brembo vs. stoptech...the winner is? or pro and con for each??
12-11-2001, 05:45 PM
#12
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My Brembos rock. I'm very pleased with them.
The biggest "con" I see with them, and with every other 14" brake kit, is not the brakes but the wheels. Stock wheels won't work. It is hard to find wheels that fit without spacers. If you use spacers, then wheel offset becomes an issue. PITA to figure out. I only know two off the shelf wheels that fit right. Sportecs and SSR Comps.
12-11-2001, 05:46 PM
#13
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While I did not ever try Brembo, the stoptechs were VERY impressive....
I had the APR stage 3 kit (stoptech calipers and rotors), and proved themselves to me in the best possible ways, namely saving my ***. GREAT pedal feel - linear and predictable. Just my .02.
12-11-2001, 05:52 PM
#14
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Stoptechs are one of THE best S4 mods for the money !! Call me for more details on the kit
which we carry and already use on one of our S4's.
P.S. they are so good we have another set on order for my S4
P.S. they are so good we have another set on order for my S4
12-11-2001, 07:09 PM
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Even though I deleted this post and all the reactions to it, I'll post it again...
And just in case you are jbrhino, katana in disguise, or a person with nothing constructive to say....SAVE IT.
You can do whatever you want with this information. Enjoy the read....
Here is the <a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/524246.phtml">original post link </a>(don't know if it'll work since it is deleted)
---------
I offered up my car as a test bed to Stoptech for them to test their upcoming 355mm brake kit for the A4/S4. I currently have the Brembo 355mm kit on my car and was interested in the difference, especially when both calipers are of the 4 piston variety. The two systems were compared with exactly the same car, same driver, same set of tests, and even with the same pads (Pagid Orange).
A lot of people suggest a particular brand of modification without much experience, including myself, so I took this opportunity to learn.
First off, the folks at Stoptech are top notch. I can't say enough good things about them. I know a lot of people already know this about Stoptech and their staff, but I did not. They know their stuff, inside and out about how a braking system performs and what should you expect out of it. I talked with Steve (engineer at Stoptech) just about the entire day, but they all are extremely knowledgeable with a sole purpose to offer the best possible braking system at a great price point.
I personally got the Brembo system because I didn't want to dilly-dally around with an intermediate solution, and at that time, Brembo's kit, which was just out of the gates (my car being the first one to get the kit), offered the "solution" I was looking for. It was reasonable at $3200+, when compared to the Alcon 6 pot World Challenge brakes that I have sitting on my living room floor.
Needless to say, the StopTech kit stopped shorter on all the tests (60-0, 80-0, 100-0), by an average of around 2-3 feet, even with exactly the same pad (Pagid Orange). There wasn't a drastic difference, but 2 feet is 2 feet, especially if it means hitting something and not hitting it. Also, the 100-0 stops, yielded shorter stopping distances on the average of about 5-6 feet, than what the Brembo system could do.
Another thing to note was on the 6th stop, not only was the stop short by 4 feet, but the front rotor was cooler by about 100 degrees (when compared to the Brembo rotor), which is a SIGNIFICANT difference. This can be attributed to a more BALANCED system that allows the rear brakes to do its work, thereby allowing for less front bias.
Another turn while braking excercise was also impressive, because I could definitely see that the car deviated from its intended direction of travel. This showed me that the the car was understeering more than it should have with the Brembo system.
I should indicate that by no means that the Brembo 355mm kit is "bad". But it is certainly not as optimized for your car as the Stoptech system is. And in fact, the Stoptech folks' approach is this very idea of making sure that the braking system they offer isn't a "one size fits all", but is truly designed to the specific car it was intended for.
Also note that even though the Brembo system consists of the F50 caliper vs. the Stoptech's ST40 caliper, the Stoptech's caliper is a bit different in the sense that it uses the exactly the same pad (size wise), but it is specified as a Porsche pad, as opposed to the Brembo's F50 caliper which is specified as a Ferrari pad. This means that not only the Stoptech's choice of caliper design yields a larger array of choosing different compounds, but for example, the Pagid Orage pad for Stoptech's ST40 caliper is about $50 less than the Brembo F50 caliper.
My impressions on the feel of the brakes, as I drove with both the Axxis Pad and the Pagid pad, with both systems back to back is that the Stoptech system offered more linear pedal feel and travel, where as the Brembo system feels a little bit like an on/off switch. What I mean is that with the Brembo kit, when you gradually press the brake pedal, there is a point where the pads grab more (or there is heightened clamping force), where as the Stoptech ones is more linear than the Brembo kit.
Also, as far as pad compound is concerned, I preferred the Pagid Pad vs. the Axxis purely because it offered a better more resistance. But the Pagid pad is significantly more expensive than the Axxis, and is meant for track junkies. The Axxis performed exactly the same as the Pagid in the tests, but the Pagid would have the edge when the going gets hot. They hold up better and perform better at higher temperatures.
Again, I want to thank Bob Lee and everyone at Stoptech for teaching me how the brake system should work for you to it's maximum efficiency. A very eye-opening day for me.
Here are some images:
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/jyoteen/.Pictures/stoptechtesting/stoptechtest1.jpg">
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/jyoteen/.Pictures/stoptechtesting/stoptechtest2.jpg">
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/jyoteen/.Pictures/stoptechtesting/stoptechtest3.jpg">
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/jyoteen/.Pictures/stoptechtesting/stoptechtest4.jpg">
You can do whatever you want with this information. Enjoy the read....
