Feeler: Wilwood 350/330mm Brake Setup

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SamirD
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Wow, I can't believe I missed this thread. That is the sickest, cleanest Kizashi I have seen to date. I love the brake setup as I'm a big fan of improved braking.

Do the Wilwood calipers have seals? Would you be able to use a different caliper such as an OE from a different marque? What keeps the rear parking brake from working? I thought it was a drum-in-rotor hat design, so as long as the rotor hat is the same, I would think it would still work. Did the lines upgrade to stainless steel?

I also like the suspension upgrade you did. Did you consider importing the KW coilovers that are available in Germany or have them custom make a set?
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CG1
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SamirD wrote:Do the Wilwood calipers have seals? Would you be able to use a different caliper such as an OE from a different marque? What keeps the rear parking brake from working? I thought it was a drum-in-rotor hat design, so as long as the rotor hat is the same, I would think it would still work. Did the lines upgrade to stainless steel?
Most Wilwoods, including these, don't have dust seals. I don't find they are needed when the pistons are stainless, and the aluminum caliper body is anodized/sealed. You can use just about any caliper if you understand how they work, and what they might interfere with. Our parking brake isn't a drum type. Instead, it's just manual actuation of the rear caliper. Given this dependency, when the rear calipers go, so does the e-brake (unless, you account for this in the new caliper unit). I chose kevlar over stainless for the brake lines, since the AN connections lend themselves to racing gear rather than street stuff. I couldn't tell you if they really made much difference .. even over OE .. since I spent more time under it, than in it, and had little/no recollection of what it felt like when I bought it.
SamirD wrote:I also like the suspension upgrade you did. Did you consider importing the KW coilovers that are available in Germany or have them custom make a set?
For the suspension, I didn't really consider having someone else do it. Engineering/fabwork is a bulk of the fun for me, and joy riding the custom work is just the icing on the cake. Ultimately, though, I wanted to test the car's lowered geometry while holding the spring and damping constant to get a feel for whether or not the ride quality would stiffen up with the modified roll center and camber gain curves. So, I wasn't handcuffed by the OE stuff so much as committed to doing it that way from a testing standpoint. Too many times dropping a car means it has to ride like crap. The last few I've done have gone a long way to disproving that in my book.

Oh, and thanks for the + feedback on the rig.
SamirD
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CG1 wrote:
SamirD wrote:Do the Wilwood calipers have seals? Would you be able to use a different caliper such as an OE from a different marque? What keeps the rear parking brake from working? I thought it was a drum-in-rotor hat design, so as long as the rotor hat is the same, I would think it would still work. Did the lines upgrade to stainless steel?
Most Wilwoods, including these, don't have dust seals. I don't find they are needed when the pistons are stainless, and the aluminum caliper body is anodized/sealed. You can use just about any caliper if you understand how they work, and what they might interfere with. Our parking brake isn't a drum type. Instead, it's just manual actuation of the rear caliper. Given this dependency, when the rear calipers go, so does the e-brake (unless, you account for this in the new caliper unit). I chose kevlar over stainless for the brake lines, since the AN connections lend themselves to racing gear rather than street stuff. I couldn't tell you if they really made much difference .. even over OE .. since I spent more time under it, than in it, and had little/no recollection of what it felt like when I bought it.
SamirD wrote:I also like the suspension upgrade you did. Did you consider importing the KW coilovers that are available in Germany or have them custom make a set?
For the suspension, I didn't really consider having someone else do it. Engineering/fabwork is a bulk of the fun for me, and joy riding the custom work is just the icing on the cake. Ultimately, though, I wanted to test the car's lowered geometry while holding the spring and damping constant to get a feel for whether or not the ride quality would stiffen up with the modified roll center and camber gain curves. So, I wasn't handcuffed by the OE stuff so much as committed to doing it that way from a testing standpoint. Too many times dropping a car means it has to ride like crap. The last few I've done have gone a long way to disproving that in my book.

Oh, and thanks for the + feedback on the rig.
That's right, I forgot the parking brake actuates the caliper--I don't know why I thought it was an integrated drum in the hat--all my cars pretty much actuate the caliper. :oops:
I'm sure the kevlar lines are better than stainless if racing teams are using them. Good to know there's been an upgrade to the line technology since i last looked at it. It's really hard to tell a significant change in braking from a different rotor and caliper vs just pads. I went from a 10" rotor to a 13.5" on my Galant and really didn't notice the rotor as much as the different pads. Once I got used to it though, it was quite clear that the bigger set up could dissipate heat much better on a longer application of full braking power. That's actually how a good upgrade should feel--no real difference from stock until you hammer it.

That's so awesome that you have such a nack for fabbing things. You're my new best friend as I'm right there with you in suspension philosophy. :mrgreen: One of the reasons I go for only the mildest performance springs is because of how the ride quality can quickly diminish--and we've all see the slammed cars that hop up and down several times on a minor road bump because of it--not a pleasant ride I'm sure. I personally like the suspension dynamics on the sls sport just as they are stock for all around driving. (I would like more bite in the rear, which the upgraded sway bar can accomplish, but there's plenty of bite in the rear in snow and we have a lot of that hence I left it alone.) What shocks/struts did you couple with your custom spring setup? Or were those custom too?
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CG1
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SamirD wrote: What shocks/struts did you couple with your custom spring setup?
OE. I also have a Koni setup with stiffer spring rates, now that the OE drop/test is over with. Other than a test drive, I've had no time on that set, though. (Too many brake projects .. or something like that).
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CG1
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Dredging this up, I drew up a bracket that moves the existing rear slider caliper out ~25mm to utilize the 330mm disc, while keeping the stock caliper/e-brake. I'm looking to part with the whole system here for about $1K. Again, more $$$ than a simple pad/rotor change, but it's also a nice bump in performance and aesthetics. I thought I'd ask for takers before I simply sell the calipers as standard race units Incidentally, the rotors would be brand new as I've discarded the original set a while back.

Also, I'd part with the VMR wheels if anyone has interest. Custom drilled to 114.3 and you can have the tires on them as well as the Suzuki center caps. (~10K miles)
SamirD
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Would the big setup fit under the stock SLS sport wheels or would clearance be an issue?
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CG1
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No need to ask, when you can buy the wheels too! ;)

Diameter-wise the fit would be fine. Offset-wise I suspect the back of the spokes would hit the Wilwoods in the front if no spacers were used. Then again, our dated cars have the track width like over an inch inside the fender, so IMO they need to come out anyway to get closer to flush. I might need to get a test wheel if this is a sticking point. If you want to throw a tape in between the spokes and measure the gap between the OEM rotor face and the back of the spokes, we can determine this rather quickly.

Further, I'd be willing to repaint these if anyone had real interest. A nice little kit for next to nothing on the scale of brake upgrade pricing.
SamirD
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I revisited the original pictures and those wheels sure are pretty. :D How much would you ask for them? Love the Suzuki center caps on them too keeping with the whole factory look.
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CG1
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PM me a price, yo. I'm fair, and I'd like this stuff to have purpose, rather than sitting around. Say, need coilovers too? ;-p
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OliverB
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Extended weekend after tomorrow. No obligations. Valid passport. Aftermarket parts.

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