I placed my order on Saturday for a 401A GT.
Electronics Package, Reverse Camera, 3.55's, Comfort Package and the 19" Wheels.

I didn't order the Brembo Package because of reports of a jittery ride and the fact that this car is a daily driver for me and I will be driving this car year-round for the most part.

My wife works from home so I can take the other car in the bad snow or even get a ride to work 5 mi away in-town.

The fact that the Brembo Package is $600 more than the upgraded wheels is not a huge deal, but I would be ponying up another $1000 for tires around November for A/S tires.

I know ideal would be two sets of wheels and tires for Summer and Winter, but that isn't in the cards for this fall.

My question would be should I add them to my order and is the std. suspension floaty, or the Brembo Jittery or is there really a difference?
Please help me.

 

I'm passing on it for a couple reasons. One is availability of snow tire packages as this is an all-year round daily. Second is lack of a spare tire. The upside of the package just doesn't do it for me. I'm not tracking this car.

 

I don't own a 2010+ Mustang but I say the $600 is a small price to pay. Even though you may need a second set of tires the benefit of summer tires over the garbage all season tires will make it worth it. Also keep in mind if you were to make some kind of brake upgrade in the future it would probably cost 2 to 3 times more than the option Ford is providing you. Perhaps some 2011 GT owners can back me on this but I think the brembo cars also have a more aggressive sport setting.

If you are already dropping a lot of money on the car you should just go all out and get the brembos. I test drove a brembo car (granted not a lot of time with one) but I did not notice any of the issues you have heard. Even if there is an issue the benefit of a new car is a warranty. Good luck either way but I say the brembos are a no brainer for me.

 

I would get the Brembo option definitely, you get amazing looking rims PLUS big brakes for the price of like two rims. It's a great deal, too bad it's only available on Manual transmission Mustangs.

 

I think its a great deal. Go for it. Cheaper now than later.....plus its eye candy.

 

I have the Brembo Package on my '11 GT. Ride is a bit rough over bumps, but the handling is awesome. Much better than my '07 GT and even my '03 Mach 1. It costs a lot more to upgrade brakes, wheels, tires, suspesion after the fact than the small price Ford charges for the Brembo Package, so go for it!!!

 

Ask yourself, "Do I really like the rims?"

If the answer is "yes" then it's worth it.
If the answer is "no" you're better off spending the money on rims you like.

The Brembo package is a good deal for the price, but only if you like the rims, IMO.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. This will be a daily driver. I really liked the way my '07 GT500 handled when commuting. Felt like just a tightened up version of my '05 GT, which was fine for the commute, but got a little floaty when pushing it. I am a little concerned about the spare tire as well as the cost of buying another set of tires this fall. So while the cost is only $600 more than the upgraded wheels, it'll be another $1000-$1200 for A/S tires later this year. I just worry that I'll regret it later.

 

I think the BBP is a great deal for what you get. However, for everyday driving it's not going to benefit you much more. I have it, love the wheels, love the idea of it, but will kick myself when it's time to replace the tires every 10K miles. If I had to do it again, I'm 50/50 on it. There just aren't a lot of tire choices in 255/40/19, especially in all-season. YMMV.

 

I'm not a big fan of the wheels that come with that package, but that's a matter of opinion. I loved the feel of those brakes on my '03 Mach 1.

 

My car is definitely a daily driver, as I do about 30K km/19K miles a year every year for the last 14+ yrs.

On my '11 GT I went with Brembo Brakes package and am definitely glad i did.
I really like the rims, and every article you read about the brakes has nothing but good things to day about them.

True they are only summer tires, and I had to buy a second set, but when you think about it that means the tires will last twice as long now so it's not like it's money wasted. Or if you're really worried about it, you could put your tires on craigslist and easily get enough back to pay for decent A/S.

 

I have ther BBP and drive my car rain or snow. It is not just the rims with the pack too remember also the tower brace etc.

For winter I bought 18" rims and snow tires and that cost almost the same as if I went with snows on the factory rims. There are deals that aren't going to bust the bank.

Eventhough I had a very minor issue with my rotors last week, I would still go with the BBP, you may see that money back down the road in added resale value too.

 

I bought the Brembos for bragging rights. Didn't need the functional part at all.

Now that I think about it, I have nobody to 'brag' to.

I'll never track the car, etc, etc.

Wish I would not have gotten them, as it boxes you in on making wheel and tire choices. Make sure you like the wheels a LOT, because you're kinda stuck with them. If I had it to do over, I would'nt get them. Just me.

 

For me, it was an obvious choice as the only real performance option package available outside of the GT500 (or now, the Boss)...plus, add in that my car basically is as stripped as I could get it, it needed something "special" to make it above a "rental" grade car with a V8.