Here is the <a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/524246.phtml">original post link </a>(don't know if it'll work since it is deleted)
---------
I offered up my car as a test bed to Stoptech for them to test their upcoming 355mm brake kit for the A4/S4. I currently have the Brembo 355mm kit on my car and was interested in the difference, especially when both calipers are of the 4 piston variety. The two systems were compared with exactly the same car, same driver, same set of tests, and even with the same pads (Pagid Orange).
A lot of people suggest a particular brand of modification without much experience, including myself, so I took this opportunity to learn.
First off, the folks at Stoptech are top notch. I can't say enough good things about them. I know a lot of people already know this about Stoptech and their staff, but I did not. They know their stuff, inside and out about how a braking system performs and what should you expect out of it. I talked with Steve (engineer at Stoptech) just about the entire day, but they all are extremely knowledgeable with a sole purpose to offer the best possible braking system at a great price point.
I personally got the Brembo system because I didn't want to dilly-dally around with an intermediate solution, and at that time, Brembo's kit, which was just out of the gates (my car being the first one to get the kit), offered the "solution" I was looking for. It was reasonable at $3200+, when compared to the Alcon 6 pot World Challenge brakes that I have sitting on my living room floor.
Needless to say, the StopTech kit stopped shorter on all the tests (60-0, 80-0, 100-0), by an average of around 2-3 feet, even with exactly the same pad (Pagid Orange). There wasn't a drastic difference, but 2 feet is 2 feet, especially if it means hitting something and not hitting it. Also, the 100-0 stops, yielded shorter stopping distances on the average of about 5-6 feet, than what the Brembo system could do.
Another thing to note was on the 6th stop, not only was the stop short by 4 feet, but the front rotor was cooler by about 100 degrees (when compared to the Brembo rotor), which is a SIGNIFICANT difference. This can be attributed to a more BALANCED system that allows the rear brakes to do its work, thereby allowing for less front bias.
Another turn while braking excercise was also impressive, because I could definitely see that the car deviated from its intended direction of travel. This showed me that the the car was understeering more than it should have with the Brembo system.
I should indicate that by no means that the Brembo 355mm kit is "bad". But it is certainly not as optimized for your car as the Stoptech system is. And in fact, the Stoptech folks' approach is this very idea of making sure that the braking system they offer isn't a "one size fits all", but is truly designed to the specific car it was intended for.
Also note that even though the Brembo system consists of the F50 caliper vs. the Stoptech's ST40 caliper, the Stoptech's caliper is a bit different in the sense that it uses the exactly the same pad (size wise), but it is specified as a Porsche pad, as opposed to the Brembo's F50 caliper which is specified as a Ferrari pad. This means that not only the Stoptech's choice of caliper design yields a larger array of choosing different compounds, but for example, the Pagid Orage pad for Stoptech's ST40 caliper is about $50 less than the Brembo F50 caliper.
My impressions on the feel of the brakes, as I drove with both the Axxis Pad and the Pagid pad, with both systems back to back is that the Stoptech system offered more linear pedal feel and travel, where as the Brembo system feels a little bit like an on/off switch. What I mean is that with the Brembo kit, when you gradually press the brake pedal, there is a point where the pads grab more (or there is heightened clamping force), where as the Stoptech ones is more linear than the Brembo kit.
Also, as far as pad compound is concerned, I preferred the Pagid Pad vs. the Axxis purely because it offered a better more resistance. But the Pagid pad is significantly more expensive than the Axxis, and is meant for track junkies. The Axxis performed exactly the same as the Pagid in the tests, but the Pagid would have the edge when the going gets hot. They hold up better and perform better at higher temperatures.
Again, I want to thank Bob Lee and everyone at Stoptech for teaching me how the brake system should work for you to it's maximum efficiency. A very eye-opening day for me.
Here are some images:
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/jyoteen/.Pictures/stoptechtesting/stoptechtest1.jpg">
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/jyoteen/.Pictures/stoptechtesting/stoptechtest2.jpg">
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/jyoteen/.Pictures/stoptechtesting/stoptechtest3.jpg">
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/jyoteen/.Pictures/stoptechtesting/stoptechtest4.jpg">
12-12-2001, 05:18 AM
#17
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Did you have the original valving that StopTech sold...or the revised?
I have had two different StopTech calipers installed. They sent me the second set (gratis) to provide "more initial bite".
It does that. But I'm not sure that it's desirable....if you ever hit the brakes without having your heel on the floor, you tend to throw the passengers thru the windshield :-)
The original piston sizing was more linear.
RR
It does that. But I'm not sure that it's desirable....if you ever hit the brakes without having your heel on the floor, you tend to throw the passengers thru the windshield :-)
The original piston sizing was more linear.
RR
12-12-2001, 06:00 AM
#18
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My new Brembo kit will be here soon! I guess I chose Brembo!
Definitely more expensive then the Stoptech.
I've heard good things about both, and it seems to be just a matter of how much you want to spend.
I've heard good things about both, and it seems to be just a matter of how much you want to spend.
12-12-2001, 11:03 AM
#19
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Very little reduction in stopping distances.
That's all tires, and the stocks do VERY well.
It's just fade resistance. From what I know the StopTechs are very good there.
-B
It's just fade resistance. From what I know the StopTechs are very good there.
-B
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