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AP 5000+ Racing Brakes Installed

RAAMaudio

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#21
My post may of sounded a bit off from the intent, I believe AP to be one of the absolute best in brakes, period.

If AP was available to fit my "needs" 3 years ago I would of bought them in a heartbeat, my last big project was a 2300lb 95M3, 600HP forged LS, massive underbody aero in the works, full tubular suspension, 3-way Ohlins, AP brakes:)

I have a lot more money and a great deal of time invested in making up my own WW kit than an off the shelf setup would of cost and likely I spent not a great deal less than AP would of been.

I had to get away from 17" wheels as just not a good size for this cars fenders, 16's to expensive as the only viable ones were forged and needing 4 sets minimum....I had to go to 15's and with the very good low weight 15x9's that are just over $100 each plus the challenge of DIY BBKs to fit under them was just to much of a pull, I had to do it, I love a challenge and enjoyed the process but it did get a bit trying at times.

I used the biggest and best rotor I could fit from WW, the GT in 11.75" up front, 11" rear. I wanted to run other calipers and wider rotors but could not make the ones over .81" work out. I have a very effective setup but again I spent probably $4k front and rear and a couple of hundred hours on it.

Just about to turn 18k miles on the brakes, same pads front and rear are in fine shape as well as rotors, only tracked the car two days on Carbotech pads, fronts nearly gone but did not have cooling ducts yet and forgot to turn off the nannies a couple of times which is very hard on the brakes. I do need to mic the rotors, showing some wear, to ensure not getting to thin. I will inspect and clean the caliper bores and rebuild them if needed since they have no dust shields.

I have very good airflow to the calipers but have not finished the design and build of the backing plates to attach the hoses so the air just blows into and around the calipers and rotors but it helps a great deal having that much air blowing there. To properly build the backing plates takes a bit of effort as you need to seal up the area so teh air has to flow into the center of the hub and out through the rotor slots for best results. Having a one off set of brakes means I cannot simply buy the parts and none made are optimized as it is, they help but far from perfected.

I have driven over the mountains in the winter, clear days only as I do not take the car out in bad weather unless an absolute must, have done hard stops in 117 degree weather on very sticky 225 Rival S tires, etc...I am happier with the WW setup than I imagined it would be able to do with how I am hard on brakes.

Having 32lbs or so per corner, 23" diameter when on full tread tires, helps the smaller and much lighter weight rotors deal with the heat better as much less is generated that with heavier, taller, weight further out from the center larger wheels and tires and bigger rotors, a major part of why my brakes works so well.



They started squealing a bit lately, on and off, just when pulling up to a light nearly stopped, get some funny looks from it which I find amusing.

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Anyway, AP, damn good brakes and I would not of hesitated to put them on the car if I could of done so.

The WW I setup are working better than expected and I was prepared to do quite a bit of maintenance on the brakes which has not materialized from racing brakes on a street car, driven all season, WW can work done right and properly maintained.

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You have a damn good set of brakes, congrats on that:):):)
 


OP
XuperXero

XuperXero

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Thread Starter #23
Thanks everyone for their comments/feedbacks/critism/questions/etc

To reply everyone in single post (too lazy to multi-quote):

1. Price: Brand new costs about $4500 USD (China import tax) just for the calipers alone but they were gifted to me coming off a friend who is a VW Scirocco owner who took it off after only 100km when his wife complained that it made too much noises (no anti-rattle shims). He had it sitting in his storage for over half a year and kept asking me to take it off his hands (I actually refused a few times because I'm stupid). So lucky me! I had to spend another $1000 USD alone on rotors, mounting bell, screws and bracket that's Fiesta ST specific. Reused the pads that he used which is practically brand new with only 100km...

2. 20mm spacers needed to clear because stock rims design sucks (inside of spokes is too thick and flat with no curve), easily fixed with aftermarket wheels. Already looking into options.

3. Another local guy runs them with 15" rims, he's on 280mm rotors. But he had to trim/grind the mounting points on the hub. So I went with 330mm rotors to avoid that since the brackets are taller and don't interfere with the hub. 330mm rotors were also cheaper as it's more common.

4. Front rear bias and balance? To be very honest... I can't tell. I don't think the rear brakes are used that much in our cars. This is true when I have to change front pads 3 times before changing the rears. I think someone mentioned that Ford designed it that way?

5. 16's aftermarket rims will fit. Just make sure the inner diameter of the rim is less than 350mm (13.4").

6. The whole setup consisting of calipers, rotors, mounting bell, screws, bracket is NOTICEABLY lighter than the stock. I had the AP's in one box and could easily lift it around. After the installation, I put all the stock parts in the same box and there was difficulty in lifting and the box broke too. I couldn't weight it due to lack of scale. My coworker assisted me in the install and we both agreed that by feel it's probably around 10kg lighter despite the 330mm rotors NOT EXAGGERATING...

7. To the guy who said it's not monoblock, fail. Search up on why AP went 2 piece. Educate yourself because making ignorant posts.

8. For a street driven car that sees track duty a couple times a year, this is a complete overkill. But it's free, why not and I'm hoping I don't have to change pads out every 15,000km due to larger pad surface area. Oh, also because I tackle the mountain roads on weekends.

9. Brake feel: I'm on Project Mu Type HC+ pads... The initial bite of the pads + the larger surface area definitely makes it a lot more sensitive. After driving 1000km already, I'm getting used to it and the stock master cylinder seems to adapt to it just fine. Pedal travel is about same.

10. Someone said 2700 lbs? Sorry, my car is about 2500lbs (2 less doors) [biggrin].

11. Yes front's only. Refer to point 4. Not to mention there isn't any offerings for rear brake upgrades here in China.

12. More even pad wear, I'm also sick of inner pads wearing out before the outer pads.

Any further questions, ask away. I'll be glad to answer any.
 


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Milwaukee
#24
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#27
Do you know what monoblock means? Lmaofail


Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Can you point out where I said the AP's pictured, or that I posted were monoblock? And to that nature, why are the wilwoods available to us more prone to flex than the AP, Alcon, and StopTech options available to us?

if you wanna troll, try elsewhere. Adults are trying to talk here.
 


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