5th Page, You're running out of options to blow your money. Good news is if you spend it on something listed on this page, your insurance company will be glad you did. (They'll never give you a dime for having done so though, so don't even ask them.)
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Pirelli said it best: "Power is nothing without Control."
If you've bumped up the power of your Base Camaro SS to astronomical values and you've still got the base Brake system on your car, you might not fair well for extended periods of spirited driving. All that time and money will have been for nothing if you get brake fade on a hair pin and go under-steering off the side of a cliff from excessive entry speed.
There's two phases to this section: 1. Braking hardware and Fluid 2. Suspension upgrades and hardware |
Working the Iron: Brakes and Fluids
So you're at Laguna Seca with your supercharged, base Camaro SS, whooping on Corvettes for a couple laps. You start to smell brake pads as you approach the corner just before the long up-hill before the Cork Screw. Gotta keep growing that gap! You lean hard on the brakes because corner diving has been working for you so far, this time, you go sliding off the track in a cloud of dust, tires not even locking up. What went wrong? Brake Fade! It happens to most enthusiasts at one point in time or another. Not necessarily with every car, but it's happened at least one car! For me it was my E60 545i. That car had enough power and weight to be fun for short distances, but the brakes just could not cool enough to keep from fading on adventures more than a few minutes long. So what can you do to make sure you've got the best chance for success?
First things first, did you remove the restrictive Factory Splash shields? Check you owners manual for more information on this. They inform you what to do if you're planning to take the car to the track. Base Camaro SS: You can make a sizable upgrade via the ZL1 or 1LE brake package from someone on the forums who is upgrading to something even bigger. This can be a very cost effective way to get yourself pumping bigger iron. Even more so if you're able to sell your old parts to someone with a 4 cylinder or a base 6 cylinder. If you're having trouble finding a used set of these calipers and rotors online, JDP offers an upgrade kit that pretty much hooks you up with 1LE brakes. From an old forum post, I am seeing that the Front Rotors on Base SS's 345x30mm and the rears are 339x26mm. The 1LE's get the same size front rotors as the 5th Gen's ZL1 at 375mm and the 6th Gen ZL1 gets 390mm front Rotors. For the most part, I try to put links on here that are to the most competitively priced vendor out there. The majority should be primarily to JDP Motorsports because they had the lowest price on these kits at the time of writing. UPGRADE KITS Brembo Fronts: All kits can be purchased in a variety of colors with either Drilled, Slotted, or Type 3 Rotors. 15" GT Kit: (9057A) MSRP: $4595.00 15.9" GT Kit: (9538A) MSRP: $4895.00 15" GTR Kit: (9057AR) MSRP: $8995.00 15.9" GTR Kit: (9538AR) MSRP: $9295.00 Brembo Rears: All kits can be purchased in a variety of colors with either Drilled, Slotted, or Type 3 Rotors. 15" GT Rear 1-Piece Rotors: (8503A) MSRP: $2495.00 15" GT Rear 2-Piece Rotors: (9055A) MSRP: $3795.00 15" GTR Rear 2-Piece Rotors: (9055AR) MSRP: $7795.00 You may be wondering to yourself, I wounder what the additional cost is for the kits when it comes to GT vs GTR. A few searches later, I found some of the answers. 1. With the GTR kit, the caliper isn't a monoblock forging or a multi-piece, its a fully-machined, 1-piece, billet caliper with Radial Mounting. Since its all machined, there is no need for extra fat around the bones which is sometime necessary for the forging process. This is the lightest/most performance-oriented way to make a caliper. The cost of manufacturing these calipers are reflected in their price. 2. They also have vented Caliper pistons which means the area between the piston and the back of the pad is not sealed up. This permits better cooling of the system and therefore, the system is less susceptible to brake-fade. JDP Motorsports Special Mention: Stage II Performance Brake Upgrade Kit $3825.00 The thoughtful team at JDP Motorsports is doing a favor to all those out there that are regretting having purchased a 6th Gen Camaro with OUT the performance brake upgrade. They've assembled a kit that will give you everything you need in one fell swoop to get rid of that regret. The description on their website seems a bit vague as it doesn't mention rotor sizes or GM part numbers, but it appears this kit will be similar to the upgraded brakes on the 1LE's. Check them out if you're having regrets. GM Performance Braking Upgrade: 6-Piston Brembo Fronts (23245471) $2599.99 (Check eBay too.) If you only want to do fronts or rears of the GM performance kits, you CAN get them individually. This kit from GM comes with Braided lines, the 6-Piston Brembo's, two piece rotors with vent slots, mounting hardware and track oriented splash shields. Just a quick note to those who are not aware of Rotor noise, the two piece rotors found on the ZL1's and 1LE's are notorious for developing a slight clicking noise under lateral acceleration and even under braking. The condition isn't necessarily a safety concern, but is worth mentioning to someone whose only interested in perfection. If you want the more affordable option