
how much better does the car brake. This upgrade is only 2mm larger than the stock rotor.
There's a few things going on with a BBK like this one. One is the thermal capacity, the other is brake torque/stiffness. This kit addresses both.
First thermal capacity: keeping the rotor temps in check. The RX8 is a relatively heavy car, and while the stock brakes aren't bad, when you start pushing them hard (especially on track or aggressive back roads) we've noticed spiking rotor temps. To try to combat this you can run aggressive (high temp) race pads, and high temp fluid, etc. which allows the brakes to function at high temperatures, however there are sacrifices: high rotor wear, heat warped rotors, high pad wear, pad incompatibility on the street (race pads are in the wrong temp range for street use and do not work effectively), etc. The stock rotors are cast one-piece straight-vane rotors with a small air gap that do not effectively cool themselves. They're made cheap and uni-directional so that only one casting is needed instead of a sided casting. Directional curved vane rotors act as an air pump or a fan to literally pull cold air from the center of the rotor opening and expel hot air at the outer edge. A rotor that runs colder can accept a more reasonable pad, which can be used for crossover use (track and street).
Dynamic braking capacities: The stock brakes on the RX8 are a single slider piston style. These are cheap and fast for OEM's to produce, they only require one piston on one side of the caliper and a slider mechanism to distribute that load to the other pad face. While they are cheap to produce, and do the job of stopping the car, they do have quite a few drawbacks from a performance perspective. They have limited width to apply pressure to the pad as there is a single point of contact... a four piston caliper allows pistons to apply force evenly to the outside of the pad, as well as directly to both pads (instead of using a slider mechanism to apply brake force to the other side). In short, you can use a longer pad, and the force applied to the pads is even and consistent... better braking force, nearly eliminated pad taper (pads wearing down on the leading edge more than trailing edge) and a wider pad with more surface area. 4 piston calipers are also stiffer. These particular calipers also feature low-resistance high temperature piston seals, stainless pistons (for low heat transfer to the caliper), stiff and rigid caliper body, and ultra thick (20mm) brake pads which both last FOREVER and provide further insulation between the brake rotor and the caliper to prevent fluid boiling. The pad shape used in these calipers is identical to our AP Competition caliper which are cheap, commonly available form nearly all pad manufacturers, and available in different heights up to 50mm tall!! Bang for buck, operating costs for this BBK should be VERY affordable over the long run. We've also sized the piston volume to be larger than stock yielding increased brake torque over the stock caliper.
There are many advantages of this brake kit vs the stock brakes. I'm not sure how much detail to go into in terms of giving everyone a brakes 101 primer, or if you guys are interested in the nitty gritty details. But suffice to say single piston calipers are lacking in many ways as compared to a proper multi-piston brake setup. Then there are advantages for two piece rotors as far as weight, directional curved vanes for cooling vs straight vanes, and 32mm vs 22mm rotor width, pad size and shape, etc. They're more consistent, more direct, give better feedback, and have an order of magnitude better thermal management vs stock. Anyone that drives their car hard should seriously consider a muti-piston brake setup. The RX7's have always come with 4 piston fronts stock, but sadly Mazda bean counters threw single piston sliders on the RX8.
Keep asking questions you guys! We'd love to make this happen but it's a dead project without community support.
shhhh you guys, don't talk to loudly, we don't want the peasants to catch wind of what we're up to
(we've got something you guys will be interested in... it's nearly ready for release and most parts are finished with machining and anodizing ... we need another thread for this topic though)
how good would this kit be for an all out road racing RX8?
It would be great. We have FD's competing with nearly the same setup, and they're bulletproof. I would suggest the AP floating rotors at that point. To really go all out for an all out road race car you really may want to look at the AP calipers we use on our FD Competition AP kit (same pads, piston size, etc, etc) but the cost is much higher and we'd need the interest from the RX8 community to do it. Assuming that does not materialize, this is your next best option and will give you 90% of the performance, but I would highly recommend the AP rotors for that scenario.
At this point I'm not sure if the Wilwood version will even materialize... we need a LOT more interest to make even the basic front kit happen. Keep signing up people!
I like this idea, I just wish a rear break option with handbrake was guaranteed to make this a full kit for my build on all corners... if that was the case I would jump on it no problem...
I like this idea, I just wish a rear break option with handbrake was guaranteed to make this a full kit for my build on all corners... if that was the case I would jump on it no problem...
Before we go trying to add bells and whistles we need *A* kit in the front to exist. Currently there are 1.5 people interested, in a full race-worthy BBK for under 1300 with the option to upgrade to fully floating AP competition rotors in front. This beats stoptech, brembo, and every other so called "BBK" out there that we've seen by leaps and bounds, in both performance and cost.
If you build it they will come, does not apply in this scenario as we've built it and it's fantastic, but I guess no one upgrades brakes on their RX8's? I'm curious... does anyone actually tune these things? It seems like there's just a bunch of stock cars out there with hawk pads and intakes lol
I personally yanked out the Renesas after it cooked. For my set up I'm sure I'll need these. Have you guys road tested these to compare vs stock brakes?? How much more stopping distance is saved?? I'm in no way questioning your kit and expertise I'm just curious as to the efficiency of this kit over stock.
06-15-2016, 06:42 PM
. This kit will only happen with enough people on board (and PAID). As many of the components are shared with the FD brake kit, we could potentially turn this kit around in a few weeks after close. 
but upgrading calipers is all up to you guys, and how well the front kit does popularity wise
