CTS-V Brake Upgrade worth it?
10-09-2015, 12:23 AM
#1
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CTS-V Brake Upgrade worth it? I daily drive my car and do an autocross or track day about every month or so. I have completely stock brakes down to the stock pads and rotors. The car only has 23k miles on it. My front rotors have warped from an autox run, so instead of buying new rotors, I was thinking of just upgrading to the CTS-V calipers and z06 rotors. For those that have done the CTS-V brakes and and tracked the car, how much better is it than a stock ls1 brake setup with good pads, rotors, fluid, and stainless lines? I already have the wheels to support the larger caliper and rotor so that is not a issue. My local track has a few corners where you have to slow down from 100+ mph to 40 mph on corner entry so I was thinking that the larger calipers will help.
10-13-2015, 10:42 AM
#6
Curious to hear your thoughts after the install.
I'm amazed that you've made it through track days and auto-x with stock pads. For what it's worth, I run a bunch of track days and am still using the stock calipers and rotors with a great pad (Hawk DTC-60 or DTC-70 in front, Hawk HP+ in the rear). At this point, my tires (R-coupounds) are still a limiting factor with braking.
The CTS-V calipers look like a nice budget swap if you already have the wheels to make it work, however I haven't been compelled to do so just yet. At the guidance of others on the board, I've been exploring the Wilwood setups as a clever way to improve braking and cut my costs thanks to the ridiculously cheap pad prices.
I'm amazed that you've made it through track days and auto-x with stock pads. For what it's worth, I run a bunch of track days and am still using the stock calipers and rotors with a great pad (Hawk DTC-60 or DTC-70 in front, Hawk HP+ in the rear). At this point, my tires (R-coupounds) are still a limiting factor with braking.
The CTS-V calipers look like a nice budget swap if you already have the wheels to make it work, however I haven't been compelled to do so just yet. At the guidance of others on the board, I've been exploring the Wilwood setups as a clever way to improve braking and cut my costs thanks to the ridiculously cheap pad prices.
10-13-2015, 12:22 PM
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Curious to hear your thoughts after the install.
I'm amazed that you've made it through track days and auto-x with stock pads. For what it's worth, I run a bunch of track days and am still using the stock calipers and rotors with a great pad (Hawk DTC-60 or DTC-70 in front, Hawk HP+ in the rear). At this point, my tires (R-coupounds) are still a limiting factor with braking.
The CTS-V calipers look like a nice budget swap if you already have the wheels to make it work, however I haven't been compelled to do so just yet. At the guidance of others on the board, I've been exploring the Wilwood setups as a clever way to improve braking and cut my costs thanks to the ridiculously cheap pad prices.
I'm amazed that you've made it through track days and auto-x with stock pads. For what it's worth, I run a bunch of track days and am still using the stock calipers and rotors with a great pad (Hawk DTC-60 or DTC-70 in front, Hawk HP+ in the rear). At this point, my tires (R-coupounds) are still a limiting factor with braking.
The CTS-V calipers look like a nice budget swap if you already have the wheels to make it work, however I haven't been compelled to do so just yet. At the guidance of others on the board, I've been exploring the Wilwood setups as a clever way to improve braking and cut my costs thanks to the ridiculously cheap pad prices.
Not to hijack the thread but what tires are you currently running?
I am also on stock calipers and rotors but I do the same thing as yourself (I love the DTC-70s), I also have stainless lines and brake coolers but the brakes still start fading after 5 mins into a session, depending on how hard I'm pushing the car.
Either way I'll be looking to upgrade my brake setup for next year just as soon as I decide on some wheels to go with (OZ Racing or Forgestar.. been struggling with pulling this trigger for a while now ha). But when I do get the new wheels I will very likely be using the same tires I have now. I'm currently running Toyo R-888 and I couldn't be happier with them. So if you're looking for a different tire to try, I would suggest taking those into consideration!
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10-13-2015, 01:15 PM
#8
Not to hijack the thread but what tires are you currently running?
I am also on stock calipers and rotors but I do the same thing as yourself (I love the DTC-70s), I also have stainless lines and brake coolers but the brakes still start fading after 5 mins into a session, depending on how hard I'm pushing the car.
