"Hi performance brake kit (front) for 16 inch wheels, 30806040" Anyone have experience with this front brake kit? 4-piston full kit for only $795 GDP - seems like a decent deal. (despite the exchange rate being terrible right now). By the time I have my stock calipers rebuilt, replace the rotors if needed, buy new SS lines, and get new race-spec pads, I'd be into almost 1/2 of this cost anyway, right? And it would still be stock. In contrast, this is all brand new stuff and with a 4-piston caliper. Context: this will be for a GT4 vintage race car driven mostly in 30 minute sprint races (& no street driving), so it's not going to need to have stopping power like a LeMans car, but the stock fronts do have a reputation for overheating a bit, so an improvement would be good. Of course, if this kit is no better than a well set up set of stock brakes with SS lines, some Porterfield race-spec pads, and with some cool air vented to the rotors, than I won't spend the money. But the relatively cheap price (compared to some of the other 308 "big brake" kits I've seen) caught my eye. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm also thinking of installing one of these, so indeed interested in anyone who has experience with this kit.
Go to my website. Start here, and then go forward for the next 10 or so pictures: http://ferrari308gtsi.multiply.com/photos/album/2/1980_Ferrari_308_GTSi_2003_2008#photo=149 Well worth the cost. You won't regret it. Enjoy - DM
Hans, you should also talk to QV London - they have kits for GT4's using modified 355 stuff. Works well. Iain
I bought this set. It's very pretty indeed. I ended up using the disks only, in combination with 360 callipers Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
http://www.qvlondon.co.uk/ No prices on the website - but give them a ring & speak to Mike or Phil. They are a well known & respected Indi & they run/support a number of 308/328 track cars so there isn't much they don't know/can't do. They have quite a few in house developed bits & pieces on the shelf. They've been doing these 355 based kits for quite a while & I'm pretty sure you can just buy the parts from them
I use the Superformance HiSpec front kit on my GT4 racecar. Did a fair amount of research before going with this and the value was a key point. Very pleased with it so far - coped well with longer races, no drop off in performance. Obviously a huge improvement over standard. I found the supplied pads (Ferodo I think) not great for track use and was much happier (wear and feel) once I switched to Pagids. It's also fine for road use as well.
BTW, there's another post a few lines down about a user who had a problem with his kit (which he solved), but has some additional info on the kit, including great photo of the difference between stock and new - and side by side, the difference is striking. And one user mentioned how much lighter the calipers are. I guess the one downside is that I won't be able to use my 14" wheels as "placeholders" any more, when I putting new tires on on the 16's. Wish the exchange rate was the same as it was back then....
Hi Steven, I believe the 360 front caliepr has 38/42 mm pistons, what does the High Spec have? Were you able to bolt up the Brembos to the HiSpec caliper adaptors, or did you have to modify it. Did you do anything to the rears to help restore proper brake balance??( Didn't you go to dual MCs.) What pads are you using? Did you eliminate the stock prop valve or did you do an adjustable unit??? curious, chris
I had a humbling experience with my big brake set up. I went with stock 360 front wheels with 225-40-18 tires, to clear the 14 inch rotors and the F-50 calipers and they are unfadeable-bulletproof. BUT - the front wheel & tire willnot fit in the spare tire well even though it is very close to the stock diameter. Forget about the big rear tire. Needless, the old spare tire will not even fit over the brakes and if i did have an 18 inch spare, i would have no place to cary the flat. "Flat Fixer" in a can only partially solves the flat tire problem.... Something to thinkabout, chris Image Unavailable, Please Login
Does anyone know what the torque specs are for attaching the hats to the rotors. The kit comes with no instructions, at least mine didn't. Is is it just tighten as much as you can. I don't want to mess this up and have my rotor shear off under braking or something crazy like that.
You can actually use front calipers from the Audi 90 series. It is a dual asymmetric setup. You do need to make a minor modification to the bracket/carrier (not the car) as the holes are 1mm off. Fill the holes, re-drill and install. No change is required to the master and braking feel and power are improved. You may want to go a little darker on the rear pads if the balance does not feel quite right. This was a common setup for racing GT4s and 308s. More common in Europe than the US. You can find the Audi calipers pretty easily. I got mine from a junk yard for $40 each and the kit with new seals and boots in about $20. I have the Audi part numbers which I will dig up and post or PM me if you are interested.
Happy too, I checked yesterday but I did not have them readily available. I will post shortly. Richard
In the second pic, looks like the bleeders are on the bottom of the caliper? Did you later flip the fluid crossover pipe, etc? Can you provide any more details of how the 360 calipers mount? Thx -frank
Good catch This was for picture purpose only. I just swapped the calliper from one side to another. I made special brachets. I had them watercut from 20 mm dural
A very simple, and I hear effective, brake upgrade is to replace the front calipers with dual piston calipers from an Audi. This change was not uncommon in the early days of racing GT4s and 308s in the UK as I hear it. I am in the process of making this change that requires no modification to the brake master or suspension. The most difficult part is filling the old bolt holes on the Audi carrier/bracket and then drilling the new holes. It would be possible to just redrill the original bolt holes 1mm further apart but that seems a bit of a hack. The Audi calipers that work were used on Audi 80/90 and 100/200 cars including the Coupe. You should be able to find a pair pretty easily. You can even order replacement ones new if that is your preference. I got mine from a local junk yard and a rebuild kit from AutoHauz. The Audi part numbers are: Front Caliper (Left) 895 615 123 A Front Caliper (Right) 895 615 124 A
Found the answer on their site, my bad. I see Girodisc uses high temp thread locker when to attach the hats but Hi Spec only requires torquing the bolts.
I bought the same kit from Superformance back in 09. Since then, no sweat! The proper braking power ( compare to stock ) gives me much more confidence in pushing the car harder. Great buy!
