Offa 6 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 It's yet another manky weekend, so I'm sat here frustrated that yet again that I cannot go an tinker with my coilover settings on some decent B roads because there's too much standing water, mud and gravel on them. I have some lighter wheels coming next month and understand the benefits of them having gone from lightweight cast to forged on an Elise in the past ... But what about the rotating brake discs and their calipers? There's an informative article on FT86CLUB about braking hardware, however what is the UK perspective? Are any of you guys considering or using stock size lighter weight discs and calipers (or indeed lighter-than-stock BBKs) for anything other than sustained track use? If so, what are you using and what difference do you feel they have made to the ride and handling of your car? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smudge 1020 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 I'm more concerned about performance than weight when it comes to brakes... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kodename47 446 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 6 minutes ago, smudge said: I'm more concerned about performance than weight when it comes to brakes... Lighter brakes will aid braking performance if all else is equal... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keethos 842 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 There's been various talks about brakes in this club and I don't recall anyone really mentioning anythings about making any decisions based on the weight saving from going aftermarket. I can't remember if I mentioned that I know I've saved some weight as the box I gave RRG with the K Sport 330mm front BBK was a lot light than the same box filled with the stock front brakes in but never actually measured the weight of them. But it was never important for me, just a nice bonus. I think the general concensus on here is that the stock calipers are pretty good but the pads could be better and the only reason to go BBK is either for show (which is primarily why I got them) or for lots of track use. So people on here have gone FI while staying stock calipers but just getting some better pads and discs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Church 209 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 If i'd need more capability out of stock brakes then simple fluid and pads change, i'd probably skip DIY disk/caliper change, and go BBK route. Easier to ensure that kit is assembled with everything assembled/working together for particular car & it's specifics with no changes to brake bias and so on. Brakes are important enough subsystem to limit a bit swaping freely it's parts like disks/calipers without lot of care/time/testing done how it works together. All of that is already done with BBKs, yes, at a price, but you can rely on all it's parts assembled as system, not picked up by random from parts bin. If you go as far as changing disks and calipers (and probably had also other, less intrusive upgrades, like steel braided lines, pads with more bite, higher boiling temp fluid, maybe even brake ducts), total sum spent on brakes is not that much further off BBK prices. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites