I found out the other day that my factory brakes w/ ABS on my 2G GSX suck! I heard about upgrading to VR4 brakes but those are exactly that readily available for me. What is the best brake upgrade that won't break the bank? I want some stopping power! Appreciate your input.
BEST BRAKE UPGRADE FOR 2G?
shortdahri
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I found out the other day that my factory brakes w/ ABS on my 2G GSX suck! I heard about upgrading to VR4 brakes but those are exactly that readily available for me. What is the best brake upgrade that won't break the bank? I want some stopping power! Appreciate your input.
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613 Posts
The vr4 brake upgrade will be more trouble than you are probably wanting. There is no possible way to fit the vr4 calipers on there, so most people use the sl brakes, but they are only 2 piston calipers I believe which is what a 2g gsx has anyway. You can buy larger brembo crossdrilled and slotted rotors for 75-100$ each which will help a little but not really decrease the stopping distance dramatically. I bought the AEM kit but at 1900$ retail (got mine for 1350), its hardly an option for most people. Most other kits are going to run the same for the 4 piston caliper upgrade, but it makes the BIGGEST difference in the world. Nick has a brake upgrade too so you may want to ask him what he thinks about his (Im not sure how much they were but it is another option). And for the cheap fix, buy some high performance brake pads and the larger rotors and retain your stock calipers and that will probably be the best way to achieve what your looking for while keeping a low budget. 
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78 Posts
How is the feel of the brake after installing the 4-piston brake kit? Did you get a noticable shorter braking distance and stronger stopping power? Where did you get yours from?
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2,164 Posts
Hey what happened to the ubb search? I was going to find a long post I made about dsm brake upgrades, but I can't find it....
Like Josh said I also have a big rotor/4 piston caliper brake upgrade. Mine are from a company called TCE, I was one of the test fitters for their first 1G kits.
There are three size options, all being .81" thick:
11.75" fits stock 16s and aftermarket 16s.
12.2" fits some aftermarket 16s and all 17s
13" only for 17s
The kits use a two piece rotor, aluminum hat and iron rotor. That means reduced weight <my 12.2" rotors weigh only ounces more than my stock 10" rotorors> and cheap replacements <$50 each>.
The calipers are a wilwood billet superlite 4 piston caliper. They weigh 3.75lbs EACH, while stock calipers weigh 12lbs EACH <kind of funny, getting much bigger brakes and having it end up much lighter, sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too>. They use a "differential bore piston". What that means is that the trailing pistons are larger and apply more pressure to the end of the pad, this eliminates pad taper, which is a cause of compliance in the brake system <compliance=a spongy pedal feel, basically>. The pads are a universal shape from wilwood. There are many companies that make pads to fit these calipers, so you can find a pad that suits your driving style. Most pads are about $50 for a set <half the cost of pads for dsm calipers>. Since the billet superliter was designed as a racing caliper, pad changes are very easy, takes me 20mins including jacking the car.
I didn't get a chance to do any distance testing vs. stock with acutal measurements, but I did notice a decrease. Pedal feel is AMAZING. Switching from a sliding piston caliper to a fixed piston is incredible. It's so easy to modulate the pedal and really be able to tell right when you are at the limit...which is almost impossible <at least for me> with the stock calipers.
Anyway from what I have seen out there for dsms I think this is the best kit for the price and have been very satisfied. I can't seem to access the dsm ftp site right now, but if you go to pics.dsm.org, then regionals, nwdsm, members, and then nick drake you can see a bunch of pictures of the kits.
Prices range from around $850-$975 depending on options. For pricing you can contact todd cook at, toddandchris1@home.com
Like Josh said I also have a big rotor/4 piston caliper brake upgrade. Mine are from a company called TCE, I was one of the test fitters for their first 1G kits.
There are three size options, all being .81" thick:
11.75" fits stock 16s and aftermarket 16s.
12.2" fits some aftermarket 16s and all 17s
13" only for 17s
The kits use a two piece rotor, aluminum hat and iron rotor. That means reduced weight <my 12.2" rotors weigh only ounces more than my stock 10" rotorors> and cheap replacements <$50 each>.
The calipers are a wilwood billet superlite 4 piston caliper. They weigh 3.75lbs EACH, while stock calipers weigh 12lbs EACH <kind of funny, getting much bigger brakes and having it end up much lighter, sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too>. They use a "differential bore piston". What that means is that the trailing pistons are larger and apply more pressure to the end of the pad, this eliminates pad taper, which is a cause of compliance in the brake system <compliance=a spongy pedal feel, basically>. The pads are a universal shape from wilwood. There are many companies that make pads to fit these calipers, so you can find a pad that suits your driving style. Most pads are about $50 for a set <half the cost of pads for dsm calipers>. Since the billet superliter was designed as a racing caliper, pad changes are very easy, takes me 20mins including jacking the car.
I didn't get a chance to do any distance testing vs. stock with acutal measurements, but I did notice a decrease. Pedal feel is AMAZING. Switching from a sliding piston caliper to a fixed piston is incredible. It's so easy to modulate the pedal and really be able to tell right when you are at the limit...which is almost impossible <at least for me> with the stock calipers.
Anyway from what I have seen out there for dsms I think this is the best kit for the price and have been very satisfied. I can't seem to access the dsm ftp site right now, but if you go to pics.dsm.org, then regionals, nwdsm, members, and then nick drake you can see a bunch of pictures of the kits.
Prices range from around $850-$975 depending on options. For pricing you can contact todd cook at, toddandchris1@home.com
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2,164 Posts
Ok it started working again, my pics:
http://www.pics.dsm.org/?cid=382 <be sure to click on my kit installed>
My friend Ron Bauer's pictures:
http://www.pics.dsm.org/?cid=395
http://www.pics.dsm.org/?cid=382 <be sure to click on my kit installed>
My friend Ron Bauer's pictures:
http://www.pics.dsm.org/?cid=395
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