The GT500 Brembo is not a monoblock caliper. It has two halves that are bolted together.

 

Same with the StopTech, actually -- you can see all the bolts on the backside of it holding it together.

Found the replacement one-piece rotors for cheap, $175 each:

http://www.281motorsports.com/stopte...ng-p-2235.html

 

Hey Josh Good FIND!!!!

 

I' ve got the Baer extreme plus 14" 6p with the Eradispeed at the back. Just did a trackday and they are awesome. Just need to warm them up a few miles

 

Problem is 6p>2p lol

 

Technically the OEM GT500 calipers are not a “Monoblock” design.

The term “Monoblock” was I believe coined by Brembo and was the name they gave their calipers that are/were one single machined piece. Hence the term “mono”. The OEM Brembo calipers are a two piece design that splits along its length.

The advantage of a Monoblock caliper is that it is a lot more rigid than a multi piece design and in a lot of cases have a “brace” machined in above where the pads go that ads even more rigidity to the caliper. The extra rigidity offered by a Monoblock design does not add much to the overall braking power of the caliper but they do provide a lot more feel so they are easier to keep right on the threshold of lockup. Another design feature found in most Monoblock calipers (and can be had in non Monoblock designs) is that they are radialy mounted opposed to the “standard” caliper mounting.

In my experience a radial mounted multi piece caliper gives a massive improvement in feel compared to a standard mounted one and a Monoblock caliper will only show its benefits if it is used at 10/10ths.

There is also a pretty big price jump from a multi piece caliper to a true Monoblock (and a massive jump to a billet Monoblock). The cost/benefit ratio is not very good unless you are racing at the front.

For the most part I run multi piece radial mounted cast OEM calipers on my racebikes and with a good radial master cylinder (I prefer Brembo), braided lines and fresh pads they are more than enough brake to run within a second of the lap record at most tracks. The only times it has entered my mind that I wouldn’t mind a little more brake is when racing at Daytona and having to come down from 195 to about 50mph for turn one (Tri-Oval to infield) and the brake markers for turn five at Road America (180ish down to about 30mph). And even in those two extreme situations a Monoblock caliper would be a luxury not a necessity.

That being said I had a SBK spec set of billet (opposed to cast) Brembo Monoblock calipers on my AMA spec GSXR1000 and they were nice to have. Pads cost a fortune, but there was enough power to lift the rear tire at 150mph and enough feel to be able to trail brake to the point of tucking the front tire………without doing it. That’s what you would expect out of a set of $7600 calipers though (I didn’t pay for them).

The red caliper is a cast Monoblock.

The black one is an OEM GT500 caliper.

 

You got me while I was typing. Drat!

 

Unless you are really ready to spend alot of money...I would do three things that I am sure will work on your street car even when you do some agressive mountain driving. 1. Change your brake fluid to a high temp racing fluid. Must have a dry boiling point of 550deg or higher. 2. Change your pad to a high temp pad. Hawk HP+ or equivilant. Stock pads are good for one maybe two hard stops and then are useless, as you found out. 3. Install a brake cooling kit. I would be surprised if you did these three things and your current brakes still fade. GA

 

I can recommand the castrol SRF brake fluid ! Not very cheap but it doesn't extract water so you wont have to change it every year; I used in in my bikes to and never had fading

 

All DOT 3/4/5.1 fluids absorb water (including SRF), although there are differences in the rate of absorption between different brands. If you are open tracking your car, you should be doing a quick bleed after each weekend and a full changeover at least once a year.

DOT 5 is the only fluid that does not absorb water, but it is silicone based and cannot be used in an antilock brake system.

http://www.tccoa.com/brake-fluid/

 

I have these SToptech/Saleen brakes (with the saleen name on them) and they are awesome brakes. Definately a step up on looks and braking power combined with my tires.

I'd see if there are any Saleen/Stoptech kits to be had cheap.