I am thrilled with the look of the wheels and the brakes are tremendous (though I am used to some archaic vehicles so I'm easily impressed)...most importantly, the handling is a lot crisper and flatter than the standard '11 GT I drove.. and if the day comes that I ever need to sell it, I'm sure that this will be a valuable feature to advertise.

 

Have we not yet done this to death? There are ZERO physical differences in the suspension between a standard 19 inch wheeled GT (comes with strut tower brace, shock setup for 19s, etc) and the BP car. The BP cars ONLY include a "sport" ESP setting (which now comes with all GTs for 2012 so that's a wash), better tires, and brake calipers. The braking distance is marginally better than the standard brakes, and unless you plan on tracking the car, you'll never experience "fade" anyway. Sorry, but IMHO, unless this car is being used for summer only duty, the BP is a total waste. The tires certainly make a lot of difference, and when you get the bill for those replacements, you'll know why.

Having "Brembo" stamped on the calipers is a great way to sell the package. Funny, I don't see "Brembo" stamped on the calipers of the M3 that the Mustang was apparently aimed at beating on the track.

Bottom line, if you plan on tracking this car, then having sticky tires and amazing front brakes seems like a no brainer. If not, then skipping it seems just as much a no brainer.

 

A brembo car is just so much cooler and it does ride a bit stiffer that the stocker .. also you can get 18 inch svt wheels on it so you do have some options and i would bet there are more coming down the road too just like when 18's first started showing up but look at them now but its all a matter of taste and ride pref as they are sprung stiffer but thats just my 2 cents to each his/her own

 

Well, between the:

Far better brembo calipers
larger rotors
revised ESC calibrations
lower control arms, shocks, struts and spring changes (among others, I'm not sure of every part, just those listed I've checked against a non-bp car)
wheels and nice rubber (Which you mentioned is a wash)

its a no-brainer to me.

 

I think you need to drive one of each, ASAFP, & decide for yourself.

My non-BBP 2011 GT convertible (non-BBP 19" wheels) definitely feels more "floaty" than I'd like, and more so than a 2010 Coupe (with 18" wheels) GT that I drove. OTOH, floaty suspensions aren't that difficult to remedy with the aftermarket options.

But in all my reading of BBP owners' opinions, the only complaints I've read about were for the expense of replacing the tires. Most people say that the BBP feels good, handling-wise & ride compromise-wise, right out of the box.

One drawback of the BBP is no automatic availability. At least it's a drawback for me in that it looks like my next car will need to be an automatic (arthritic reasons).

 

Except that almost NONE of this is accurate.

The "far better" calipers/rotors are only good for a few ft of stopping distance. Something nobody will notice who isn't tracking the car. What they are VERY good at, is costing a S-load more money to replace.

ESC calibration "sport" mode will be on ALL 2012 GT premiums according to the dealer docs.

Again, the myth about those parts being different is just that. A myth. Still remains unconfirmed. While there may be some differences between the standard wheel and a 19 inch wheel car, I've yet to read any proof that any exists between a 19inch wheel car and a BP car. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

You got me on tires. The BP car comes with great tires. $400 a piece great.

Like the other poster said, go drive them for yourself, and do an honest assessment of what you'll be using the car for. It's not just the $1700 upfront cost that you should consider, it's the costs going forward. Tires, pads, snow tire packages, etc. All of which are dramatically pricier with the BP cars.

BTW. I don't blame anyone but Ford for all the misinformation going around about this package. But I would definitely NOT just buy it because it sounds cool to have some after market company's logo on there. Keep in mind that plenty of high end sports coupes have OEM brakes...M3/S5/Cayman

 

You have me there, the nearly inferior brembo front padset from hawk costs $127 whereas the the standard pad set is $91. Rotors have nearly the same differential.

The sport mode is also on all 2011 GT's (not sure if its premium trim only, I've only driven a number of premiums, no base cars and V6 premiums did not have a sport mode from my testing) as well. The calibration of said mode is different, however I have no accounting of what exactly is different, it could be as small as just recalibrating to match the different characteristics of the brembo brakes.

On edit: I missed the part about 19" car versus other GT's. That I can't account for, one car that I compared part numbers to did infact have 18" wheels, but did have the same strut tower brace as mine.

Original post: I can provide part numbers and pictures of the parts off the brembo car and off the regular premium if you like, but I'd almost imagine you'd claim the pictures to be myths, as well. The control arms are very clearly different, even from just looking at the car on the ground. I have a lot of these parts sitting on my bench and am happy to provide the part numbers. In the above example about arms, the BP cars have silver arms that appear to match the GT500 arms, where the other premium cars have a black painted arm.


The OP should test both cars to see which he likes, however, you've done the same thing you accused me of which is to spread a bunch of misinformation.

In my mind the brembo kit is a fantastic value for almost any purchaser given the cost of the parts post purchase (and despite a $40 differential in pad replacements every few years, etc), but the base car is also a very good value, especially if you'll never drive it in a spirited manner, or want less rotational mass for drag strip use.