Thread: Brake weights

I think this is the Wilwood caliper used in the FastBrakes kits:
Wilwood Forged Dynalite Caliper - .810 Rotors - Speedway Motors, America's Oldest Speed Shop

The link above lists those at 2.80lbs. That might not be the exact ones, but it has to be close. But then you are using a larger rotor and its additional rotational mass, so I'm not sure what the overall gains may be over the stock system when you compare the weights and rotational mass of the two. However, I think the brake benefits and pad life easily make the wilwood kit a better deal. I seem to recall a MotoIQ article talking about the benefits of running the 11.75" rotors on their race car over the 11's, but a quick glance didn't find it. But I did find this:
Fastbrakes Announces New Low Priced AP Racing Big Brake Kits!

I know a lot of road course guys use the NX brakes with NX rims to keep rotational mass to a minimum, and they seem to do just fine. But I don't know how aggressive of pads they need and therefore how often they have to change pads/rotors.

From Autozone parts lookup:
AD18 caliper 5.0 lb ea
AD18 250mm rotor 10.35 lb ea
15.35 per front corner

AD22 caliper 9.0 lb ea
AD22 257mm rotor 13.45 lb ea
22.45 per front corner

Difference of 7.1 lb per front corner


97 B14 2.0:
caliper 4.7 or 4.75 lb ea
rotor 247 x 18mm 9.0 or 9.1 lb ea for optional part#
Total per side 13.7 or 13.85 lb.
Difference vs AD22 = 8.75 or 8.6 lb per front corner

***Note: this does not account for differences in pads nor hardware***

This is perfect!!! Thanks!

Wow... I'm really shocked at how much more the AD22's weigh than a B14. Makes you wonder if its worth the weight penalty for a daily driver...

Nice. Add that to the brake thread. I guess the wilwood setup is a lot lighter than the ad22. But the cost is what kills. Good info!

I'm running the Brembos and they are lighter than the Ad22 setup I had before. The rotational inertia of the larger rotor prob negates much of the weight difference though. 12" rotors.

I have always maintained that for a naturally aspirated daily driver you do not need to upgrade brakes, and actually take a step backward from the weight increase of the AD22 setup. If any braking performance enhancement is needed, it can be achieved through upgrading the pads.

Once you go onto a road course, however, the stock brakes will prove inadequate even with upgraded pads and drilled/slotted rotors. The system just cannot absorb the heat generated without exceeding the operating limits of the pads, rotors, and fluid.

I hear ya. The plan for my car is to make it a fun NA daily driver. I'm also a cyclist so I know the benefits reducing rotating mass. One of my next big upgrades is to get light wheels and tires. The dilemma now is to get enkei rpf1s and just keep the stock setup or spend more and get 949 6uls and a fastbrake big brake kit. Getting enkeis and ad22's is now out of the question. I'm leaning towards the enkeis with pads and rotors. I'd like to do some track days but I know it won't be often.

When I first got into doing track days with my SE-R, I tried everything I could think of to get by on the stock brakes. I upgraded the fluid, got expensive slotted rotors and upgraded the pads. All this got me was fade on the track and, ultimately, a situation where the pads melted and the caliper piston came out too far causing a catastrophic leak of fluid and loss of breaking as I was entering a turn. I was able to confirm from this experience two things: 1) It's a good idea to upgrade B13 brakes before driving with any seriousness on a road course, and 2) Brake fluid is flammable.

Once I upgraded to the NX system with track pads, I never experienced any fade again, and have good confidence in my braking on the track. The NX brakes have also proven to be adequate on the track even after I started running an SR20VE engine. I hope that others will benefit from my experience in this regard.