Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes AP Racing 13" brake kit (via SHM)

I just received a response from Sean Hyland Motorsports about their AP Racing kit. I thought the website was somewhat vague, and I assumed the kit was for 13" rotors in the front only. Apparently they replace ALL rotors with 13" brakes and 4 piston calipers. Anyone have performance comparisons between the Baer 13" front only and the AP Racing 13" all around? I'd be curious, as the Baer guy I spoke to was very confident of the excellence of their product and basically said that if they didn't make rear brakes for the Tour then there was no need for a rear break upgrade in the Tour. As I've probably said 100 times, I'd want bigger rear brakes simply because 13" brake in the front would utterly DWARF the stock rears and look plain silly. (I think they look silly NOW and should have been bigger from the get go).


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T.Red 1999 Contour SVT
No Mods yet :-(

I think 13"s all around would look sweet! How much?

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Garrett Stines
(sponsored by Duct Tape)
'99 SVT Silver Frost~#925-2760~01/21/99~painted Rear valance silver~18" Masitaly's~Nitto Rubber~Eibach Springs~Carbon Fiber sail panels~SCA CAI~K & N dual stage filter~Series 5 superchip~Bosch +4~SVO Tach~B & M Edge Short Shifter~Richbrook Knob~Pedals~Razo Dead Rest Pedal~lots 'o Carbon and Chrome~Boomin Tunes~and more
THE RIDE!

For the low-low price of $2395.00, which is why I would want to be absolutely sure this was a great setup, because that is an amazingly large sum of money. Of course, if it works as well as it sounds it WILL be worth the money!


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T.Red 1999 Contour SVT
No Mods yet :-(

Hmmm.... Don't think putting 13" rotors
on the rear on a FWD car is pretty
ridiculous.

This would completely throw off the braking
balance, and the rears would lock up every
time you'd brake.

Am I correct, or HOC?

John

I certainly don't know, but why would SHM offer a four brake replacement with 13" rotors if it took away from performance... Especially for 2400 bucks! It certainly sounds as though it's an overkill... I mean, I was thinking 11" in the rear and 13" in the front, personally, but hey I really don't know. If I did, I wouldn't have posted.


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T.Red 1999 Contour SVT
No Mods yet :-(

I talked to KVR and they claim they made the AP kitt for Sean Hyland. It seems like a ton of overkill for the street but damn it would look cool! I am also very hard on breaks.

Well looks asside, if the Bear (which is a well respected name in brakes) front brakes are equal to the AP front brakes, then you would be paying an extra $1400-1500 for bigger rears which contribute little in the stock set up (fronts do most of the work) and probably less if the front brakes are 13". Maybe worth while for a factory Touring cup racer to get that little extra edge. But a street/mild track duty car???????
But, it would look a little better

Dan

Yeah, I guess the bottom line is do you NEED that extra (probably 2-5ft) braking power for SO much more money. Or, do you NEED that perfectly balanced brake look (which would be more my worry, as I probaby wouldn't notice the difference in braking) for SO much extra money. I would be very interested to see track runs with the two different sets though (since I can't afford either right now, I'm free from having to worry about deciding)!


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T.Red 1999 Contour SVT
No Mods yet :-(

before ordering/fitting any kit like these check the calipers have dirt seals, the AP kit (available on there web site) It uses calipers that begin with a 3 no dirt seals. Only AP calipers that begin with a 5 have dirt seals. You will still req them in the USA as you will not want to be wanting to clean/overhaul them every few 000's miles.
You definatly dont want bigger discs on the rear otherwise the rear end will pass the front end and you will end up in a meat truck.

The bigger rear brakes will not cause a problem with brake balance if the car has ABS. The ABS will just kick in really early. As far as stopping performance a larger rear brake will do nothing at all. All of the weight is transfered forward in a hard stop. Save your money and just get front calipers and rotors. Remember these are race car parts. squeeling and clunking and all those little annoying noises that you care about on a street car, are not taken into consideration on a race car. I have a friend who works at the US Importer for AP. THe brakes are awesome, but they are race car parts. Just my $.02.

R0ger