ZL1 / CTS-V Brakes
 

JPSS is committed to being a strong supporting member of the 5th gen community. When we needed a brake upgrade for our Camaro we looked everywhere and came right back to the GM parts bin. It took a while, but we sorted it out and found what we believe to be the most cost effective and perhaps best brake solution for the Camaro. If I ran GM -- and I don't I know what I would do for better Camaro brakes. I would use THE CADILLAC OF BRAKES for the Camaro -- CTS-V BRAKES.

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These are the same brakes that set a record on the Ring with John Heinricy behind the wheel of s CTS-V as the fastest production sedan to run the ring.

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The CTS-V is a bit heavier than the Camaro making the setup PERFECT. This is a bolt on project that requires only the front dust shield be trimmed to fit the over-sized six piston front caliper. Everything is performance / track ready to go. The pads are perfect out of the box. They are also Cadillac quiet. The front calipers do require different bolts. All the parts are supposed to be available front the GM parts bin, but we did have some delays in collecting everything we needed. Arthur at Witt Buick Pedders did a great job of getting all the bits pulled together for me.

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This is a HUGE upgrade for the Camaro. Take a close look at the calipers and pads. The superior clamping from six pistons combined with a much larger pad and rotor work to PERFECTION with the master cylinder and computer.

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The rotors are very different up front. These are dual cast from Brembo with an aluminum hat / center and iron rotor. Even though the new Cadillac rotors are larger and thicker, they weigh the same as the OEM SS Camaro rotors.

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Trimming the front dust shield was straight forward. How can any modification (unless it is Pedders made to fit just like the OEM bits we replace) be complete without sparks from a cutting wheel?

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The brake upgrade is 100% OEM CTS-V with the exception of Pedders Camaro Brake Lines. You can see our brake lines fit and mount just like OEM. Why is Pedders doing brake lines for the 2010 Camaro? Great question. When we built our Camaro we couldn't find them in the aftermarket so we took matters into our own hands. PDUSACAM2800 https://secure.merlinsoftware.com.au...0&Featured=Yes

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The rear Cadillac CTS-V caliper is the same as the Camaro SS rear caliper. The only difference is color. We did try to rear CTS-V and found the hat offset is a bit different, but the OEM Camaro SS rotor is a perfect match.

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Here they are, THE Cadillac of Brakes of the 2010 Camaro.

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Rear Before

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Rear After

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Front Before

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Front After

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When you do a conversion like this it is critical that the entire brake system be bled including the ABD computer. We connected the new USB based GM scan tool and could not find a full bleed program. We connected a Tech I scan tool, selected 2010 Corvette and found a functional solution. With everything completed we did on more safety check and went out for a road test. Working with Witt Buick Pedders means we have access to everything we need including a 'private' area to bed the brakes. 60 to 20, 80 to 20 and 100 to 20 and the brakes are bedded.

How do they feel -- jut like a Cadillac CTS-V. Are they better than the SS brakes -- OH YEAH!!! Now the tough question, how do you get a set. We are posting this for the benefit of the Camaro community. Witt Buick Pedders put in a tremendous amount of effort to secure all the bits and do the install. Little things like finding the right way to bleed the brakes take a lot of time. The rear rotors from the CTS-V don't fit and son on. They have earned the right to at least have the opportunity to make a parts sale.

Keeping the community in mind, you already know that a complete set of CTS-V brakes will fit and what you need to order short of the parts list. Your creative and can source that on the Internet. If you would like to order a turn key kit you can call Arthur at Witt Buick Pedders (231) 722-3771 for $3,400 including the Pedders SS lines.

The Z/28 will be using the CTS-V power train so I'd imagine that the brake setup would be carried over as well.

Great article!

mike
dms

thank you for posting this.

Excellent write up Pete!!!

will the cts v calipers fit the stock ss front rotors reason i ask is i already have the racing brake front 2 piece rotors

No sir. The front caliper on the Camaro is smaller.

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Great looking stuff, but aren't the stock SS brakes are more than adequate, I mean other than some different pad that don't dust as much the 4 piston Brembo's are great. I will however may change the rotors to some cross drilled versions.

The OEM SS calipers are very good on an OEM Camaro. Many of us upgrade wheels and tires. Others choose upgrade suspension. Many increase RWHP. Some (like me) do them all and then the OEM brakes are not enough. My Camaro professional drivers never asked me for more RWHP. They all asked for full race slicks and more brakes.

A box stock 5th Gen is an very good automobile. With a a tweak here and there they become VERY GOOD AUTOMOBILES.

Wow, great writeup!

and the bigger front calipers will clear oem 20 inch rims?

Yes. My wheels are Forgeline 10.5x19 with Bridgestone RE-11 305/30s all around.

Sorry only in Pedders RED.

Nice mod Pete.. Excellent write up. I like it!

They look like they will do the job nicely.

Very nice brakes

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT!!!

The best part is they are all GM OEM engineered and validated. It is cost effective braking solution that works really well as proven with a 'Ring' record.

:word: and :word: . So far, this solution makes the most sense. When I buy parts, I try to anticipate what I'll need to do when it comes time to service them; in this case, for brakes, what happens when I need pads, or what happens if I need to replace a piston or something. Well, that's easy, because I can go straight to a Cadillac dealership with this solution. (I'll admit that I don't know what, if any, parts are servicable on these calipers, but knowing that they are GM parts, with part numbers, gives me confidence that I won't have to chase my tail trying to find parts if the need arrises).

Well done, and brilliant thinking, IMVHO.

