Thoughts, or my best options on changing up wheels and brakes
04-07-2011, 09:59 PM
#1
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Thoughts, or my best options on changing up wheels and brakes I'm looking for thoughts on what I should change on my combination for wheels and brakes on my 98 1LE. My main question revolves around braking performance to unsprung/rotating weight. I've had the car for coming up on 10 years and would like to get more serious with it. I've sold the nice, yet heavy WS6 Speedlines 17's I've had on the car for 6 years.
In the past I've mainly used the car as summer driver, cross country sport tourer, and fun AutoX/ 1.5 mile roadcourse track toy.
I now have a 530i for my long trips so I want to turn my 98 up to about 390-405rwhp. i do not plan on running slicks, just 275/40/17 Conti Extreme DW's (25lbs each)
Option 1:
Keep my front Prospeed brake kit but switch out the one piece heavy 24 lbs+ Porsche GT3 rotors for lighter 2 piece 19-20 lbs'r. That would save me about 4 lbs a side but allow me to keep the highly renowned Big Red radial mount Monobloc calipers. I run a set of C5 z06 17's (19.2 lbs) of which I currently have 2. Mind you, the reason I consider this is I've never had fade
and back when I bought them, there were little in the way of quality stock brake rotors. Out of pocket would be $1100 total.
Option 2.
Sell my pair of z06 rims ($200?) and big brake kit ($1000?), only to stick a good $650 back into quality, lighter stock design parts. I then would put the remainder towards these wheels: 17 x 9 5x120 et42 Apex Arc-8's for $259 in Hyper Black. They weigh 17.1 lbs or 2.1 lighter than the z06's.
http://www.apexraceparts.com/ARC-8-1...Black_p_1.html
Out of pocket would be about $600
Option 3.
Leave the brakes alone, complete with heavy 24 lbs rotors, buy another pr of used z06 rims, but put the money towards a UMI Torque Arm with brace. Out of pocket $650.
So the question is it worth trying to selling my big kit,risk not even getting a fair amount for it, and reliable braking for about 10 lbs of unsprung weight with my stock calipers. That and I could put the spare $$$ in other parts of the car. Or do I leave the heavy rotors on and invest in nice torque arm?
I was going to call Sam Strano for his probable opinion this wek, today, but work has been busy and I need to pay for the supporting mods. I just don't know if its worth it trying to sell the brakes when I know how good they have been to me.
Current Mods:
ProSpeed 996tt 330x34mm Brembo MonoBloc brake kit
Strano 35/22 3 way
Strano Springs
Fays2 Watts link
Lid, K&N, Bellows
Pro 5.0 Shifter
Sparco Torino 2 seats
Engine was warrantied in late 00, 241 heads.
Has the Stock DA Koni's on it.
Not installed yet or on order:
Long tubes
ORY w/electric cut out
LS6 intake
EPS 226/234 113+3, related hardware
Planning on buying:
UMI Rear Lower Relocation mounts
LS7 Clutch w/Ram Flywheel
Thoughts? Opinions?
In the past I've mainly used the car as summer driver, cross country sport tourer, and fun AutoX/ 1.5 mile roadcourse track toy.
I now have a 530i for my long trips so I want to turn my 98 up to about 390-405rwhp. i do not plan on running slicks, just 275/40/17 Conti Extreme DW's (25lbs each)
Option 1:
Keep my front Prospeed brake kit but switch out the one piece heavy 24 lbs+ Porsche GT3 rotors for lighter 2 piece 19-20 lbs'r. That would save me about 4 lbs a side but allow me to keep the highly renowned Big Red radial mount Monobloc calipers. I run a set of C5 z06 17's (19.2 lbs) of which I currently have 2. Mind you, the reason I consider this is I've never had fade
and back when I bought them, there were little in the way of quality stock brake rotors. Out of pocket would be $1100 total.
Option 2.
Sell my pair of z06 rims ($200?) and big brake kit ($1000?), only to stick a good $650 back into quality, lighter stock design parts. I then would put the remainder towards these wheels: 17 x 9 5x120 et42 Apex Arc-8's for $259 in Hyper Black. They weigh 17.1 lbs or 2.1 lighter than the z06's.
http://www.apexraceparts.com/ARC-8-1...Black_p_1.html
Out of pocket would be about $600
Option 3.
Leave the brakes alone, complete with heavy 24 lbs rotors, buy another pr of used z06 rims, but put the money towards a UMI Torque Arm with brace. Out of pocket $650.
So the question is it worth trying to selling my big kit,risk not even getting a fair amount for it, and reliable braking for about 10 lbs of unsprung weight with my stock calipers. That and I could put the spare $$$ in other parts of the car. Or do I leave the heavy rotors on and invest in nice torque arm?
I was going to call Sam Strano for his probable opinion this wek, today, but work has been busy and I need to pay for the supporting mods. I just don't know if its worth it trying to sell the brakes when I know how good they have been to me.
Current Mods:
ProSpeed 996tt 330x34mm Brembo MonoBloc brake kit
Strano 35/22 3 way
Strano Springs
Fays2 Watts link
Lid, K&N, Bellows
Pro 5.0 Shifter
Sparco Torino 2 seats
Engine was warrantied in late 00, 241 heads.
Has the Stock DA Koni's on it.
Not installed yet or on order:
Long tubes
ORY w/electric cut out
LS6 intake
EPS 226/234 113+3, related hardware
Planning on buying:
UMI Rear Lower Relocation mounts
LS7 Clutch w/Ram Flywheel
Thoughts? Opinions?
04-12-2011, 08:22 AM
#2
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I would say its not worth loosing your big brake kit. You wanna loose some weight, buy a K-Member.
I run CCW classics 17x11 all around with 295/40 on ever corner and it works wonders. Run EBC Stock replacement rotors with Hawk Pads, and SS lines. Zero Brake fade. Once up to temp, coming off the straights at 100+mph it pulls your face off when you stomp on the brakes. Your better off spending that money on a decent set of wheels.
I used to run he C5 Wheels 17/18 combo. Very happy with the decision I made.
I run CCW classics 17x11 all around with 295/40 on ever corner and it works wonders. Run EBC Stock replacement rotors with Hawk Pads, and SS lines. Zero Brake fade. Once up to temp, coming off the straights at 100+mph it pulls your face off when you stomp on the brakes. Your better off spending that money on a decent set of wheels.
I used to run he C5 Wheels 17/18 combo. Very happy with the decision I made.
04-12-2011, 09:59 AM
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You never really quantified the problem. Though I would leave the brakes alone.
I run P-Car brakes on all four corners of my 98 SS since 2000. They are great. The extra weight does not affect me at my current ability even though I track the wheels off that beast with running TOYO RA1 semi slicks year round. I am able to take advantage of later braking points then most cars. Best thing of all I don't have to worry about swapping pad compounds at the track. I have brakes for as long as I use a few brake management techniques I have picked up over the years. This is an old vid of mine that demostrates the brakes ability against a GT3 running semislicks and a Opel Speedster running Semi Slicks and upgraded pads.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...00522546&hl=en
I run P-Car brakes on all four corners of my 98 SS since 2000. They are great. The extra weight does not affect me at my current ability even though I track the wheels off that beast with running TOYO RA1 semi slicks year round. I am able to take advantage of later braking points then most cars. Best thing of all I don't have to worry about swapping pad compounds at the track. I have brakes for as long as I use a few brake management techniques I have picked up over the years. This is an old vid of mine that demostrates the brakes ability against a GT3 running semislicks and a Opel Speedster running Semi Slicks and upgraded pads.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...00522546&hl=en
