FAILED 4 piston Wilwood brakes
12-26-02, 02:33 AM
#1
FAILED 4 piston Wilwood brakes
Hello everyone,
A while back I informed many that I completed a Wilwood 4 piston brake upgrade for the GS. At the time many wanted to send me money for kits for themselves and I refused since the kit was not tested and I was not about to sell an untested product. Well..good thing.
Even with the high recommendation from Wilwood themselves that the calipers would provide an improved braking experience over the GS brakes, it did not.
I tried the units for 3k miles with two pad compounds.
I found that braking from 30 was similar to stock brakes
From 60 the Wilwoods braked 12 feet farther
From 80 , 33 feet farther .
From 100, 57 feet farther!!!!!
This was after multiple test.
This setup used stock rotors ,aircraft aluminum brackets. and stainless steel lines.
Primary reason for failure is the smaller pad area of the brakes vs. the stock setup though Wilwood informed me that it would not matter due to the higher braking pressure from the Wilwoods.
This was evidenced by the noticeable gap left on the inside of the rotors where the stock pads would of lied.
Folks the stock brakes on the GS with the right pads is a very good setup.
But not all is lost.
The new 6 piston Wilwood setup that is almost completed looks promising as does the 4 piston Wilwoods for the REAR on ventilated rotors. The whole setup front and rear set me back less than 1300.00 bucks so hopefully this time around, the outcome will be positive.
I will let you know. For those that have highly anticipated this kit, sorry things did not work out. But it was worth a try.
A while back I informed many that I completed a Wilwood 4 piston brake upgrade for the GS. At the time many wanted to send me money for kits for themselves and I refused since the kit was not tested and I was not about to sell an untested product. Well..good thing.
Even with the high recommendation from Wilwood themselves that the calipers would provide an improved braking experience over the GS brakes, it did not.
I tried the units for 3k miles with two pad compounds.
I found that braking from 30 was similar to stock brakes
From 60 the Wilwoods braked 12 feet farther
From 80 , 33 feet farther .
From 100, 57 feet farther!!!!!
This was after multiple test.
This setup used stock rotors ,aircraft aluminum brackets. and stainless steel lines.
Primary reason for failure is the smaller pad area of the brakes vs. the stock setup though Wilwood informed me that it would not matter due to the higher braking pressure from the Wilwoods.
This was evidenced by the noticeable gap left on the inside of the rotors where the stock pads would of lied.
Folks the stock brakes on the GS with the right pads is a very good setup.
But not all is lost.
The new 6 piston Wilwood setup that is almost completed looks promising as does the 4 piston Wilwoods for the REAR on ventilated rotors. The whole setup front and rear set me back less than 1300.00 bucks so hopefully this time around, the outcome will be positive.
I will let you know. For those that have highly anticipated this kit, sorry things did not work out. But it was worth a try.
12-26-02, 01:50 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
PearlPower - BIG thanks to you for doing all this hard work even though it didn't work out. I for one really appreciate what you did.
Now we need to hear how Manaray's li'l package works out...
Now we need to hear how Manaray's li'l package works out...
12-26-02, 01:54 PM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Thanks for everything Pearlpower. I think it is not even a Wilwood issue. The GS factory brakes are some of the best OEM period. The only benefit better brakes have are for those that go to the track. Because AP/Brembo/Wilwood upgraded kits are more heat resistant and can be used for hours at a track, while OEM brakes would over-heat and the stopping would suffer tremendously. Looks better too.
12-27-02, 12:30 AM
#5
Lead Lap
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Is there a chance that this might be a software issue? The stability system is calibrated for stock hardware and gets "conservative" when beefier hardware is installed, thus lengthening the stopping distances.
Just curious if:
1) Braking tests were performed with the VSC on or off?
2) Did the brake assist activate in both the stock and Wilwood setup?
3) Was it a back-to-back comparison on the same car? (to filter out the unknown variables, such as surface condition, weather, tire compound, tread depth, etc.)
Just curious if:
1) Braking tests were performed with the VSC on or off?
2) Did the brake assist activate in both the stock and Wilwood setup?
3) Was it a back-to-back comparison on the same car? (to filter out the unknown variables, such as surface condition, weather, tire compound, tread depth, etc.)
12-27-02, 01:14 AM
#6
Nope
Test were conducted on the same vehicle. VSC would not of made a difference in this case. But yes I did try it both ways.
Antilock did kick in with the stock brakes and were more difficult to invoke with the Wilwoods due to the smaller clamping surface. They kicked in, just took a bit more foot pressure to get there.
The high speed test was dramatic with the Wilwoods performing poorly over 130 mph. Hey, at least the brackets worked well. The 4 pistons looks very promising for the rear as does the new 6 pistons that I almost have completed for the front.
Test conditions were comparable in all test.
Antilock did kick in with the stock brakes and were more difficult to invoke with the Wilwoods due to the smaller clamping surface. They kicked in, just took a bit more foot pressure to get there.
The high speed test was dramatic with the Wilwoods performing poorly over 130 mph. Hey, at least the brackets worked well. The 4 pistons looks very promising for the rear as does the new 6 pistons that I almost have completed for the front.
Test conditions were comparable in all test.
12-27-02, 04:02 PM
#7
Re: Nope
Originally posted by Pearlpower
Test were conducted on the same vehicle. VSC would not of made a difference in this case. But yes I did try it both ways.
Antilock did kick in with the stock brakes and were more difficult to invoke with the Wilwoods due to the smaller clamping surface. They kicked in, just took a bit more foot pressure to get there.
The high speed test was dramatic with the Wilwoods performing poorly over 130 mph. Hey, at least the brackets worked well. The 4 pistons looks very promising for the rear as does the new 6 pistons that I almost have completed for the front.
Test conditions were comparable in all test.
Test were conducted on the same vehicle. VSC would not of made a difference in this case. But yes I did try it both ways.
Antilock did kick in with the stock brakes and were more difficult to invoke with the Wilwoods due to the smaller clamping surface. They kicked in, just took a bit more foot pressure to get there.
The high speed test was dramatic with the Wilwoods performing poorly over 130 mph. Hey, at least the brackets worked well. The 4 pistons looks very promising for the rear as does the new 6 pistons that I almost have completed for the front.
Test conditions were comparable in all test.
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12-28-02, 05:32 AM
#9
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Re: Nope
Originally posted by Pearlpower
Test were conducted on the same vehicle. VSC would not of made a difference in this case.Test conditions were comparable in all test.
Test were conducted on the same vehicle. VSC would not of made a difference in this case.Test conditions were comparable in all test.
I was asking about the VSC because of the brake assist feature (where the pedal just drops to the floor and the computer takes over braking until the driver releases the brake pedal). This is not the same as the Anti-Lock. I am assuming that this feature is turned off when the VSC is turned off (I may be wrong).
12-28-02, 10:41 AM
#10
Pole Position
Re: Re: Nope
Originally posted by Vlad_Stein
Thanks for the answers!
I was asking about the VSC because of the brake assist feature (where the pedal just drops to the floor and the computer takes over braking until the driver releases the brake pedal). This is not the same as the Anti-Lock. I am assuming that this feature is turned off when the VSC is turned off (I may be wrong).
Thanks for the answers!
I was asking about the VSC because of the brake assist feature (where the pedal just drops to the floor and the computer takes over braking until the driver releases the brake pedal). This is not the same as the Anti-Lock. I am assuming that this feature is turned off when the VSC is turned off (I may be wrong).
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