Also - isn't there a brake upgrade from Cadillac too, for the rotors and pads; cross-drilled or something? That should work too, I suppose.

There are SUPPOSED to be two piece (aluminum hat bolted to an iron rotor) rotors. They were sold as the J63 option for the CTS-V in 2009. The option was discontinued for 2010. The calipers were red, but the same as the silver in function as were the pads. Only the front rotor was different. They are NOT a GM part. They are supposed to be available from Brembo and are not. After much research into the mystery of the missing two piece rotors (thank you Witt Buick Pedders and my secret sources) I can tell you they are not currently available, BUT will be down the road.

Cadillac recommends the rotors be changed with the pads (there is a surprise for performance brakes LOL) so my guess is that some time later this year or early next year we will all be updating pads and rotors based on wear and the availability of the two piece rotors.

As for slots and holes -- I am not a big fan. Modern pads do not gas like the older pads making the slots and holes of minimal value. Granted some high end designs like the carbon ceramic ZR1 have holes. I run no holes and no slots for maximum clamping heat tolerance. Crude brake ducts are critical on our cars as there is little air flow to cool the brakes. This is just my opinion and not absolute certain fact as would be my opinion on anything suspension related ;)

AAAHHHHH!!! Thanks for the info' :thumbsup::clap::bow:

Great post! Thanks for your efforts.
I have a feeling it would only make sense that these show up on the Z28. :D
And I love that they fit under 19" wheels!

just throwing it out there but wouldnt the z06/zr1 brakes fit as well like gm did on the jay leno camaro:iono:

Yes... They should fit under the ZR1 rims I'll have to stick on my SS/Z28 :D Having that shorter tire will shave some weight and loss too :D

There is a big difference between the Z06 and ZR1 brakes. Leno's camaro is on my coilovers, but I don't remember which brakes are on the car. Did it have ZR1?

So, I remember the Z06 brakes, at least used to have seperate pads for each piston and I think the ZR1s went to single pads per side of the disk. These look kinda' like ZR1 calipers; is that right?

ZR1 Brakes are not what most would consider cost effective.

In what must be a very sweet moment for a longtime Corvette engineer, Juechter notes that the monster 15-inch Brembo carbon-ceramic rotors fitted as standard to the ZR1's rear wheels are the brakes originally designed for the front of Ferrari's 650-hp Enzo supercar. In the front of the ZR1, you'll find even larger 15.5-inch carbon-ceramic units.

Juechter says, "The only vehicle I know of that has these brakes as standard equipment is the 1,000-hp Bugatti Veyron." Then he adds with a grin, "Although I think you can get them as a $20,000 option on the Ferrari 599."

I was just thinking calipers, but I don't know if they're the same cost as the rotors. I remembered reading that, but didn't articulate myself clearly, lol.

And yes - they aren't cost-effective for me, lol.

yeh i was refering to the z06 calipers, i was just wondering because you can get them new for a decent price, so i was wondering if they would fit on the camaro hubs with the cts v brakes, just trying to see what else might work, as the ctsv brakes are awsome but $$$$$ i am getting the lt so i think the 6piston fronts might be way too over kill might just stick with the ss upgrade

I'm assuming since the SS brakes will fit on the V6 as long as you have large enough wheels, that these will also. However, I'm unsure if the brake lines will work for this type of setup, or if the master cylinder would have to be replaced to handle the much (much!) larger brake system. Any insights?

If it could work, I'd gladly add this to my list of future mods.
- X

Pete, Could someone upgrade ONLY the Front brake setup with the CTS-V parts?

It appears the REAR Calipers,Rotor size, and pads are the same as the Camaro Rear.. Correct? Do you gain anything by upgrading the rear setup? From your writeup in the first post, it seems as if you did it so the caliper colors would match.

I can see a benefit to doing the front setup.. not sure what you gained from swapping the rear setup.

You would need to see if the Master Cylinder for the brakes is the same between the V-6 and the V-8. Someone needs to check with a GM service center and compare part #'s between the two models for the braking systems.

Aside from matching the color and doing the test fit there is no perfromance reason to change out the rear caliper. I'll get the front only cost from Witt Buick Pedders and post it here.

You're right about needing acess to a GM service center at times. That is why I really appreciate the access I have at Witt, especially when doing GM based R & D. The master cyclinders are different on a six. Full retail on a new master is ONLY $123.81 so we are not talking big bucks. If there is a six owner looking to upgrade we would like to do it here at Witt. Then we can post the results here.

If nobody has done it yet by this summer you may just have a deal. I was already planning on getting it to you guys for some suspension work. Might as well do both at that time.
- X

Awesome -- you'll get your over night in Muskegon hotel paid for by me.

Well, sort of. While the rotors are similar, the calipers on the Veryon are made by AP Racing, who engineered the brake system. Today, carbon-ceramics are optional on quite a few of the more expensive vehicles. They are fitted as standard on all 2010 Ferrari's. Whether or not the ZR-1 units are cost-effective is a subjective judgment.

Chris

Sounds like you've got yourself a deal. Probably won't be till later August or thereabouts, so I'll send you a PM when I get everything worked out.
- X

Cool. After all the work Witt Buick Pedders did on this project they have earned a few retail suspension jobs. :D This brake project was something I really wanted to bring to the community. GM did a great job with the CTS-V and I can't remember the last time I could say I was proud to have Caddy parts on my car. :chevy:

Pedders will not be making any money on the brakes. Not a penny. The Cadillac of Brakes for the Camaro is just one Camaro enthusiast bragging about his personal Camaro, GM and Cadillac.