I have the ultimate brake solution Review, Essex/AP Racing Radi-CAL BBK!Update 4/15

[summit1le]

Hi Guys,
I wanted to share a project that I've been working on for the past few weeks.
• Since buying my car I've never had much confidence in my brakes
o list some of the brake issues
• I lost my brakes at 140mph and went looking for solution
o Essex wrote a blog post about my situation here
• I contacted Essex Parts Services. They are the importer and distributor for AP Racing's Competition Brake Components in North America
• I looked at all available options and decided to go with Essex/AP Racing based on their experience, positive customer feedback, etc.
o http://www.essexparts.com/news-blog
• I sent them my car on a trailer from FL to NC
• I wanted to share this info for all track rats who have been looking for the ultimate long-term brake solution

Essex Parts Services Background
Essex is located in Charlotte, NC and has been in business for roughly 30 years. They are the exclusive importer and distributor for a number of high-end, mainly European brands including: AP Racing competition brake products, CL Brakes pads, Ferodo Racing brake pads, Spiegler SS brake lines, etc. You can read more about them and watch a video overview of the company here. Historically their focus has been on professional racing, but lately they've been bringing more of the technology from pro racing into the aftermarket.
The Solution
For my car, Essex decided to implement their latest AP Racing Pro5000R Radi-CAL calipers. The AP Racing Radi-CAL was introduced in 2007, and has been dominating pro motorsports ever since. They're used in F1 and have repeatedly won Le Mans and 8 out of the last 9 NASCAR Sprint Cup championships. You can read their history and design philosophy in the blog post, The AP Racing Radi-CAL Story. To summarize, these calipers are stiffer, lighter, and more advanced than anything else currently available at any price…which is why I wanted them!
Essex is going to produce two different front kits and one rear kit for our cars. These kits will fit all trim levels (SS, ZL1, Z28), and should be available around the beginning of March. The front kits are as follows:
Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Competition Brake Kit (Front 9660/372)- Gen.5 Camaro
Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Competition Brake Kit (Front 9668/372)- Gen.5 Camaro
Both kits will use the same 372x34mm, 84 vane AP Racing J Hook endurance racing disc, but the six piston calipers being used are different. The CP9660 caliper is a little lighter and uses an 18mm thick pad, whereas the CP9668 uses a huge 25mm (1 inch) thick pad. I'm going with the CP9668 for additional pad wear. The OEM pads are only 15.8mm thick!
Below is the list of benefits Essex told me to expect with their new front system:
• Approximately 10lbs. of unsprung weight reduction from the nose of the car vs. the OEM SS 1LE four piston brakes and approximately 12lbs from the ZLI six piston brakes.
• Compact design fits a wide array of 18" wheels
• AP Racing Radi-CAL calipers are the stiffest, lightest, and most technologically advanced calipers available at any price
• CP9668 calipers use a 25mm thick, commonly available brake pad shape, vs. the factory 15.8mm thick pads
• Ventilated, domed back, stainless steel pistons keep heat out of the brake fluid and provide an ultra-firm pedal
• Mitigation of pad knockback via anti-knockback springs behind the caliper pistons
• Anodized caliper finish that is resistant to wear and deterioration at elevated temperatures
• Stainless steel caliper hardware for a long caliper service life under frequent pad change conditions
• High temperature, low drag seals that will hold up to track temps= less rebuilding and longer service life
• No dust boots to burn up
• Simple pad change with two bolts or quick-change spring clip, no caliper removal required
• Lifetime professional caliper rebuilding support by Essex (at a fee)- pull off your calipers, send them to us, we clean, inspect, and rebuild them
• Available disc burnishing service ensures that your kit arrives ready to be installed and driven hard immediately
• Championship winning, 84 vane, fully floating, AP Racing J Hook racing discs with 12 attachment points to hat
• Anti-knockback/anti-rattle disc attachment hardware
• Replacement iron disc rings available at an extremely competitive replacement price ($399 each)
• Disc metallurgy specifically designed to handle the temps typically seen on track offer a long service life
• Highest quality, Spiegler stainless steel brake line with clear sheath that reduces compliance over OEM rubber design
Essex is currently working with AP Racing on a new rear Pro5000R caliper and disc solution, and that kit will be ready later this year. I'm not terribly worried about my rear brakes though, since I've gone through several sets of front pads and discs but haven't really even touched the rears yet. It's pretty obvious that these cars are much tougher on front brakes than they are on the rears. Since the Essex front kit closely matches the brake torque output of the OEM front brakes, they can be added with any my OEM rear brake setup, and they'll integrate seamlessly with ABS, etc.
Why I went this route
I considered a lot of different options before making this decision…List some of those other options
Ultimately I ended up deciding to go this route for several reasons. First, I wanted confidence in my brakes. I've wasted too many track sessions letting up on my brakes or worrying that they weren't going to be there when I needed them most. I'm excited to see how much I can improve my consistency and lap times when my brakes feel and react the same way all day.
Second, I wanted something with lower long-term running costs. With the OEM brakes I was only getting a couple days out of pads, cracking discs quickly, and I destroyed at least one of my front calipers, which would cost $700 to replace (and the same thing would happen again in the future if I keep tracking my car). Even though the Essex kits seem expensive at first, I've read a number of posts on other forums about people getting multiple seasons out of one pair of discs, and huge increases in pad wear vs. stock (Corvette forum, M3 post, etc…here's a cool cost/benefit analysis from the BRZ forum written by one of the partners at Chin Motorsports). When I sell my car I'll also be able to pull these brakes off and sell them used for at least 50% of what I paid for them, whereas my OEM brakes are nearly worthless now.
Third, I wanted to go with someone I trust. AP Racing is obviously one of the most famous names in brakes, and Essex has a huge amount of experience implementing their products in both pro racing and the aftermarket. It's what they do all day, every day. I wanted to know that I had both the best product and the best customer support going forward.
What I'm possibly looking forward to most however, is hanging out and relaxing between track sessions rather than scrambling around trying to bleed brakes, change pads, etc. I want to enjoy my time at the track and drive, not wrench and worry about brake issues. I'm confident that this setup will allow me to do that, and I can't wait to get my car back with the new brakes!

