Naf

iTrader: (1)

The brackets were fine I had a hard time finding replacement discs as I already cracked to all of mine don't forget the pads for these calipers are a fortune looking at $1000 for a set of pads

InfrareV

Why isn't the AP Racing setup more popular, I think that's where I would spend my money if I was going down this road?

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Gotta link? My quick search is only finding '09+ versions.

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

this is the only AP Racing kit I know of for the V1: http://www.maperformance.com/ap-raci...00-ap7200.html I considered this kit before upgrading to the V2 calipers and my research showed that the pads were significantly smaller and the rotors were smaller than V2 ones too, I believe. That doesn't mean the rotors aren't higher quality, though...

I have some Girodisc hats with worn out rings... maybe the 380mm rings that go on an R8 would fit

InfrareV

Front: P/N AP7200S
Rear: P/N AP7250S

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Weird. After I read your post earlier I googled for "APRacing CTS-V" and it brought me to Stillen's site. I plugged in 2005 CTS and it said there were no products for that application. I tried 2007, too, and got the same result. But now that you've posted the link, I can plug in 2005 CTS and it brings up that kit.

An update on the rotor failure...

I just swapped my summer wheels and tires back on, and while doing so did some fiddling around with the brakes. With my re-drilled OEM co-cast rotor installed, the rotor is pretty much centered (to the naked eye) in the caliper. With the "good" RB rotor installed, the rotor is clearly not centered - it's shifted towards the inside. Again, just eyeballing it, I would estimate the gap is about 2-2.5mm to the outside and 0.5-1.0mm to the inside. I should've dug my feeler gauges out of the garage to get some actual measurements, but I didn't think of that, and it was getting dark and I'm hungry. Maybe tomorrow I can re-attack.

Of course, neither rotor is new, but I would say they both have little to no measurable wear. And unless the RB rotor was wearing very unevenly, the easily visible offset has to be due to the hat offset not being quite right.

UnsafeAtAnySpd

I've been watching this thread, but yet to say anything as I don't have anything constructive. Keep keeping us updated on this though. I still have yet to decide on rotors for my V2 calipers (no rush though I guess). Glad the failure happened in an 'opportune' location, though, and you and your car made it out unharmed.

Edit: Also, looking forward to hopefully getting out there on the track sometime with you next year. I've only been on track with another V one time before.

Naf

iTrader: (1)

I am disappointed i cant swap the rotor rings from brembo. Finding a hat for our cars is a challenge, and annoying.

UnsafeAtAnySpd

^I have the UUC 2-piece rotors. I wish I could just get new rings that would work.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

I though the UUC ones were Girodisc? Looks like their site refers you to Luke @ Lindsay, so he might know for sure.

JDB

iTrader: (2)

Damn, sorry to hear.

I wouldn't consider Stoptech a great resource for info. I had Stoptechs on my Audi A4 and split the hats at almost all of the screws, cracked the rotor rings and twisted the calipers inward that new pads no longer fit. Their response was buy new parts, which I did at reduced costs ...but in the end, I sold the brake kit with no original parts. I wonder if heat is an issue.

I was going to attend that DE, but had to cancel.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

So, it took a little longer than "tomorrow", but I did get back to this today. I went ahead and pulled the passenger side apart and got out the feeler gauges to get some measurements with the OEM and RB rotors. I measured from the rotor face to the machined surfaces where the black arrows are pointing, at the top and bottom of the caliper.



As I said before, neither rotor is new, but both of them have little to no wear (no perceptible lip on the face of the rotor).

OEM rotor - inside: 0.084", 0.090"; outside: 0.079", 0.075"
RB rotor - inside: 0.044", 0.050"; outside: 0.124", 0.108"

Sho'nuff, the RB rotor isn't centered on the caliper as well as the OEM rotor is. Over on CTSVowners.com a guy said that he had experienced a similar failure on his Trans Am that had a Porsche "big red" big brake kit on it, and that it turned out the rotor was off center by "a few hundredths". Well, the RB rotor is off by a few hundredths on my car.

After they offered me 40% off I told them I had no intention of putting their rotors back on the car without knowing why the rotor had failed (and correcting the issue). I also sent them the link to the pics of the disassembled "good" rotor. Their response:
So, based on that it apparently is normal for their fasteners to deform and start to crack after just a couple/few days of use, and the failure must have been my fault.

I will be talking to them again this week with this new data.

Edit: I'd be curious to know if anyone else with RB rotors (either 355mm or 370mm version, with V1 or V2 calipers) sees a similar offset. No feeler gauge measurement should be necessary - on my car I could easily see the difference with the naked eye.

FuzzyLog1c

iTrader: (4)

Why would caliper offset matter?

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

I don't have precise measurements, but I know I had to shim my RB 2pc rotors out to center them in the v2 calipers. Here are pictures of them before I put 3mm (~0.11") spacers inside the hats. I'm the only person I've read about that had to do this, though.

InfrareV

Why do you feel being off center would have contributed to the failure? I assume it still cleared the caliper? I wouldn't call it ideal and would prefer a rotor that was centered, but I tend to think the opposite pad would simply make up the difference.

Naf

iTrader: (1)

Having the rotors in the center of the caliper offers two benefits.

1. You have equal wear and grip from your pads
2. through thermal expansion the disc has the same distance to grow and not touch the caliper.

AAIIIC, are there signs of the rotor touching those pad holders on your calipers?

I had a situation where the rear calipers were rubbin on the discs and they caused the car to drift violently, a quick visit to the machine shop cured that problem...

That was a typical response ppl use to protect their reputation. Thats why i want Brembo rotors, Track or Street, they just ask you bed the pads to the rotors and you are good to go...

Fweasel

iTrader: (6)

Don't take this as an argument, but I don't see it that way. They way I'm imagining it, assuming no physical interference between the caliper body and rotor, is that any small rotor offset would be compensated by the hydraulic system after the first or second press on the brake pedal. The pads should both then return to a resting state equidistant from the rotor surface and the difference in extension between the caliper pistons from one side to the other should not cause a difference in pressure applied while under braking. Brake calipers are self centering to a degree by design.

I don't recall seeing pictures of his caliper installed over the rotor and what the clearance differences were to know if thermal expansion would cause the caliper to interfere with one side of the rotor. That obviously could be a legitimate issue, in my mind, given enough of an offset after installation, but I would think obvious signs would be present from that condition both before and after a catastrophic failure.

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

FYI i cant buy a brake component from a company that tells you their stuff isnt meant to be used on a track.

FuzzyLog1c

iTrader: (4)

Very, very few companies guarantee their products under track conditions. In fact, if you drop $7,500 on a shortblock, there's no guarantee that it'll run at all.

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

Comparing unknown short blocks to brakes here is not the same. its a long reach .