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Brembo brakes seem to be the ferrari of brake systems. They are praised beyond recognition, but cost just as much. $2,500 just for the brake system not including installation. They seem to look the best with their cross-drilled rotors and their bright red covered calipers. However, how much gain do they provide?
Do they cut your stopping time in half as their price would suggest or do not fade after spirited driving? Perhaps both?
I am just curious after seeing how much these suckers cost!
Also, another side question....When magazines test brake distance, do they just slam on the brakes as hard as possible? Do they floor the brake pedal or use a different method like pumping it or what?
brembo breaks r only worth it if ur either going to 1) track or auto x ur car or 2) going for the looks and goin to shows.... other wise i don't think they're worth it....
yes they should cut ur stopping time but not sure about cutting the times in half.... and yes usually they're developed not to fade unless it's realllllllly hot outside and the breaks heat up...
magazines tests the breaks just flooring it.... cuase since there's abs there is no need to pump on it... plues the abs is jsut like pumping on the breaks except it works faster than u can pump on it... someone correct me if i'm wrong.... but these r just based on my knowledge...
The 8 already has stopping distances the envy of virtually every car made today, and certainly within its performance range. The only cars that can outbrake it are supercars from the best manufactures costing multiple times the 8's MSRP, and then only by a few feet, not even 10s of feet.
Throwing $2500 into aftermarket brakes is possibley the least return on your investment possible, performance-wise, unless you want it for bling factor alone, cause that's largely what you'll get, beside a bit of caliper weight savings.
Save you money for suspenson, tires, and pads which will provide some small braking improvement, but still more than 'big brakes'.
And racing doesn't change these facts. The 8 has super brakes, on or off track.
Oh, believe me, I was not even coming close to buying them. I was just wondering if anyone else thought they were as rediculous as I did. Image all the great things you could do to these cars for 2500 bucks!
The 8 already has stopping distances the envy of virtually every car made today, and certainly within its performance range. The only cars that can outbrake it are supercars from the best manufactures costing multiple times the 8's MSRP, and then only by a few feet, not even 10s of feet.
Throwing $2500 into aftermarket brakes is possibley the least return on your investment possible, performance-wise, unless you want it for bling factor alone, cause that's largely what you'll get, beside a bit of caliper weight savings.
Save you money for suspenson, tires, and pads which will provide some small braking improvement, but still more than 'big brakes'.
And racing doesn't change these facts. The 8 has super brakes, on or off track.
Indeed. I think my STI brakes about 7 or 8 feet better in 60 to 0, and it has brembos. I'm dredding the day car needs a brake job, because I'm gonna take it square in the rear. The thought of upgrading the brakes on an RX8 seems like a big waste of money, unless you're getting paid to race your car, or you just want to show off.
Check that, it's more like 3-4 feet, but the STI does weigh more. Even so, the brakes on the RX8 are superb, and I can't imagine spending that kind of money for such a minimal gain. 114 feet in 60-0 is phenominal.
Ultimately, your braking distance is about tire grip. If the factory brakes can lock 'em down and then provide controlled ABS pulsing, I don't see how you're going to improve on that. Unless you're talking about brake fade during sustained racing conditions maybe.
If you want an excuse to switch brakes, maybe weight would be more legitimate. The Wilwood brake kit for our car shaves off a whopping 13 lbs. per corner. Combine that with SSR wheels, titanium studs/wheel bolts, and leave off the TPS sensors...you could probably take off a total of 20 lbs. per corner pretty easy.
for most folks, after market brake kits of all types are kinda pointless, they don't really improve street braking, in fact they usually post slower braking on the street, and are expensive as hell to fix and replace.
The only advantage bremo/stop tech/ wilwood give you, is the ability to repeatedly stop the car time after time on a track. They work ok for auto-x, but auto-x speeds don't usually tax the brake system as hard as true track time at 80mph+ speeds. I'm not ******* this durability quality, if your into track time, this is critical, but for most, the stock system plus some better fluid and slightly upgraded pads will do alot more for the money.
The Brembos in my Evo are nice but the cost to replace them in a couple thousand miles is something I'm really dreading. If the brakes in your RX-8 work great and you're putting stock like power to the ground then there's really no point in upgrading. I think aftermarket brakes become a great idea when you're tracking the car or if you've significantly upgraded power output.
magazines tests the breaks just flooring it.... cause since there's abs there is no need to pump on it... plus the abs is just like pumping on the breaks except it works faster than u can pump on it... someone correct me if i'm wrong.... but these r just based on my knowledge...
I believe you about magazines testing in this manner, but really good drivers can haul a car to a stop quicker without ABS. I'm sure you know about threshhold braking, and modulation. I've actually had the opportunity to put this theory to the test in a Crown Vic Interceptor (during evasive driving school), and my Eagle Talon TSi AWD (after one of the ABS sensors broke, thereby disabling the ABS all together). It's just kinda hard to do all the time, like in emergency situations, and I wouldn't want the ABS disabled for everyday driving.
The 8 already has stopping distances the envy of virtually every car made today, and certainly within its performance range. The only cars that can outbrake it are supercars from the best manufactures costing multiple times the 8's MSRP, and then only by a few feet, not even 10s of feet.
Throwing $2500 into aftermarket brakes is possibley the least return on your investment possible, performance-wise, unless you want it for bling factor alone, cause that's largely what you'll get, beside a bit of caliper weight savings.
