1. The Prospeed/Porsche Caliper was/is a much stiffer, more robust piece.
2. The total brake pad area is larger
3. The total distance between the innermost pad/rotor contact area and the outermost contact area, in other words pad width, was/is far greater. In the picture I posted look at the total swept area on the rotor. It's huge. Nothing else out there compares to it. Some have a large pad area, but it's a long narrow pad forcing the heat into the rotor thru a small area. This is much more prone to cracking, some have a very small pad area forcing a far higher PSI loading on the pad. I'm sure you can guess what a detrimental affect this has on pad response to a continuous high heat/high braking force environment If this is the same 6 piston caliper that was available a few years ago when I was looking for brakes ( and I don't know that it is ) then the pad contact area is 1/3 less than the stock LS1 pads, the calipers are 2 piece making them much more flexible compared to the high end competition, and they don't have rubber boots on them for street use. In short they don't really compare at all.I haven't looked at Wilwoods for about 3 years so maybe they've changed ? When comparing brake system most people simply look at rotor diameter and the number of pistons in the caliper. What they should looking at is

1. Pad area including the area/width ratio ( you can have a long, skinny pad that has huge pad area, but if all that heat has to enter the rotor thru a 1" wide strip then your rotors are going to crack very quickly and they'll cost you brake affectiveness when they get hot )

2. Total piston area ( A few years ago the 4 piston Wilwoods were actually a better option than their 6 piston calipers in part because the 6 piston version had the smaller piston area )

3. Caliper design. ( Monoblocks are superior in every way to multipiece )

4. Rotor design and weight

 

Thanks for the information Bill, this will probably help me out buying brakes. I might just go with Brembos instead of Wilwood, will be cheaper anyways.

By the way, did you guys know the caddy STS-V comes with huge Brembo calipers on 14" rotors? I think they are bigger than the Big Reds by a decent amount too. Can probably get those at the dealer My friend has a set he got on ebay for like $700, front and rear. I'm so jealous.

 

14" What size wheels do they need? I know you cant run a 16" wheel with the Baers 13". Has to be 17's or better.

 

Yeah, 14" front rotors and 14.3" rears! The STS-V comes with 18" front and 19" rear, I doubt they would fit under a 17" though.

Also, the CTS-V has Brembo calipers as well, and 14" rotors all around I think, with 18" wheels. Somebody should get a part number from the dealer for those things and check out the pricing.

 

OK Doug, now that you mention it I do remember you saying something a while ago. So Mark, I guess you can disregard my request.

Thanks for all the good info Bill. This is stuff I could not find in the brake section. That totally changes my mindset for looking at brakes.

 

Because everyone on this site is normally looking for the best lieghtweight brakes for drag racing. But for serious "woah" power, you need heavy big dogs to get the job done.

 

Bill, Boyce:

What do you guys think about 44/44mm Brembos, like come on the Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep SRT8 cars? These are some of the only Brembos I have found on production cars that are not differential bore.. These are also run with a 360mm rotor on those cars, but could possibly use a smaller one.

 

Ok I just read that the non-staggered 44/44mm pistons on those Brembos can cause really bad pad wear. Also I read that the stock pads for those suck, and that they use a new/rare pad shape, and there are no race pads for them. So.. I think I'm just going to go with R Brembos. 34/38mm will be fine for my 2600lbs (I hope).

Howard, check ebay for Big Reds, sometimes they go on there for a pretty good price. Plus those are radial mount which makes adapting them about 10x easier than lug mount!

 

Yeah, I have C5 calipers and can confirm the pistons are smaller than the LS1 f-body pistons. Max force is still way high (it si possible to spread a C5 caliper), but I have a hunch the smaller pistons allow for more moderated braking force.

The C5 rotors are 13" and fit under 17" rims fine (with a few exceptions, none of which are GM rims). The C6 rotors and calipers "should" interchange I'm told, and the C6 calipers have a lower bridge height. The 13" C6 base brakes are pretty much the same as C5 (just the caliper style change and better clearance).

The C6 13.5" rotor uses the same caliper as well (0.25" offset pad abutement bracket), though the vanes are directional last time I checked GM only made one side (RH I think)... with the other side mounted backwards. The increased size also makes it hard to fit until 17" rims. I have the bracket, but couldn't get the C5 calipers to fit under ZR1 17" rims... maybe with C6 calipers it's possible (see it done online with a wheel spacer)

The C6 Z06 14" monsters are way more expensive... at that point you'd be better off with Brembo set ups for sure. They also need at LEAST 18" rims.