An opportunity came up to upgrade to a set of brakes off a GT so what better to compliment my suspension build
This was a full day back breaking DIY job including lots of scrubbing and cleaning the crusty GT brakes. I wanted them spotless and repacked with fresh grease etc before fitting them on.
I ended up going with Remsa Master HPT series pads F/R. They are a European OEM pad with ~.45CoF and 0-650degC rating. It is a nice medium having previously ran 0.48CoF 0-750degC pads.
Notes as follows:
- GT/3.0 calipers, brackets, lines, rotors are a straight bolt-on for the 2.5i/2.0(R).
- You can keep your old brake lines they are the same. I left mine in place. At a minimum you need to fit new rotors, pads, calipers, brackets. All other hardware, bolts etc the same.
- Front dust shield is dwarfed by the new rotors. I thought they were an issue but they are fine. I'm not sure if GT/3.0 shields are bigger.
- I'm not sure if the rear discs have a different internal diameter where the handbrake shoe rubs against, because I had to loosen the handbrake a fair bit to get the new discs to fit on (using the ratchet wheel behind the rear brake dust shield).
- Fill the new caliper with brake fluid using a syringe before you connect it up to the lines; rock it back and forth while slowly filling. Bubbles will keep coming up as the fluid moves into all the corners of the chamber. It makes bleeding a LOT easier later. I was surpised at how few bubbles came through since I did this.
- Some people don't replace the copper washer/gaskets for the brake lines. At $1.50/pair I chose to fit new ones just in case.
Result: Brakes are SUPER now; I'm worried I'm going to do a flip if I'm going downhill
I can see why they put smaller brakes on the 2.5i which is a >100kg lighter car.The first time I went over a few bumps I did notice one unexpected side effect in that the suspension feels harder. I can only put this down to the fact that the bigger brakes add around 2-3kg to each of the front wheels and 1-2kg to each of the rear wheels = more unsprung weight. Maybe it's time for some Rays Gramlights
