Better brakes for the Countach

When I owned my LP400 I became aware very quickly that the brakes are not up to its speed. When the car was later (in 2000) in the UK with Steve Hart for an engine overhaul, it received racing brake pads. From that day on the brake efficiency became 60% better than before.
I am sure you can get better brake pads today for a far better result than 18 years ago.

 

Interesting. Spill the beans and share the part numbers!

 

Oh thank god we're addressing this finally! We all have been talking about this since the old Ltalk and Lpower days.

Put me down for calipers and rotors part numbers. Been on my mind for YEARS.

 

Chad, you are not mentioning the pads. In the past we heard EBC had good pads like redstuff or yellowstuff, dont quite recall. What pads are you using?
i can see a way for people to get better brakes and restore/save the originals.
Also are all the caliper/rotors the same across all CT models? I dont quite remember from the top of my head.

 

EBC Redstuff are a direct fit for the original calipers and a huge improvement.

 

I have been running the Redstuff for years now on the Countach. I do not know if others running them have the same problem but they seem to need a lot of heat to stop really good.
Before this thread I was going back to a regular semi-met pad, like I did with my Urraco. That car's braking improved quite a bit when I tossed out the Reds that were in there.
I used to race bikes in the 90's and only used EBC pads and they were the best for high speed stuff.

 

I am planning on doing this.. working on a few more questions and then can move forward. Planning on using the pads that Wilwood recommends for the calipers

 

how is wheel clearance with rotors and calipers?

 

Aren't the original fronts just the ATE 4 piston calipers utilized by BMW on some of their sedans in the mid 1970s to early 1980s?
Yeah those are pretty heavy, all cast iron. But cheap to repair once you know that! Used on Urracos as well right?

I'm sort of surprised that Wilwood has a direct bolt on caliper?

Bob S.

 

Try switching to the yellowstuff. I've heard good things and I'm about to put them on one of my cars soon. EBC pads now come with a scrub in coating to clean up your rotors while bedding the pads. I hope it works!

 

Yellow stuff need heat to work appropriately, red stuff is much better for road use.

 

Everything I've heard and read is just the opposite of that. I used to have greenstuff on this car which was OK at the track but I got a lot of build up on the rotors.

 

Yes..the originals are just off the bmw 7's from the day.. but if they are due for a rebuild then why bother rebuilding junk.. one common complaint for decades now has been this cars brakes... as in, lack of.

 

Originality?

Those calipers are heavy but just fine on other cars (my interest) but not up to snuff for a car this powerful and fast if you're going to really drive it. And yet ... Valentino managed somehow ... lol

 

VB knows better than to criticize a countach

 

Certainly his bank account does ...

 

and i due like and appreciate originality, but my car happens to be a driving, used car which already has modifications (bigger aluminum radiators, electronic ignition, kevlar clutch etc) if it were all original then i would certainly just rebuild the current calipers.

 

Oh I understand. I'm not an originality zealot except for really obvious visual stuff, Pantera style ...
I presume that Chad's solution includes greater pad area and perhaps increased clamp load? So this is is a F&R solution i.e. 4 calipers total?
That might be rougher duty on original rotors? I p[resume thoise rotors are now very expensive? So maybe the rotor upgrade is the cheaper solution if you drive hard and drive a lot?

 

Nice upgrade!
I did the Brembo upgrade on my '91 Diablo (front and rear) and its nice to have the braking confidence to match the car's acceleration and speed.

 

Originality.......less important when it comes to bolt, then bolt off, safety mods. Unimportant unless you are about to sell it or Pebble Beach it Then you can bolt the original stuff back on.

 

I think there are a few of us who would appreciate the information regarding the Wilwood calipers and rotors. Myself included.

 

I beleive his offer is to sell them to you at the above pricing which frankly seems quite reasonable and if I'm wrong about that then I'm sure Chad will clarify this shortly.