Keep in mind that with other than stock brakes, you'll be looking for potentialy more expensive pads. I discovered the Saleen brakes I have use some of the Porsche pads... I havent had to replace them yet but I dont even want to look at this point. (unemployed)

Keep in mind your rims might not fit a bigger caliper too. (anotehr upgrade)

 

The pads aren't too much more than the stock Mustang pads, actually some are the exact same price for stock or the ST40 caliper. The size/pattern is from the late 90s Porsche 944/928/911 style. If you read through the StopTech site, you'll see Porsche consolidated that style into one size, which is a bit thicker than some of the original ones, and the size the StopTech ST40 is based on, so you don't generally get the 'Porsche' style, but the StopTech ST40 style. There are so many of these kits out there, some that are OE, that every pad maker creates this size, specifically for this kit. However, I did discover that EBC (British maker, advertised heavily in Mustang mags) uses the older thickness style, making them a tight fit the first time or two to slide in. I had their RedStuff (great street pad, good bite, next to no dust, minimal noise) but they disentegrated quickly on the track for these heavy cars -- Miatas get away with running them, but not a 3800lb Stang. The yellowstuff has done much better on the track, but not the greatest cold bite, more dust, bit of squeal. Hawk Blue pads slipped right in, though.

I checked on TireRack, and the GT500 Brembo Hawk pads (also widely available pad) are the same price as the ST40 pads. So no difference there.
I think you can get GT500 rotors cheaper, though, in general.

 

EBC now has a "bluestuff" pad for heavier cars (like ours). I use them on my open track Mustang (with the Baer 14" rotors and PBR calipers) and they work really well.

 

I was thinking of moving up to them at some point. This is only my 2nd (well, 1.5th) summer of tracking, I've finally moved to HPDE Group 3 with some of the faster, more hard core cars. Think I might try the bluestuff next summer. The Yellows have done well, and I was thinking of trying them as street/track pads, but just too noisy, too much dust for me. I'll be swapping back and forth, got the StopTech brand pads for that coming in soon. Just a pain having to swap in/out with each track day. I assume you swap out using the bluestuff, right? Found any tips to make it quicker??

 

No, I just leave them on the car. Of course, I don't do much street driving with it. (a little but no commuting, etc)

 

I see brake fluid mentioned a bunch of times here. Everyone is recomending race fluid.... Why go through the cost though? Anyone here ever tried the ford DOT 3 fluid? its rated @ 500F dry boiling point or better. Making it better than most dot4 out there. Nice thing about it, you can buy if from the dealer @ 5bux a bottle. Its also very cheep to do a full brake flush with it usually 3-4 bottles are absolute maximum.

Instead of buying expensive fluid, buy the motorcraft hd & flush yearly and bleed before and after every track session. Allot of weekend warriors are using the stuff, most not even in fords. Has to have some sort of merit does it not?

 

One very good reason for not using the Ford stuff is the low wet boiling point (284F). The dry boiling point specified for brake fluid is only valid the minute you open the can. Every day after that minute, your fluid is absorbing water and the boiling point is dropping. Also, your other "nice thing" is also potentially a not-so-nice thing: You have to get Ford Brake fluid from the stealership. Is your dealership's parts dept open on Sundays? Some are not even open on Saturdays. For a daily driver, I would recommend Valvoline Synthetic (Synpower) DOT4. It has high dry and wet boiling points (527/347), is inexpensive (~$4), and is available at almost any auto parts store.

For my open track car, I use Motul RBF600 (593/420). It's about $13 a bottle and I can get it at my local motorcycle dealer.

 

Good info guys, instead of getting Brembo's for my '05, I traded the whole car in for an '11 5.0 with the Brembo package, problem solved.

 

Nicccceeeeeeee. That's my kind of twisted justification!

 

Well now I just don't like you at all...

... though you still have to deal with that horrible rear end



I use ATF blue or gold for my track sessions -- the color change helps with the bleeding.