David GS400

iTrader: (1)

I'm looking for advice on upgrading my front brakes: Does the RMM kit offer a noticeable improvemnt in braking power. I've drive a GS4 with AP Racing brakes; after I put my eyeballs back in my head, I felt these were too much for the street, any advice?

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

I'd recommend you start by simply upgrading your stock brakes, it may be all you need.

1) use better and more aggressive pads like Axxis, Hawk or EBC
2) upgrade the fluid to ATE Super Blue or Motul with a higher boiling point
3) get stainless steel lines by Goodrich or others to help with a better pedal feel
4) get quality rotors (possibly slotted) if yours are in bad shape

IMO the primary benefit of upgraded brakes (big brake kind) is not upgraded braking power, it's 1) resistance to fading over extended periods of heat / heavy use 2) they look cool 3) better pedal feel vs mushy stock GS brakes (part of which you can get with the items I listed above) 4) they look cool

rominl

iTrader: (4)

dave is absolutely correct. most bbk they offer the brake fade rsistance. they do have more braking power most of the time though, of course.

i think the most obviously sudden brake improvement (feeling) is the use of ss lines, it makes the response feel a lot better.

morris

iTrader: (2)

I personally have been very happy with steel lines and aftermarket performance pads. There is a big improvement

David GS400

iTrader: (1)

Thanks everyone for your input, but I already upgraded the brakelines to stainless steel and changed the pads. The pedal feels much better with the SS lines, and the pads do grab better. But I'm still looking for a more consistent and graduated braking power. I do notice that the new pads stop shorter, but you have to step on them hard. may be due for a rotor change anyway, so I was interested in hearing from anyone with RMM brakes, Brembo, or 4-piston AP's. I drove Manaray's car sometime ago, and found myself stopping 100 feet back of stop signs because the car had so much braking. He was running 6-piston AP's; I'm looking for something in-between that and stock.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Does AP make 4-piston kits for the GS? I think everyone with APs on here as the 6-piston variety.

If you are looking into the RMM, I'd skip it and go for the SupraTT ones. They are the same thing. The LS 4-piston is also an "economical" upgrade.

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

if you are not into the "wow" factor for show then a econ alternative is supra tt fronts with ls430 rears .. it will give you incred braking power with no fade whatsoever and brake pedal modualtion will be almost instant


to mount the ls430 rears you need a special bracket out of asia , i am actually gonna do one better , i am going to change the fronts to ls430 calipers and shed about 8 lbs of unsprung weight and get a monoblock caliper which shall brake better from high speeds

morris

iTrader: (2)

When you use supra's up front and LS brakes in the rear, what does that do to the brake balance and bias? It sounds less than ideal to me.

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

actually morris its the other way around , it is quite balanced.. the ls430 is a larger 2 piston design that uses the supra 13 in rotor , the pad surface area is almost twice the size of stock oem rears , when just using the supra fronts , it works but brake bias shifts to the front and under heavy or spirited driving the rears will always surrender to the fronts


my setup works from 130 to 0 stops without fade time after time after time , the only thing i am changing is the pads to a ceramic formulation for better heat diss and i might change the fronts to the ls430 caliper to shed some weight (approx 7.5 lbs) and because its monoblock 1 piece



morris trust me , i have tested it many times since installing it and it makes peoples eyes pop out on how fast the car stops and how balanced the force feels

SUPRAboy80

lex4life.... How do you mod the brake set up? where do the Supra calipers mount to the GS? are there different mounting points? do you need a special braket? What about LS430 fronts on a GS?

Please explain the general method if you can...

thanks

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

The Supra TT front brakes are direct bolt on the front of a GS. The RMM brakes ARE the TT brakes with the RMM logo on them.

Tons of GS and SC owners have been installing TT front brakes for years. Everyone gets on the Supra forums just waiting for a supra owner to sell theirs. You will see people on CL buying them quite often.

I had the RMM branded TT brakes on my car about a year before moving up to the AP 6 piston. I used a G-Tech accelerometer to measure my 60-0 stops and the AP consistently stopped shorter. I also did multiple stops to check fade as well. Both did quite well, but the AP's did a bit better.

The AP over sensitivity you felt on Manarays car can be adjusted for. He more than likely had the high performance race pads that have a lot of bite. If you just switch over to a street pad, you will have a little less bite but probably loose that high sensitivity that you are feeling. I switched to some pretty mellow EBC green brake pads on my APs. The sensitivity between the TT brakes and the AP's in this area were actually not that far apart at all, but like I said the stopping distances were hands down better on the AP than the TT.

The ls400 brakes are essentially a TT brake but better in that they are considerably lighter, which does give a handling benefit. They are more trouble to install in that you can either buy the mystery bracket that no one so far has posted where to buy it or you can grind off a bit of the steering linkage bolt to clear the caliper. If you can deal with this one down side, the LS is an excellent and economical BBK option.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Here's the LS brakes I installed on Jawnthens car without using the brackets.

He decided to do what I call inverse bling where the wheels were painted black and the calipers were polished.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

no they don't have 4 pots setup for the gs. only 6 pots

and personally i wouldn't do the ls400 setup unless there is a new bracket, coz' you need to shave off the suspension bolt

i would just do supra tt setup if i want it to be economy

rominl

iTrader: (4)

oh and btw, i finally know the true answer to your question.... so you test drove manaray's car?

the answer is NOT about what brakes to use, the answer is the brake assist system on the gs430. that's what gives the extra boost to the braking of the car. when you press on the brakes it just bites

how do i know? coz' i drove his car. i drove his car with ap racing, it's pretty hard to drive coz' the brakes bite hard. i then got the ap racing for my gs4, it bites hard too (with the same pads and stuff), but it doesn't bite as SUDDEN (that's what you have been referring too right?) as his car

so i have been wondering, and finally i got drive two more cars, one gs400 and one gs430, both with the ap racing brakes. and i confirmed my findings. the gs400 with ap racing, the braking has the same characteristic as my car, bites but not sudden. but the gs430 with ap racing i drove (not manaray's car)? i got in the car, put it in drive, do it to drive, wanted to slow down, but as soon as i touched the brakes, boom the car stopped

so it's the brake assis system that gives the car the extra boost

you have gs400. i think 2000 gs400 has the brake assist (bitkahuna said that before?). if you have 98 or 99, even with ap racing, i dont' think you will get that feeling

David GS400

iTrader: (1)

Guess I'll look into the AP's again or maybe even the Supra brakes, Thanks for all the info. Anyone have experience with Rotora Brakes?