Either way I'll be looking to upgrade my brake setup for next year just as soon as I decide on some wheels to go with (OZ Racing or Forgestar.. been struggling with pulling this trigger for a while now ha). But when I do get the new wheels I will very likely be using the same tires I have now. I'm currently running Toyo R-888 and I couldn't be happier with them. So if you're looking for a different tire to try, I would suggest taking those into consideration!
I am also on stock calipers and rotors but I do the same thing as yourself (I love the DTC-70s), I also have stainless lines and brake coolers but the brakes still start fading after 5 mins into a session, depending on how hard I'm pushing the car.
Either way I'll be looking to upgrade my brake setup for next year just as soon as I decide on some wheels to go with (OZ Racing or Forgestar.. been struggling with pulling this trigger for a while now ha). But when I do get the new wheels I will very likely be using the same tires I have now. I'm currently running Toyo R-888 and I couldn't be happier with them. So if you're looking for a different tire to try, I would suggest taking those into consideration!
I've tried a bunch of stuff on the tire side although most are DOT friendly R-compounds. Ran the RA-1's for a while however now they don't make my size anymore. I've run the Nitto 555RII's for a couple years and have been pleased for the most part but they're not perfect. I am still curious to see how a R7/A7 slick would hold under heavy braking.
I've heard good things about the R888's. As best I can tell it appears to have handling characteristics similar to the 555RII's. Do you have experience with some of the other options out there you could share?
10-14-2015, 12:01 PM
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Interesting to hear your feedback and that you're running into brake fade that quickly with those pads. I haven't had that experience and would probably be more motivated to upgrade my setup if that was the case.
I've tried a bunch of stuff on the tire side although most are DOT friendly R-compounds. Ran the RA-1's for a while however now they don't make my size anymore. I've run the Nitto 555RII's for a couple years and have been pleased for the most part but they're not perfect. I am still curious to see how a R7/A7 slick would hold under heavy braking.
I've heard good things about the R888's. As best I can tell it appears to have handling characteristics similar to the 555RII's. Do you have experience with some of the other options out there you could share?
I've tried a bunch of stuff on the tire side although most are DOT friendly R-compounds. Ran the RA-1's for a while however now they don't make my size anymore. I've run the Nitto 555RII's for a couple years and have been pleased for the most part but they're not perfect. I am still curious to see how a R7/A7 slick would hold under heavy braking.
I've heard good things about the R888's. As best I can tell it appears to have handling characteristics similar to the 555RII's. Do you have experience with some of the other options out there you could share?
It's kind of a bummer they fade so quickly but then again I do push my car pretty hard.. Not to mention the power I make kinda sorta really impacts how hard I need to brake ha.
I have had experience with other tires, Hoosier R6 and Michelin PS2's but those were on C6Zs and not on my car unfortunately. However I do consider those 2 types of tires superior to the R888 and when comparing the R888's to those, I think they hold up very well. As soon as they are warm the grip is outstanding and hold you firmly to the track in and through corners and also while under braking on long straights.
I've only had 2 issues with losing traction with them and they were more or less a result of my mistakes. The first issue, the tires were still cold and I was a bit too ambitious going into a turn and ended up almost losing it through the turn. The second time was after I got wheel hop under hard braking, kicked off ABS, locked up then spun.
Aside from that I think they are great tires at a great value; especially when comparing them to the PS2s specifically. The tread life on them has also been impressive. With 6 track days (each with 6 30 minute sessions) and plenty of city/highway miles in between, I could probably push them for at least one more event. Unless I decide on buying a dedicated track wheel/tire setup, I will be buying them again with my new wheel setup.
Hope that helps out somewhat!
Last edited by tastyZL1; 10-16-2015 at 11:07 AM.
10-16-2015, 10:06 AM
#10
Thanks TastyZL1 -- great input. The 555RII's I'm running are becoming increasingly difficult to find. I still have a few sets in storage, however once those are trashed I'll likely need to go a different direction. It sounds like the R888's are worth considering when the time comes.