Brake upgrade thoughts

Bought this a couple of months ago and have just completed the installation as a winter project. Have not yet driven the car as there are other issues in the way.

Best feedback that I can give is that the kit "looks" impressive and fits perfectly - far better than OEM quality.

Driving impressions will be posted when the car is back on the road in the spring (if someone will remind me ...)

Cheers - DM
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If you are serious about tracking the car, you need better brakes. However, just as important is balancing the brakes between front and rear. Just putting on big brakes in the front is a sure way to get real personal with a tire wall. Do your homework and calculate the correct brake bias, wheel size, and tires. The parking brake question will also come up. The right combination will make the car stop on a dime and in a straight line. Good luck.

 

+1 to BALANCED brakes. i went with Brembo larger front on the 308 (Girodisc was not around back then, wish they were) and took me a few tries at various rear pad types to get the balance acceptable.

 

I'll quickly throw in a couple comments.

Ask Hi-Spec for the piston sizing in their kit, the rotor diameter, vane construction, and pad choice(including friction coefficient). If they cannot/will not provide it to you, move on. If they will, I'll run the numbers and tell you exactly what the front brake torque is compared to stock. The QV kit does use the 355 caliper IIRC which has 36/40 pistons as does the "lotus" caliper in the Brembo kit. You would need to bump up to a higher rear friction pad as Steve and Mike C did to bring the balance back in either of these kits.

Our kit comes in at roughly 1475 GBpounds. It includes front calipers, lines, brackets, discs, pads, and rear discs, lines and pads. Plus some Motul fluid as well. Front calipers are red as seen in various threads here. There are only a couple calipers we use from Wilwood and consider these units to be top notch. They are equiped with dust boots and anti rattle pad retainers. They were chosen with only one thing in mind, piston sizing. There were no other calipers available at the time that had the correct sizes for this car, that's why we run these. They have proven to be exceptional.

If you would like any other info, please feel free to ask.

Thanks,

Martin
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David,

I PM'd you

Martin

 

FYI,
As Fatbillybob states, stock systems are well designed. I have added porterfield R4 pads, stainless braided lines, ATE blue synth high temp fluid, stock ATE calipers, machined trued and balanced stock rotors. I get excellent performance on the track, great stopping power and balance (a little scary cold on the street, though)
my.02

 

That is because the R4 is a race pad and race pads have an operational temperature range. R4S is for street!

 

Just remember when you increase caliper size, think about master cylinder diameter. Most of the 911 guys(me as well) replaced the stock calipers(same as the 308) with 944 turbo(951) calipers and the stock 19mm master cylinder can not keep up with the additional volume. Spongy pedal and yes we bled the system. We had to change to a 911 turbo(930) 23mm brake master cylinder to increase the volume.

Does anyone know the diameter of a 308 Master cylinder? The size is stamped on the side of the master cylinder.

Charles

 

Stock is 23mm i believe, you DO WANT the 25mm 308 master cylinder source being [email protected] for a few hundred dollars. One guy tried it and said it works well (once he firgured out he had two bleed holes on his brake calipers).

 

Hi Martin: If you've got a formula for brake torque would you mind doing a calculation for me. I have the 8 piston Brembos for up front and some 380mm (lightweight) AP brake discs. Any idea what the numbers would be? (rears are likewise upgraded as well).

By the way, your price for a front and rear set up is a great value!!!!

Those front hats are really sweet! Have you got a F&R kit for 17" wheels?

 

Hello Excelcior,

Sorry to chime in for Martin. No doubt hes busy under a stack of boxes and brake parts.

As for your calculation - exactly what pads are you using? the friction material is a huge factor in the torque calculation. Are you saying that the rear is a 380mm rotor with Brembo 8p also?
Is this the Brembo Audi/Lamborghini cast 8p you are talking about?

We only offer the one kit. The rear cannot grow due to the parking brake integral to the caliper. Its a subject thats been beaten to death around here.
Making something work simply prices and requires car modifications to the system outside of what most 308 owners are looking to pay and modify. Same reasons Brembo doesnt offer a rear kit. No point in making something nobody will pay for.

Also - we dont size brakes by wheel size. The point was to make the best braking system possible that will fit inside the OE wheel.

 

Which car gets the big brakes?
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he's a lawyer ..........you know........

Nice pic though.......

 

Thanks Rifledriver LOL

 

Last fall, way up there above in this thread, I had mentioned that I would update you all as to the results of the winter installation of the HiSpec front brake kit on my 308.

Just got the car back on the road this week (delay due to other unrelated issues), so here's my initial impressions based upon the first 50 miles of casual road miles.

The Hi Spec brake kit components themselves are first rate. The installation went smoothly, everything fit perfectly, and it was very easy (and quite fun) to do in an afternoon. Everything lined up correctly and fit just as it should, with an overall parts quality of construction which, honestly, exceeds that of the OEM front brakes.

The brake pedal "feels" pretty much the same as it did with the OEM brakes when driving gently, with no discernible differences noted. No pad squealing, no pulling to one side or another, no drama, no worries. But when you put your foot into it hard, it's obvious that there's much more stopping force now than before. It's not a night-and-day difference (and I did not anticipate that it would be), but it is a very noticeable and satisfying improvement.

I can hardly wait to do some "spirited" driving with the car, as I feel certain that during those more critical circumstances the improvement will become much more apparent.

All in all, I am extremely pleased with the kit. It's a fine value for the money, there's no down side that I can find, and it brings the braking performance of the 27 year old car up to today's "modern" standards.

Highly recommended.

Cheers - DM
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I have a 328 cylinder at home, I'll check size marking on the side.

(Help, I thought that all Benditalia master cylinders were 22mm like the alfa Milano? Or, tell me Guido, "It-a cant-a get this easy-a"., , , , , No?)

 

David I sent you a PM
Charles

 

328 Master Cylinder, non-ABS 25mm

This should feed those Girodiscs,, Right?

 

I was wondering does the Girodisc 308 kit fit a pre-ABS 328? I have an 87 328 and was wondering if the Girodisc Brake kit would work... ??

 

I prefer to discuss out in the open for the benefit of others - please post question here instead of PM. Thanks - DM