StopTech vs Brembo GTS on 18'' Apex wheels quesion

[drroc]

My stock fronts turned the usual green color and the piston seals are starting to fall apart.

I am thinking of upgrading the calipers for the next track season, and I would like to use them with my Apex EC7 wheels: Fronts: 18 x 9.5 ET22 Rears: 18 x 11 ET44. Would a 380mm rotor clear these wheels, or is that going to be too large? Also, how is the cost of consumables for StopTech vs Brembo GTS or vs Ap racing?

Thanks in advance!

[dvq]

I've been looking at the these kits as I'm in the same situation. It won't be long before the square seals start to degrade and pistons drag.

I have sm10 in 18x10" square but the clearance should be similar — mine would fit no problem with the templates I found.

Consumables seems to be a wash for stoptech and ap racing. The stop techs have cheaper rotor rings by a tiny bit but the AP racing pads should last a long time due to being so thick. The brembos rotor rings seem to cost a lot.

For the package price I reached out to my friends and was able to come up with $8800 for a complete AP racing package front and rear. The Stoptechs came out to $5700 for trophys comparable to the AP racing (no dust seals, stainless steel pistons, antiknock back springs, full floating rotor hardware, nickel plated).

Still figuring out if I want to so this or just rebuild calipers with high temp square seals and stainless steel pistons, repaint them black, and live that cheap pad/free rotor replacement life (fcp euro lifetime).

[drroc]

Originally Posted by dvq

I've been looking at the these kits as I'm in the same situation. It won't be long before the square seals start to degrade and pistons drag.

I have sm10 in 18x10" square but the clearance should be similar — mine would fit no problem with the templates I found.

Consumables seems to be a wash for stoptech and ap racing. The stop techs have cheaper rotor rings by a tiny bit but the AP racing pads should last a long time due to being so thick. The brembos rotor rings seem to cost a lot.

For the package price I reached out to my friends and was able to come up with $8800 for a complete AP racing package front and rear. The Stoptechs came out to $5700 for trophys comparable to the AP racing (no dust seals, stainless steel pistons, antiknock back springs, full floating rotor hardware, nickel plated).

Still figuring out if I want to so this or just rebuild calipers with high temp square seals and stainless steel pistons, repaint them black, and live that cheap pad/free rotor replacement life (fcp euro lifetime).

Do you have a sense of how much effort would be required into rebuild the calipers? Probably doing a rebuild and just running the OEM rotors into the ground would be the cheapest option. I really don't like the low thickness of the padgid pads with the stock calipers, as towards the end they start wearing out very fast increasing brake pedal travel. I don't know if this problem exists with other after market calipers or not.

I saw an M2 at Sonoma that was doing 1:49s with Stoptechs and MCS suspension. So they can definitely do the job quite well for quite a bit less compared to AP racing. It also looks like on Stoptechs, its possible to replace the pads without removing the calipers unlike on Brembo GT/GTS.

[dvq]

Originally Posted by drroc

Do you have a sense of how much effort would be required into rebuild the calipers? Probably doing a rebuild and just running the OEM rotors into the ground would be the cheapest option. I really don't like the low thickness of the padgid pads with the stock calipers, as towards the end they start wearing out very fast increasing brake pedal travel. I don't know if this problem exists with other after market calipers or not.

I saw an M2 at Sonoma that was doing 1:49s with Stoptechs and MCS suspension. So they can definitely do the job quite well for quite a bit less compared to AP racing. It also looks like on Stoptechs, its possible to replace the pads without removing the calipers unlike on Brembo GT/GTS.

Rebuilding the calipers is just a matter of removing the caliper, applying some compressed air to the brake line input, with various shims of wood to let the pistons out evenly. I haven't done it myself but it looks okay?

[FormulaMMM]

Had Stoptech on my E90s, AP Racing now on my GTS.

Always found Stoptech very solid. Great performance, relatively low entry cost, reasonable consumables, no issues. Lots of pad options, pad swaps are as easy as it gets. Also managed a couple of rotor changeovers on my own.

Been many years, but I shipped mine off to Turner for caliper rebuild and synced delivery with rebuild components from Zeckhausen. Turn around time was < week, I think. Various race shops in CA must offer the service. Labor wasn't very costly at all, so an easy choice for this paranoid mechanic.

[drroc]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

Had Stoptech on my E90s, AP Racing now on my GTS.

Always found Stoptech very solid. Great performance, relatively low entry cost, reasonable consumables, no issues. Lots of pad options, pad swaps are as easy as it gets. Also managed a couple of rotor changeovers on my own.

Been many years, but I shipped mine off to Turner for caliper rebuild and synced delivery with rebuild components from Zeckhausen. Turn around time was < week, I think. Various race shops in CA must offer the service. Labor wasn't very costly at all, so an easy choice for this paranoid mechanic.

Thanks for the feedback. I really like the fact that pad changing is fairly easy on the Stoptechs, and they seem to get very good reputation. The price point also is pretty compelling.