Save you money for suspenson, tires, and pads which will provide some small braking improvement, but still more than 'big brakes'.
And racing doesn't change these facts. The 8 has super brakes, on or off track.
right on the money. Your best investment to reduce stopping ditances right now would be tries!
...The only advantage bremo/stop tech/ wilwood give you, is the ability to repeatedly stop the car time after time on a track.
I've heard this concern about repeated braking and stock brakes, and it is an unjustified worry....you should go for a track day and see what happens to your brakes...you'll likely find it impossible to harm them..or yourself because of them. I've not felt any deficit on track in a summer's worth of sessions.
.... Take a track I use a lot, NHIS, for example - 1.6 Mile Road Course (12 Turns, 5 need heavy braking), general lap time is in the 1:30 or less. Now go for a 20 min session.
So that's one heavy braking cycle every 18 seconds, 4 of the 5 turns you approach in the area of 100-80MPH to get an average overall lap spped of 64 mph. So back to the 20 minuites..that gets you 13 laps X 5 cycles or 75 deep brake cycles. We normally do that 4x during any day. So 300 deep brake cycles...no fade...it just stops the same each and every time without complaint, pedal stays virtually the same end of day to beginning.
I've measured tempurature (after a cooldown lap and back 'in pit') at 560 deg at the rotor ...but I've never...not once...ever felt any fade. Is this excellent? I would say it is. The 8's brakes may not be perfect, but they are damn close, and I thank Mazda each and every time they haul me down right on someone's *** going into a turn :D
as I said ....you should go for a track day and try to screw the brakes you'll find new found respect for your car.
PS. I do, and anyone doing this should use hi-temp DOT-4 or better brake fluid, bleed and inspect brakes frequently (speedbleeders are nice) and remember your wellbeing depends on them.
Acorrding to the Mazda race team and studies made, after market brakes don't do a thing.
In fact many of them stop worse. So Stop-Tech went back to the drawing board and revised their early model.
They don't perform any better but they consistently stop all day long with out any fade.
So if you need long term stopping power go with the pro's and buy Stop-Tech.
Ummm.... I'd like to save 13lbs / corner, however the stopping power is less for the Wilwoods. The handling and acceleration may be worth the trade off. Let me check to see if they really weigh that much less than stock calipers.
Ummm.... I'd like to save 13lbs / corner, however the stopping power is less for the Wilwoods. The handling and acceleration may be worth the trade off. Let me check to see if they really weigh that much less than stock calipers.
I got my info from this thread if you're interested:
Brembos are street/race brakes. They are worth it to faster cars because of their higher speed and acceleration. At 200++kmh you want to stop on a dime but you don't want your brakes to heat up too quickly like normal brakes would and fade as a result. On the other hand, race brakes won't be as effective for city driving because they're overdesigned.
In short, if you're only a city driver who drives at under 120kmh most of the time then you don't need brembo brakes.
Brakes stop the wheels, tires stop the car. Big brake kits do nothing if you can already lock up your tires under normal braking manuvers. What are you going to do? Lockup the tires faster?
Downsizing wheel size to allow for better tire options (and grippier options) is the first step, then just replace the stock pads with track ones (like XP9's) and the brake fluid with something like ATE Super Blue or Vavoline Synpower (could also do motul if you got $$$). You'll stop all day long, and have tons of money left over for a crapload of DE's.
You'll always notice that the guys trying to be competitive in autox are running the smallest possible wheel size that fits over their rotors. There is a reason for this. Reduced rotational inertia, reduced unsprung weight, and most importantly...wider access to stickier and more aggressive tire compounds at reduced prices. If your worried about the honey's not liking your smaller wheels...don't worry, swap back after the track events to your GBOGH's, and enjoy the performance and reduced cost of the smaller ones at the track!
I notice the Willwoods mentioned as a lightweight brake package. Anyone have any ideas of other lightweight packages like that?
For those concerned about brake fade, a high performance brake fluid would probably help you out there. I use Motul RF600, you can defniitely notice a difference on track days.
I notice the Willwoods mentioned as a lightweight brake package. Anyone have any ideas of other lightweight packages like that?
For those concerned about brake fade, a high performance brake fluid would probably help you out there. I use Motul RF600, you can defniitely notice a difference on track days.
I don't but I still use it :D
I think you should play with different rotors and great pads before thinking of changing the cliper. If you abuse the brake long enough like me on the trackm, The outside plate of the stock caliper will become loose (turn outwards - know what I mean - flip outward), and breaking ability will be reduced. *(wish I can show you a diagram)
Then ... (prob in the 10th year you are owning the RX-8) you need to change the caliper and upgrade it then will be a good option.
I realize Brembo brakes are basically a waste of money since I only want them for looks. Now here is where I need help......I can only find authentic brembo brakes for the front of my 8 :/ Do any of you know where I can get a full set?
Thread revival in 2020 during Corona time.
Done some research into Brembo pads for the 8, not much going on it seems.
I have found these pads for a good price thru a big online parts place. Looks like they fit and seem to be OEM/ street performance rated which is where I am at.
Brembo fronts (low metal) P49034
The part numbers appear to interchange with Bendix Ultimates but cost less. I am aware of potential knock off issues but that would be a later issue for supplier!
Anyone used these on standard calipers?
Are these simply a cheap and nasty brake pad not worth using?
Any honest feedback welcome. Heaps cheaper than OEM pads and just fishing for good or bad news on these before potential purchase and install.
09-04-2005, 03:45 AM
