Patrick Olsen

"Had no brake performance issues" doesn't mean that the brakes can't be improved upon. There is more to braking performance than just, "They don't fade, so they're good to go." I'm not sure what your discussion of your on-track experience has to do with running R-compound tires on the street. But having upgraded two different cars from sliding calipers to opposed piston calipers, using the same sized rotors, I can confidently say that your lap times would do more bragging with the opposed piston calipers. Wait, where did 10# come from? I thought it was ~1/2 that - the ATS calipers were listed as 8.1# (I don't remember if that was in this thread or the NASIOC thread), and you measured your LGT ones as 13.2#.

That's why I posted on the FB page of the people selling the brackets. One would think they would be willing to do it.

There are already pics on their FB page, and on NASIOC, of 17" wheels being used with this kit. Obviously it depends on how the inner barrel is contoured (in addition to the spoke clearance). I don't know if there will be any response, but I just posted the following on their FB page:

So the only way to upgrade brakes is to go "all in", with bigger rotors, bigger calipers, and aggressive pads? That's a flawed argument. That's like saying, "What's the overall point in buying a sports sedan and then getting an automatic transmission?" If the stock calipers and rotors work for you, great; this upgrade isn't aimed at you. "Common" to what? Which Hawks did you have? You are aware they make more than one compound, right? Don't assume the company's products are all bad just because you bought the wrong compound. Or get bigger rotors and better calipers, which allow you to get the same performance while running less aggressive, less dusty pads on the street. Win! And then give you even better performance when you throw in track pads and hit an HPDE. Win again!! I don't think you've thought that one through very well. A square wheel doesn't work very well, so chipping the corners off would actually be exactly the opposite of counter-productive. News flash! Not everyone has OEM wheels. Many folks already have wheels that will clear this setup. Where did anyone say this setup was needed? Of course it's not needed. Again, if you're happy with the stock brakes, then you're not the target audience for this upgrade. Yes, it's just as head scratching as why you just happen to have a set of RPF1s. It's not a "look"; the brakes are actually bigger. Ignoring for a moment the fallacious implication that there is no performance benefit to doing this upgrade, are you seriously saying that the only reason people do aesthetic modifications to their cars is because of a lack of self-confidence and a desperate need for attention? Is that why you just happen to have a set of RPF1s? Fixed that for you. Where did you buy your Jump To Conclusions Mat? Quantitative data like that you used to determine the Stoptech/DBA combo was better than the Hawk/stock combo? And? Do you think a soft sidewall somehow magically negates the performance advantages of better dampers, higher spring rates, and lower CG? No shit?! So what did you measure your dynamic toe to be? Personally, since I can't measure dynamic toe, I rely on tire wear to tell me if my toe is set improperly. After a couple hundred thousand miles I've found that 0° toe works out great, and gives a bit of improved steering response compared to the factory alignment specs. If that's what you've gathered from this thread then you need to read it again. 18" wheels may or may not be required. The brake parts required come to ~$600, not $1000. It's hard to find a pair of STI Brembo calipers alone for $600, and those aren't going to be brand new calipers. That's why this is a noteworthy deal. Uhhh... DBA 5000s are not a BBK. Comparing a Centric LGT rotor vs a Centric STI rotor, the difference is 1#. I'm guessing the calipers + pads is about a toss-up. If you can feel that difference in unsprung weight, well, I'm impressed. This ^^^ was part of your post when I got the email notification that someone had replied to the thread. I was disappointed to find that you had edited your post (presumably because you realized you were talking out your ass ); I was really looking forward to learning more about this "coefficient of heat" and how it influences the OEMs' caliper material selection. Instead you deleted that comment and replaced it with a generic link that isn't germane to the discussion at hand.

I'm not sure why their site is written like that. The ATS Brembos, the 1st gen CTS-V Brembos, the STI Brembos, the EVO Brembos, etc etc all use the same FMSI D1001 pad shape. I have not seen different thicknesses for that pad shape. The only thing I can figure is that aftermarket parts sites (Rock Auto, Summit, Tire Rack, whatever) tend to take a little time to show all of the parts available for new(er) vehicles, so the CTS-V Brake Swap folks said to look for '04-07 CTS-V pads because you'll see more results that way. Just a guess on my part. As someone else pointed out, that setup doesn't use a front rotor on the rear - you wouldn't have a parking brake if you did that. The Racing Brake rotor is the same diameter as the STI rear rotor (316mm), but the STI rotor is 20mm thick (vs 18mm for the RB rotor). It does make me wonder if one could fit the RB bracket and LGT/OBXT rear caliper over the thicker STI rotor; probably not, but if you could, you could avoid buying the expensive RB rotors. It just so happens that KNS Brakes and DBA make a dual-drilled (5x100 and 5x114.3) STI rear rotor with the 170mm parking brake to allow non-STI folks to put the STI Brembos on the rear without having to change out knuckles. And you can get the pair of KNS/DBA rotors for ~$190 instead of RB's ~$310; those rotors + the RB brackets would make a nice rear companion to this ATS Brembo front setup, without having to spend $$$ on the rear STI Brembos. I'm guessing the STI rotor would be too thick to make that idea work, though. I can't imagine anyone would want to shave the barrel of their wheels. That strikes me as an exceptionally bad idea. Shaving the calipers down, though, as one or two folks have done in the NASIOC thread, seems like a much less risky proposition. My guess is that Brembo added that ridge along the top of the caliper to add some rigidity to meet a NVH target (see the weights that GM had to add to early Camaro SS Brembos to alleviate some sort of harmonic), so shaving it off doesn't really affect anything. And, as shown by the post Mr. Crowbar quoted, perhaps the "17s don't fit" limitation really only applies to the OEM wheels. Gives me hope that my Rotas and Volks will clear. .

So is that last pic the test fit with your friend's Prodrive wheels? If so, what are the specs on those?