[drroc]

So looks like both front calipers are in need of a rebuild fairly soon. The rear seals are also starting to show signs of cracks on the seals. It is also interesting to see that the inside of the front calipers still has the original paint color while the outside turned green.

[dvq]

Originally Posted by drroc

So looks like both front calipers are in need of a rebuild fairly soon. The rear seals are also starting to show signs of cracks on the seals. It is also interesting to see that the inside of the front calipers still has the original paint color while the outside turned green.

First the dust shields melt.
Next the heat yellows the clear coat.
Then the heat darkens the paint.
Finally your pads start wearing unevenly -- this is the last step before you know it's time for a piston/square seal rebuild.

[drroc]

I put an order today... I'll post some pics once the boxes arrive.

[Logicoeur]

Aren't the OE blue rotors already 380mm in the front? Those should fit under 18s so I don't see why the AP setup wouldn't.

[jacobe92]

Get the Essex AP F 9668, R 9449. They're designed to take a monumental track beating. "Put em on and forget about it." Remember, the 9668 for $400+ and not the 9660. The 9668 is designed to accommodate the endurance 25mm pads. Search Grocery Hauler and you'll see mine. GL.

[dvq]

Originally Posted by Logicoeur

Aren't the OE blue rotors already 380mm in the front? Those should fit under 18s so I don't see why the AP setup wouldn't.

Caliper width won't clear some wheels.

[dvq]

Originally Posted by jacobe92

Get the Essex AP F 9668, R 9449. They're designed to take a monumental track beating. "Put em on and forget about it." Remember, the 9668 for $400+ and not the 9660. The 9668 is designed to accommodate the endurance 25mm pads. Search Grocery Hauler and you'll see mine. GL.

For me -- Stoptech gets you front and rear trophy nickel plated kit with floating rotors, antiknockback springs, brackets, lines, pads, shipped to your door for the same price as the just the fronts for AP racing. I'm sure the AP racing is considerably lighter but idk if it's worth twice the price. I see plenty of people doing hpde and racing competitively on both setups.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by dvq

For me -- Stoptech gets you front and rear trophy nickel plated kit with floating rotors, antiknockback springs, brackets, lines, pads, shipped to your door for the same price as the just the fronts for AP racing. I'm sure the AP racing is considerably lighter but idk if it's worth twice the price. I see plenty of people doing hpde and racing competitively on both setups.

Current AP customer, former Stoptech, agree with this.

Went with AP because my ocd wasn't ok with gaining weight coming from the carbon ceramics, and the massive pad width is a convenience.

[drroc]

So I went with a StopTech trophy kit from buybrakes.com It should arrive by the weekend. They had a deal that was too hard to pass by. Even if the brakes are the same weight, but can deal with the heat without the calipers cooking themselves, that's good enough.

[drroc]

The goods have arrived along with Motul 660RBF brake fluid and 75mm wheel studs. Might as well replace the studs after two seasons. I plan to weigh the stock rotor/caliper against the stoptech to see the weight difference. The main difference that I noticed when opening the box was that the pads were bigger compared to the OEM sized ones.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by drroc

The goods have arrived along with Motul 660RBF brake fluid and 75mm wheel studs. Might as well replace the studs after two seasons. I plan to weigh the stock rotor/caliper against the stoptech to see the weight difference. The main difference that I noticed when opening the box was that the pads were bigger compared to the OEM sized ones.

Trophy kit, awesome. You'll be in great shape. What pads you going to run?

[drroc]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

Trophy kit, awesome. You'll be in great shape. What pads you going to run?

The kit came with some Hawk Street pads. I haven't figured out what track pads I will run, as it will probably be about two months or so before I hit the track again. The nice thing about the StopTechs is that changing the pads would be very easy. No more beating the pins out with the hammer.

[DRLane]

ST trophy's are great!

Definitely be conscientious of pad shapes as some don't fit even if they're marketed as such. The pagid pad backing plate wore into the rotor hat as the pad wore down around ~6mm of pad material. Stick with Hawk, or Carbotech and you won't run into any issues.

[dvq]

Originally Posted by DRLane

ST trophy's are great!

Definitely be conscientious of pad shapes as some don't fit even if they're marketed as such. The pagid pad backing plate wore into the rotor hat as the pad wore down around ~6mm of pad material. Stick with Hawk, or Carbotech and you won't run into any issues.

That's pretty wild, would be a good idea to pre-grind the edges of the pads if it doesn't match the stoptech ones I guess?

[dvq]

Originally Posted by drroc

The goods have arrived along with Motul 660RBF brake fluid and 75mm wheel studs. Might as well replace the studs after two seasons. I plan to weigh the stock rotor/caliper against the stoptech to see the weight difference. The main difference that I noticed when opening the box was that the pads were bigger compared to the OEM sized ones.

Congrats, consider me envious. I'll likely get a set soon just have to figure out my damper issues.

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by dvq

That's pretty wild, would be a good idea to pre-grind the edges of the pads if it doesn't match the stoptech ones I guess?

Yes! Folks do that or just buy pads that match. Again Hawk and Carbotech don't have this problem. CT XP20 is a solid pad and fairly economical for a track pad.