ae101 levin brake upgrade

[vr4boy]

is it worth up grading to the 2 pot brakes from a gtz levin on my 20v gt apex?

[Grrrrrrr!]

yes/no/maybe.

are you:
after wank factor?
looking for better stopping power (single hard stop) on the track?
longer track sessions before brake fade sets in?
better braking while towing?
or what?

might also pay to mention what your current brake setup is...

[vr4boy]

better braking as im wanting to do track days but dont want to spend big dollars. just have the standard single pot front brakes.

[Grrrrrrr!]

Try some good pads first, and make some cheap cooling ducts, and flush the old shitty fluid out of the lines. Its cheaper than modifying your brake setup and getting it certed (if its a road going car) then buying good pads.

[vr4boy]

sweet ill give that ago, any inparticular i should go for?

just for the record the car will need a cert once i put my coilover adjusties in anyway.

[Bazda]

Id give EBC pads a go. The RED stuff

viewtopic.php?t=82663

[touge_ae101]

upgrading to twin pots is definately worth while IMO. just gives you more stopping power and the confidence you will be able to stop.

for the price of some expensive single pot pads you could probably do the conversion. i got mine off a caldina gtt and used a 3mm spacer behind the disk to centre it. can also use st202 (talk to XSVWGN) twin pots as gtz ones are rather hard to come by sometimes.

i cooked a set of single pot pads and rotors real well on manfeild using some heavy duty pads. granted pads probably werent up to it but didn't give me much confidence. notice the single piston mark welded into the back of the pad backing plate?kind of shows when you get them hot and put that much pressure through 1 piston it has quite an impact...


have done twin pot conversion almost 9 months ago now and they are awesome. ran cheap TRW pads from appco for a while and they did the job well. did about 5 track days and daily drove on them and they never got hot, went soft or failed me in any way. which isn't bad for a $130 set of pads. have now upgraded to TRD pads as i'm going to do some endurance races and winter series this year so hopefully they will last.

it all depends on how much you want to do in terms of track. decent single pot pads would probably suffice if you are only looking to do 1 or 2 track days and don't know how much you'll do, but if you are looking at doing a few i'd say definitely change them.

[gepsk8]

convert to ST202 Calipers with 275 disc can get them for 380 slotted when i check last

[touge_ae101]

slotted is a waste of time unless you are running race compound pads. they will just eat your pads quicker.

just pick up a set of second hand rotors the 275mm ones have heaps of meat so last ages.

[Bazda]

slotted eats discs. Ever since i've only used smooth surface.

Should be able to pick up discs for around $70-120 each depending on brand and where you go.

[h8wrxs]

i put slotted discs on my evo all round with EBC Redstuff pads too.

only done about 1000km in it since and the slotted discs have ripped the shit out of the edges of my brake pads.

id never use them again either

[vr4boy]

thanks for all the feed back guys, i can get a gtz twin pot set up from a mate, rotors, calipers and lines if i need them for $300, does that sound like a good deal?

[1I1]

Bear in mind when fitting the GTZ callipers and rotors the hub carrier is different between super strut and macpherson strut. The calliper mounts further out on a GTZ / super strut AE101/AE111

You would need to either find a suitable disc that is 262mm or there abouts in diameter or have the 275mm machined down to that diameter (making sure they are balanced).

Also your cars brake hoses will be a one piece from the body hard line to the calliper. Where as the GTZ goes body hard pipe > flexible hose > hard pipe on the strut > flexible hose > calliper

[Bling]

i cooked a set of single pot pads and rotors real well on manfeild using some heavy duty pads. granted pads probably werent up to it but didn't give me much confidence. notice the single piston mark welded into the back of the pad backing plate?kind of shows when you get them hot and put that much pressure through 1 piston it has quite an impact...

Can I ask if the parts you had in there were old and shit? I think that is more of a factor in them failing than the fact they are single pot setup.

TBH I don't see why you need to upgrade to twin pot brakes. For a bit of fun on a track buying new rotors, proper pads, and suitable fluid would be a big improvement. I'm not saying don't put in the twin pot brakes, but that there is more than one way to skin a cat. New parts and parts suited to the job will make a world of difference.

By the time you spend $300 on the kit, buy new rotors/pads/fluid the bill is going to be hefty. I guess you can run all the 2nd hand parts, but I would question why you'd bother if going to the effort of swapping everything over.

[1I1]

Those pads had actually survived fairly well considering they had done numerous track days and hard driving on the street

[wordnz]

Bear in mind when fitting the GTZ callipers and rotors the hub carrier is different between super strut and macpherson strut. The calliper mounts further out on a GTZ / super strut AE101/AE111

You would need to either find a suitable disc that is 262mm or there abouts in diameter or have the 275mm machined down to that diameter (making sure they are balanced).

Also your cars brake hoses will be a one piece from the body hard line to the calliper. Where as the GTZ goes body hard pipe > flexible hose > hard pipe on the strut > flexible hose > calliper

^ This...

Since the GTZ/Superstrut brakes don't just bolt on without modification I wouldn't bother. You need to get the 275mm discs machined down, and also run a spacer behind the disc, adding more to the cost.

I've got an AE101 non-superstrut exactly the same as yours. I run Mintex M1155 pads. Cost about 240+GST from racebrakes (for the whole front set). Replaced fluid with fresh Castrol Super DOT4. I thrashed them all day around manfield and they never gave me any problems . I was doing about 7 laps each stint. At the end of the day I checked the wear on them and there was still plenty left.

There was another guy at the same trackday running an AE101 exactly the same, but he had cheap pads. They wore out completely before the day was over.

So I recommend just getting some good pads (like Mintex M1155) and replacing the fluid. Good thing about the Mintex M1155s is that you can daily drive them too, your wheels will end up pretty black though lol.

Replacing the fluid is very important: brake fluid absorbs moisture over time, this also lowers the boiling point. Boiling the fluid = bad. Your foot will go straight to the floor and you won't have any brakes at the end of the straight!

If you want a full race pad then get the M1166, they aren't ideal for daily driving though because they need to be brought up to temperature for use. I've been told that 1166's last years in a race car, but you will chew through a few brake discs.

Don't get EBC pads. I've heard heaps of horror stories about them disintegrating etc.

[Bazda]

I've tried mintex 1166, rather $$$ and lasted me 3 laps around taupo.

If you really want a proper upgrade you do it properly and use something like a Wilwood caliper etc. Replacement pads for Wilwoods is around $100 for a front set.

[Flannelman]

EBC Greens did me fine. Single pot front, new dot 4 fluid... 50m out from the corner, brake, awsome.
Used on the street and about 3-4 track days in a year.
Just dont use standard rotors as they crack.

Price checked through 41 at about $130 for front set of pads.

[Bazda]

There is also mixed reviews on the Mintex pads.

For this type of car with a stock engine id say both mintex and ebc will be fine!, if your pushing around 220hp+ then speeds are getting up there and these type of pads prob wont last unless your running big rotors to dissipate the heat better.

[vr4boy]

cool lots of help guys, ill look into getting some new pads for now and see how it holds up, is it easy to replace brake fluid? ive done most things to cars, just never fully replaced brake fluid.