that still gives a decent performance gain, GM parts are fine. If you want perfection, spend the money with Brembo. GM Performance Braking Upgrade: 4-Piston Brembo Fronts (23245470) $1750.16 If you got a base Camaro and you want to get your braking under control, GM offers an upgrade kit to help you as well. This kit features 4-Piston Calipers, and 1-piece slotted rotors. This is not the same level of upgrade as the 23245471 kit noted above, but it will definitely be an upgrade over the base Camaro Front braking system. Wilwood Big Brake Kit Upgrade: 6-Piston Front, 4-Piston Rear $3469.00 This all-inclusive kit from Accesspeed gives you everything you need to upgrade the brakes on your 6th Gen Camaro with serious stopping power. This specific kits comes with Slotted Rotors that are 2-piece Front and Rear. Also, it comes with Braided hoses for all four corners and 2 bottles of Wilwood 570 Brake fluid. Last but not least, it also includes all the hardware necessary for the installation including the Radial-Mount adapter brackets. Carlyle Racing Rear Brake Reduction: 15" Conversion Kit $649.00 On the flip side of things, if you're into drag racing and want to run the best Drag Radials you can fit under the arches of your 6th Gen Camaro, you'll want to put on some smaller diameter wheels so you can gain a larger tire sidewall. This kit will help you do just that. Yes, braking capacity may be reduced, but that's not what we're concerned about here. According to their description, the kit should allow you to run any of the Weld RT/RTS wheels without needing any spacers for clearance. Check out their page here for more options with the 15" Conversion kits which include additional stabilizing arms and necessary upgrades for a Drag racing machine. PAD UPGRADES If you've already got a Big Brake Kit or a factory performance kit on your car and you want to improve things, upgrading your brake pads is a great way to go. A lot of times, upgrading brake pads can actually be the most cost effective way to gain a braking advantage over your competition. Although you do not increase the mechanical advantage like Big Brake Kits do, you can change the effective friction coefficient which plays a huge role in the system's overall ability to generate deceleration torque. Lets take a look at what's available. 6-Piston VS 4-Piston If you're having trouble finding pads for your Camaro because you don't know if they're for the 6-Piston or 4-Piston, my suggestion is search for the same pad for a 2016 Z06 Corvette. If the same pad and part number shows up available for the Z06, then it's for the 6-Piston Caliper. If it doesn't show up, more than likely, it's for the 4-Piston Calipers. (The 1LE's share front Calipers with the Z06 and Grand Sport Corvettes.) Check the Build Sheet, Options list for reference below. J55 - Brakes, Brembo 4-piston front, performance, 4-wheel antilock, 4-wheel disc J6G - Brakes, Brembo 4-piston front and rear, performance, 4-wheel antilock, 4-wheel disc J6H - Brakes, Brembo 6-piston front and 4-piston rear, performance J6M - Brakes, Brembo Red, 6-piston front monoblock calipers, 4-piston rear calipers, 2-piece rotors Carbotech The Forums generally don't lie, and Carbotech is generally one of the best spoken of brands for pads related to the 6th Gen 1LE's. Check their reference guide here for which compound you want. 6-Piston Fronts: CT1405 4-Piston Rears: CT1718 EBC European Brake Company - This UK Based company has become quite well-known over the past years, starting with the Introduction of "Green Stuff." Although the listing on their website is vague about whether this is a 6-Piston or 4-Piston compatible kit, I did want to mention that they do have Yellowstuff Front and Rear available for the 6th Gen Camaro. Fronts: DP43028R Yellowstuff 4000 $171.80 Rears: DP43023R Yellowstuff 4000 $83.12 HAWK Hawk Performance has a myriad of pads for our application. Please check the TireRack.com reference guide here to choose your compound and then decide your fitment. HB649x.605 HB727x.592 Raybestos 6-Piston Fronts: RC1405 4-Piston Rears: RC1718 StopTech 6-Piston Fronts: PST1405 4-Piston Rears: PST1718 FLUID When it comes to Brake Fluid, I ALWAYS refer to this extremely handy comparison guide before I purchase anything. Ultimate Brake Fluid Guide. Depending on what you're doing with your car, you may want to choose a different type of brake fluid than I would or someone else on the forums would. Since there's probably over 100 Brake Fluids available for purchase, I am not going to go over all of them. Instead, I am going to cover my two most common purchases. Option 1: Motul RBF 600. I've never had any issues as a result of using it and I've become accustomed to its behavior in my vehicles. As with any brake fluid, if you've over-driven several times in a single track session and you've noticed heavy brake fade, you need to bleed the boiled fluid out of the calipers and lines. This fluid along with my second option are both great upgrades to the stock fluid. Option 2: Brembo LCF 600+. If Motul isn't in stock, the Brembo LCF 600+ is my back up. It's just slightly more expensive, but has stats that are comparable the Motul 600 I'm used to. The Brembo fluid always seems to be available somewhere nearby if the Motul isn't. With this brake fluid coming from one of the biggest names in the automotive industry, you're not likely to go wrong with it. |
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