I will reiterate what "nobody" stated above. None of the aftermarket stuff will help you to stop faster. If you can lock your wheels, there's no more deceleration force that's possible. Change your brake pads for improved feel (but DO NOT use race pads on the street), and bleed your brakes for firmness - that's it.

I have a friend who regularly tracks his S2000 (and he is very fast). He's used two different aftermarket calipers and several different rotor types. He's now planning to return to stock after all of the headaches he's had with the aftermarket equipment.

 

That was what I suspected. If you want bling (at the cost of degraded performance and extra $$$) then go with slotted rotors, JDM components, oversized painted calipers, etc. If you want the best performance (for street use or autox), stick with the OEM stock.

The only performance-based reason to change the brakes is track use. In that case, I suggest replacing the fluid with DOT type 4 fluid (which is more expensive, has to be flushed more often, and doesn't improve performance on the street at all) and buying some track-only pads (which work poorly on the street, dust and squeal like crazy) and get used to swapping back and forth between street and track pads. Next step is to install brake ducting (which is ugly but functional). At some point stainless steel brake lines might be installed, but they require frequent inspection and are more prone to failure than the stock brake lines.

If you aren't tracking the car, just stay with OEM unless you are willing to trade REDUCED performance for bling.

 

That's a bold statement. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion or experience. But what I'm getting from this is that for those people who are tracking their cars. All of the BBK on the market are for blings? Stoptech, Brembo, Project Mu, Endless, Spoon. Its all hype and just a marketing scheme? Companies like AMG uses drilled rotors on their cars. Does that mean its for bling?

I understand that the stock brakes are good to sudden point. And there's really no use to modify it unless you are putting it to the track. But you can't tell me how so many of these people on this board using every single brands of aftermarket brakes, have all wasted thousands of money. On Wilwood to Soptechs. That all of their write ups of great experiences are just a way of making them self feel better about the money they spent. They work and the best opinion will come from those who have actually driven both that are set up right.

Just my opinion.

Jeff

 

Big brakes are not necessarily bling. The bigger the rotors (in diameter), the more the mass and the more the torque. The bigger the car and the faster you are driving it (eg. 150+), the bigger the brakes should be. However, on the S2K they are basically overkill, and will only be extra unsprung rotating mass that slows you down and makes the car handle less well.

Slotted/drilled rotors are bling, even on the AMG. You don't think AMG sells bling?

I'm not saying people who bought bling wasted their money. They bought bling because they wanted bling. People can want whatever they want. But if they only wanted increased performance, well in that case then they did waste their money.

There are minor considerations that might also be factored in, such as that it is easier to change brake pads with the wilwood calipers than the stock calipers, but as far as making the car stop faster -- just stick with OEM.

 

The biggest benefit of the aftermarket systems is heat dissipation. I'm surprised no one mentioned it specifically.

On heavy braking courses, it doesn't take long to get the stock system to fade (admittedly I have never tried ducting). High Temp brake fluid will be a tremendous help and in my opinion is required for tracking your car.

DO NOT USE TRACK PADS ON THE STREET. This really can be unsafe. I would also advise you not use street pads on the track - you will likely be disappointed by the end of the day.

I can't speak to the JDM vs. USDM issue. But I can say this:

Aftermarket brake benefits:

- Heat dissipation
- Easier pad swaps
- more pads available
- more even pad wear
- reduced unsprung weight (in many cases)
- firmer pedal
- possibly more braking torque depending on piston radius vs. OEM and rotor size vs. OEM
- fade resistance
- good looks (if that matters to you)

 

I had a chat about this topic which I'm posting here because I'm way to lazy to retype it. I cleaned is up but it's still a chat transcript so not written english. Take from it what you will.

compared to stock?
yeah, see I run full on race pads
I go through 6-8 set of pads a year
2-3 sets of front rotors
not sure I'm typical
I assume the endless pads are street pads
it comes down to availability
I go to the track with jp and rylan and they always have pads so if I need some I just go and pluck some out of the GFL van
with such an endless supply of cobalt pads available it just doesn't make sense for me to go out and order others
again, I'm not typical
I can say that I will kill a set of OEM fronts just on the street
gimme 10 minutes and they will be gone
I've tried porterfield r4s and for the street they were ok but really dirty
they crumble too
to me it comes down to economics
those who buy the most pads are going to be the trackers
and autoxers
they will buy race compounds not street pads
and they will want them immediately, like next day or sooner
you go to a 2 days track event and you need pads after day 1 then you can't wait till next week for um
because street pads aren't changed often, say once a year? there is no volume in them which makes them hard to stock which makes them hard to get
endless may be better but unless they are readily available people will buy what's easiest I suspect
people tend to say, oh shit, I need pads cause they don't have any left
if you need pads you need them now, at least IMHO
JDM pads just aren't practical for those reasons IMHO not because they aren't good
even if they were better...

 

One point that has been left out of this discussion are the offsets of the S2K. I am positive that this plays a sigificant role in the choices people make with aftermarket brakes.

Most people understandably do not want to run spacers. The vast majority of BBK's require spacers regardless of the wheel you run. There are of course a few exceptions but even the spoon calipers require spacers on the OEM wheel and they are one of the less aggressive kits which maintain oem rotor diameter.

Wilwood makes the 4 pot mini and the stoptech upgrades do not require any worrying about spacers or appropriate wheel clearance. I know this played a significant role in my choice to run cobalts and powerslots, which after experiencing the combination is sufficient for me even under track conditions.

 

I have the Project Mu B-force pad (street pad) on my car with stock rotors and motul RBF 600 brake fluid. I wouldn't say that the stopping distance has improved, but I love the way the pedal feels comparing to the stock setup.

IMO it's a personal preference thing when it comes down to select brake pads. Both USDM and JDM products have their goods and bads, but it's really what you are looking to use them for in that set of pads.

 

So it seems that the general consensus is to not use aftermarket rotors and calipers unless you track the car.

What about pads for the street? Higher cf's (coefficient of friction) yield shorter stopping distances do they not? Also higher resistance to fading?

What can be done to cause the pedal feel to be more firm? Personally I don't like having to press very far in order get some good braking (I guess this is probably because of the ABS making it softer).. I come from cars that have firm power brakes where you do not have to push it down very far to get it to brake... firmer pedal = more control IMO, even for the street.

Any idea's on fluids?

 

If you can get into ABS with the stock pads, there is nothing else to be gained. Your pads already outperform your tires -- better pads won't help.

Same story with fade -- if you aren't fading with stock (and I've never had any sort of brake fade on the street with any pad) then why switch?

Increasing the coefficient of friction will not actually make the pedal feel more firm, but it will make the brakes more sensitive. I admit, I like the feel of my track pads better than my street pads. I find them easier to modulate. However, I don't use them on the street because the squeaking and the dust drive me crazy. And I can still lock up my street pads, so I live with the feel that I don't like as well.