Pictures to follow later!!

[Nick S]

Sounds like an awesome brake set up. I believe the Stevenson Z28/R's also had AP racing brakes on their cars when I saw them at Road America last summer.

Definitely post some pics when you get the car back!!

[phillyflyer]

I ran Essex's AP Racing competition brake set up on my Evo race car and it was a fantastic set up over the OEM Brembo's. Essex is top notch when it comes to support as well

[Z/28Dan]

Just curious. In that article you link to, are those zl1 calipers? I see they are six piston. And man are they toasted!

[ZL1-V]

Way to go, and thanks for posting. I ran the AP Racing calipers and discs (Stillen) on my 2002 Escalade which weighed much more than a Camaro. The stopping power, and repeatability of them was amazing. If I didn't already have a larger rotor and caliper aftermarket kit on my ZL1, this would be an alternative.

[Mgizzle]

Wow, this will be interesting. The site clearly has the OEM system a bit wrong but they are right on main points. Ur caliper was powder coated like mine, powder coat is not great as I am finding out too, not as bad as urs. It also has blue racing brake dust boots, another testament since kewping brake fluid off them is impossible. The stock ones are useless on track thats known but designed for road mainly and chemical exposure to service etc. I wish we had race style wiper seals instead of boots. The zl1 rotor is curved vane just like the AP, lower count I am sure of vanes but it has more thermal mass capacity. Should be interesting to see how ur brakes hold up with less thermal capacity. Anodized calipers are the way to go but do not use wheel cleaner on them..... hence why most OEMs are painted.

I love ap radicals but ahocked they are 2 pc, held by bolts. And the price is holly molly, thats a carbon system from z/28.

Cant wait for ur feedback.

[summit1le]

Here you go, note the crispy High Temp Dust Boots that I just replaced two track days ago!!

[summit1le]

Originally Posted by Z/28Dan

Just curious. In that article you link to, are those zl1 calipers? I see they are six piston. And man are they toasted!

Misprint on the 6 piston, as my factory's are 4 Pot

[Mgizzle]

That is a lot less pad area and a lot less rotor mass it looks like. Very curious how your brakes will do since it all points to less heat capacity, meaning higher potential for fade and thermal cracking. However, AP is amazing, can't wait to see how they do.

By the way, did you see the stillen AP Radical systems, 390mm front rotors with six pistons that have bigger pads than the brembo 6 pistons for $3300 dollars. Just FYI, that system definately shows a lot more capability than the 6 piston OEM system. It is also a 1pc caliper, not two pc held by bolts. The 5000R system is mandated by certain racing organization to be a 2pc is my understanding, if you look at their true racing calipers (GT) they are all 1pc monoblocks.

https://www.stillen.com/brakes/brake...et-camaro.html

When are you taking it to the track for some feedback? All the best!3

[summit1le]

These have the same size rotors as my current setup although wider and with 84 vanes of cooling. From my understanding they will have substantially more thermal mass then the previous setup. I was looking into the stillen kit, and although it is a definate improvement on my prior setup. It is still a street caliper. My car sees a cars and coffee once a month and all of its other life is on the track or in the garage. I wanted the very best I could get without spending 10k for a billit set

[Mgizzle]

That's right you did say you had a 4 piston, the pictures are just so missleading showing the 6 piston set up. Great point on street vs. track and the Stillen AP kit is a lot heavier than yours but that caliper, even though painted and with dust boots, is a true monoblock system that will rock. Dust boots never really bothered me and the thing about racing calipers worries me since I do drive the car on weekends for fun and drive to and from track. Getting stones, sand, etc. between the piston and the caliper will eventually show up on race style calipers on our cars but that wiper seal I hear does an OK job.

Anyhow, great point, this is a huge upgrade over the stock 4 piston system, pictures were just misleading.

[summit1le]

Essex wasn't aware that my car came originally with the 4 piston's. I apologize for the confusion. The pictures above are indeed my 6 piston cts-v setup. I never tracked my 4 pistons, as I sold them immediately once I got my car.

[Z/28Dan]

They need to re-write that article.

[summit1le]

The article is updated!