Wilwood 14" 6 piston brakes vs. Z06 14" 6 piston brakes- 3800lb 800hp+ Chevelle - Lateral-g Forums

gnx7 · #1 12-02-2015, 11:17 AM

I posted this up in another thread.... but it went unanswered for 2 weeks.

I need to put some front brakes on my Chevelle. Already have the disc/parking brake drum combo from Wilwood out back 12.19".

Is the cost of going to a 14" front brake worth it? I'm guessing the car will be around 3800lbs.... hopefully less. Alum turbo'd 5.3, T56 Magnum, Quicktime steel Sfi bellhousing, 50lb twin disc clutch, heavy 35 spline 9", full cromo cage, heavy CTSv power seats, a/c and p/s with 25 gallon s/s fuel tank and 10 gallon a/w intercooler tank in the trunk and 12" subwoofer box. I have the ATS front spindles with ZR1 hubs on the front and custom JRi coilover suspension we are fabbing up.

Looking at Wilwood 6 piston 14" fronts.... are the C6 Z06 vette brakes cheaper and just as effective in braking power?

Z06 front rotors are $90/each to replace. The calipers are $800/pair
There is some hardware also needed (pins etc) maybe $80 worth of parts.

Mainly I'm going to be street driving this car.... doing a couple drag race days per year (9 second goal), and a couple track days/AutoX.

**Matt@BOS** · #2 12-02-2015, 11:28 AM

It all depends on what you mean by a couple track and autocross days.

If you want to push the car on a track, it doesn't really matter if you are doing a couple days, or a bunch of days. In any case, prep and pad selection will be more important than which of the two choices you decide to go with.

gnx7 · #3 12-02-2015, 12:08 PM

In my previous RX-7 I ran a 1:35.5 at Laguna Seca my first time there with about 40 minutes worth of track time... so whatever is driven.... does get pushed hard.

Who runs either style front brake on their car and what is your feedback?
How often have you had to replace the rotors?
What respective pads do you run?

Looks like the replacement rotors from Wilwood are about $250/each
And the kit for non cross drilled with slots is around $1800
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wi...FSUSfgod-B8Lbw

**GregWeld** · #4 12-02-2015, 12:41 PM

On the Mustang track car we run a Wilwood 6 piston Aerolite with a BP20 pad -- and a SPEC 37 Rotor. Rears are 4 piston Superlites with a BP10 pad. This is a "softer" pad -- and a harder rotor... so I'm not chewing thru rotors like I used to with the more aggressive pad I used to run to get the car to have some brakes (old 4 piston front and single rear) and the cast iron "standard" rotor. However -- my car is 1000 #'s lighter than what you will be according to your 3800 # guesstimate.

I run the car hard and haven't had ANY brake issues.

**Matt@BOS** · #5 12-02-2015, 01:17 PM

Since both the Wilwood Aerolite or the C6 calipers will get the job done. You pretty much just have to decide if the lighter two piece Wilwood rotors are worth the extra dollars. I would also go to either the Camaro or Shelby SVT performance forums and see what pads the newer, big 3800+ lb cars are running. I haven't been able to find a Wilwood pad that I am really happy with compared to some of the other choices. I won't go into detail unless you ask, but just say no to the BP20 pads on your car.

gnx7 · #6 12-02-2015, 03:28 PM

I'll have to ask my buddy that races Corvettes which I know are 600lbs lighter... to see how factory rotors hold up.

Anybody warping stock Z06 rotors and/or the Wilwood ones? I will be running an aggressive pad. Thank you for the input Matt.

Vince@Meanstreets · #7 12-02-2015, 04:30 PM

yeah, you are gonna want good brakes.

experiment with the pads, I doubt you'll need an aggressive pad. Especially with the rotor size.

Panteracer · #8 12-02-2015, 05:24 PM

Ran Bp10's with 12.9 rotors, wilwood 6 piston front
4 piston back for a bunch of years on the Pantera 3040lb car

Recently switched to the bp20's and really like the feel
and stopping power better.. my car is mid engine so things
are different because back brakes do also stop the car a lot

Rotors are 37 wilwood and replaced once and ready to do
again now

Bp20 pads do wear quicker

Bob

**Matt@BOS** · #9 12-03-2015, 01:08 AM

I do like the Spec 37 rotors, a lot actually. They've held up to a ton of the abuse I've thrown at them, which was impressive since they were paired with Wilwoods old W6As that flexed, dragged and tended to overheat like crazy.

**GregWeld** · #10 12-06-2015, 09:21 AM

I happened to be back in Seattle area for the weekend - and ended up helping a buddy sort thru some issues with his brakes. Interesting because he owns two HEAVY cars with big ass powerful motors. One is a '56 BelAir with a BBC 8 stack - and Wilwood 6 piston front (12.88 rotor) with 4 piston rears. The other is a '57 2 door post with Wilwood 6 piston front - same size rotor - and what I think might be 6 piston rears. Both run 6 to 1 pedal ratio. Both use Wilwood 7/8ths master cylinders.

The '56 has always had TERRIBLE brakes. The effort was never rewarded with the commensurate confidence in the brakes. I've worked on this car numerous hours.... and we've done the pedal ratio properly. I put a new Wilwood dual chamber 7/8ths Master Cylinder on with 3/16th's SS lines. We've done the "bedding" routine. The car had been on the road awhile before many changes where made etc - but the brake "kit" was put on when the car was built and other than changing from power brakes to manual "the kit" was as it was installed and with previous miles on it. The car sucked.

The '57 was a purchase from Ironworks with an Ironworks chassis. A brand new never hit the street brake system. All proper. 525hp LS3. Barely apply the brakes and it will throw you thru the windshield.... Brakes as they should be!

So the effort this weekend was to figure out the difference. Off come the wheels so we could pull pads and make that comparo first. Sure enough - the '57 is running BP10's -- the lousy '56 is running a PolyMatrix pad. The CALIPERS are the same - Superlite Narrow (thin) - and on a big heavy car like these two are - they should be running the Aero. The Superlite Narrows (and standard Superlite) run a bolt with a spacer for the pad retention - where the Aero run a BRIDGE. The Aero would be a stiffer caliper. That's not the issue though -- that's just info!

So a quick call to Ron Sutton Race Technologies -- and confirmation that the pad compound in the '56 is "part" of the problem.... seems that pad will work great with some heat built up - but these are street cars with a 78 year old driver. NO HEAT will ever been built up. LOL. So new pad compound is calculated and ordered. Now there's another issue noticed. The pad is shinny and the rotors are like mirrors. In an effort to get the car to stop --- with all manor of different leg strategies etc - the pads and rotors are GLAZED... They're glazed because the brakes never worked from the get go and never had any bite and blah blah blah. The wrong pad -- and now that's gotten even worse and created another issue. The rotors will have to have some face work done or even the new pads won't work.

I write this because I wonder how many other folks are out there with similar issues - after having spent a small fortune on big ass brakes - that SUCK - but perhaps they're afraid to come forward and say so?!?!?!?!

The new pads for the '56 will be Wilwood Polymatrix 15E - XXXX. They should have BITE regardless of temperatures.