What is the most cost effective way of improving braking power?

 

better pads will do the job, but what are you going to do that you need better brakes. are you going to autocross? open track event?

the stock pads work pretty well for autocross and street. hawk hp plus or better for track events.

slotted or drilled rotors are for bling. they will not help the car stop better.

best braking is going to be from stoptech or TCE fsl wilwood kits.

 

Wow, I didn't think anyone was ever going to reply to this....

I don't have any particular reason in mind other than I would like to stop quicker...

I have done some research and decided to eventually go with a Wilwood Big brake kit...

So the drilled & slotted rotors do nothing? Seriously?

 

There are advantages. They are lighter and run cooler and the edges of the slots and holes clean and refresh the pad surface. They also prevent gasses from collecting between the pad and disk....

Dusty

 

Thanks Dusty, I knew they weren't just for show, although they do look nice!

 

remember you asked about the most cost effective way to improve the brakes. ie: hawk hps pads for $71.00 from tirerack.com
if you can fade thses brakes on the street you need to slow down before you kill yourself or someone else. dont get me wrong i like to drive fast too.

yes slots and drilled rotors clean the pads. but they are shaving them down to.

also drilled rotors crack when heated. the holes cause stress areas.

but if its for a street car and you need bling points than drilled will be fine.

a big brake kit doesnt always make the car stop quicker or shorter. the best thing a bbk does is is get rid of heat.

a street driven cars brakes dont make that much heat. even when driven hard. i use my brakes pretty hard on the street but i havent been able to get the brakes as hot as i do on a road course.

look at past issues on the srt-4 in any mag that tested it. look at the braking performance. you will see that in stock form the srt-4 has pretty good brakes. near sportscar braking, unless you are on a road course trying to brake from 100+ down to 40, for 10 plus laps.

 

Good call, thanks Mike

 

http://racingarticles.com/article_racing-27.html

This pretty much sums it up in a page or two. I agree, the SRT-4 has great brakes, but it won't compensate for the lousy traction/stock tire performance on wet and icy roads......

Dusty