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Old 08-12-2012, 03:06 PM   #4883
GTAHVIT
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Drives: 2013 Sonic RS MT
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Saint Augustine FL
Posts: 28,444
Front Brake Upgrade

CTSV Front Calipers with ZL1 Rotors, Hawk HPS pads (low dust), SRF fluid (liquid gold) and Pedders stainless steel brake lines.

The hardest part is getting all that old fluid out of the system in order to put in the SRF... yes It's expensive... and while we were bleeding the lines I could almost hear the cash register as wasted fluid was lost...
LOL

We basically disconnected every line at the ABS and at each caliper. Blocked off each one and bled every line to the ABS individually, then cycled the ABS to ensure that as much of the bad fluid as possible was out of the ABS. Then we flushed out the lines to the calipers and after a couple hours had it all flushed and bled with the new fluid.

It took Way longer to flush and bleed than it did to install the calipers/rotors/lines.



I'm super happy with them. The pedal feel is much more firm. I'd even say there is more feed back to the pedal under hard braking. The control under braking is significantly better... the steering wheel doesn't even try to move left or right. The bias is much better front to rear from a seat of the pants perspective.

Since my car is a daily driver I went with a street low dust pad, but that may have been a mistake. Well, from a performance perspective I know it was a mistake. Basically with a DD pad, I'm only getting partial benefit from the improved clamping power of the front calipers. in order to completely capitalize on the 6 piston fronts I need a more aggressive pad.

If I end up tracking the car as much as I hope to I will probably swap pads for a more race compound with a higher coefficient of friction to take full advantage of the upgrade.

As it is now, from what I've been told by Pete and Bruce Raymond and what we've heard about the ZL1 brakes from the articles, the biggest benefit is the lack of brake fade. The setup I have will be much more consistent than the stock SS brakes.

I'd say I'm stopping about 10% shorter than before at most. Pete and Bruce say that with racing compound pads that will drastically increase.

On a side note... I've always wanted red powder coated calipers. Back when my Step Dad was just getting me started working on cars, we always thought the guys who took the time to powder coat the brakes were taking that extra step to do it right.

All in all this is one of my favorite upgrades.

Gotta say thanks to Jim Hartley for the use of his lift and his and his son's expertise.
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