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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Some Brake advice


j_jza80

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Looking at various brake upgrades for the Supra, and just wanting some feedback on the various setups :)

 

I have a budget of circa £1500 for a full brake setup to replace the crap J-spec brakes. I will be aiming to tune the car to around 550hp at some point in the not too distant future, and I only want to do this once. So far, my thinking:

 

UK front and rear brakes.

 

Pros:

- Within budget

- very powerful brakes

- well made

- good selection of discs and pads available & OEM support

 

Cons:

- VERY heavy.

- Caliper pins are a pain

 

K-sport/ D2 budget big brake kit

 

Pros:

- Much lighter than UK brakes

- Improved pedal feel over UK brakes

 

Cons:

- Quality??

- aftersales/support issues? Parts availability.

- Blingy look

- would have to increase budget slightly

- Noise?

 

LS400 front brakes

 

Pros:

- Much lighter than UK brakes

- Much more affordable than other options

- pretty much bolt on

- OEM levels of support, parts supply etc

- good quality

- Much more maintenance freindly than UK brake design

 

Cons:

- not as fade resistant as UK brakes

- poor choice of discs/pads (though improving, CW even offers pads)

- No definitive answer for rear setup. Most people use J-spec rears, but surely the brake bias is totally off? Using UK rears is an option, but effect on brake bias...?

 

Premium brake kit - Brembo/Alcon/AP etc

 

Pros:

- best performance

- best choice of pads/discs

- look the nicest

- Excellent aftersales support

- best quality

 

Cons:

- VERY expensive

- expensive replacement parts

- Overkill on a road car??

- Some setups are noisy

 

 

Purely from a value for money point of view, the Lexus brakes are looking very attractive at the moment. The decrease in unsprung weight is a big plus too. My car is predominantly a road car, although I do drive it how it's supposed to be driven :) Probably my least favourite option is a budget big brake kit.

 

My first Supra was a UK spec and I found the UK brakes to work well, though they didn't give great feel, were a PITA to work on, and weighed loads. My second one had Brembo F50s on the front, UK rears. Great setup, much improved over UKs IMO, though replacement parts were expensive. My subsequent 2 later Supras both have J-spec brakes, which are rubbish IMO.

 

Thoughts? :)

Edited by j_jza80 (see edit history)
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Re Pins: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?315042-Stainless-caliper-pistons-stainless-pad-pins-for-UK-calipers-caliper-seal-kits ;)

 

Go with the EU/UK Spec brakes. Best Choice for the Street. Can't see a D2/K Sport anywhere near that setup.

 

If I went with UK brakes, I would definitely go with those parts :) My concern with them is mainly that the calipers weigh a hell of a lot, around twice the weight of the Lexus, Brembo etc calipers.

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If I went with UK brakes, I would definitely go with those parts :) My concern with them is mainly that the calipers weigh a hell of a lot, around twice the weight of the Lexus, Brembo etc calipers.

 

 

Just go UK setup.

 

Im just on rebuilding mine with the CW bits but they were more than capable before..

 

Plus it all just fits no messing about.

Edited by MattP (see edit history)
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If I went with UK brakes, I would definitely go with those parts :) My concern with them is mainly that the calipers weigh a hell of a lot, around twice the weight of the Lexus, Brembo etc calipers.

 

As Dnk has asked. Why is weight a concern? If you had the intention to track the car and do lots of weight loss on other bits then i would understand but as a street car there is no point :)

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Why is weight a problem, are you building an out and out track car ? even then i doubt very much

you'd notice if they weighed the same as Brembos

 

It's not the be all and end all, but reducing the unsprung weight of the car will positively affect performance and economy, ride quality and reduce wear on the suspension components. Seems like a no brainer to me :)

 

Plus, once you've had the experience of drilling a UK caliper to remove a slider pin, you'd be reluctant to use them again too :D

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As Dnk has asked. Why is weight a concern? If you had the intention to track the car and do lots of weight loss on other bits then i would understand but as a street car there is no point :)

 

Little bits soon add up. :) I will be doing a little weight saving in places, such as removing the pretty useless rear wiper mechanism, forged wheels, battery and any other areas I can find some reasonable savings without impairing day to day comfort :)

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Sorry to but in?? But has anyone used or got Wilwood Brakes? Looking at a set of 4 piston ones for the front with 345mm rotors. They must be better than my UK fronts?

 

Wilwood are a budget brand, like K-Sport, D2 etc. See my Pros/cons list above, as it probably describes Wilwood pretty well too.

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Ive got the Brembo/F50 setup on the front with uk rears and must say they work great but somehow feel alot better than my uk`s ever did, downside is disc prices, however if we could still get decent race pads for the uk`s i`d have stuck with them.

 

I found that too, and I wasn't even running a master cylinder stopper on that setup.

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Great thread here comparing various configurations, might be worth seeing if someone can get hold of DanDan so the images can be uploaded and hosted on the site instead of photobucket as sadly it appears mostly broken now :(

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?225007-Big-Brake-Kits-Real-Numbers

 

Pure gold that thread :cool: been some years since I've looked through it. Sadly the Lexus calipers were never included.

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