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TCE 6-piston Wilwood caliper brake kit

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Gonzo

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
A few months back a member of our local chapter installed the 6-piston Wilwood caliper brake kit sold by TCE on his '95 GSX, and he was nice enough to put together a review with pictures and comments for those interested. The review can be found on the homepage of our local chapter (CoDSM):

http://co.dsm.org/

Note that these are installed on his car, not mine! :D Thus, I can't really answer any questions for him. However, I've had the luck of spending some laps in the passenger seat at track days, and with race rubber these brakes stop the car hard enough to make your eyeballs pop out of their sockets... :eeek:


Erik A.
#206/1000
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Well, Paul was upgrading from the 4-piston 12.2" rotor setup which he got in a local group buy a while back for $850. I'm not sure what the upgrade difference cost was for just the 6-piston calipers and brackets, but TCE has the kit prices on their webpage:

TCE Performance Products

Paul said that if he had to do it again, he'd definitely go with the 13" rotors right off the bat...but he's kind of a nut that way! ;)

So, in comparison I think the TCE Wilwood setup is less expensive than the StopTechs if they're $1800 like Ian said. I haven't seen or experienced a StopTech setup in person to compare the performance, but I doubt you would be disappointed with the Wilwood setup! :D


Erik A.
#206/1000
 
#6 · (Edited)
i guess if your just going to us this for street wilwood would be way easier on the wallet.. a few club guys have stoptechs and they werent disspointed they said its worth more than $1800.. but again theseare he guys making some serious power and roadrace regularly..

one of them asked me to touch teh calipers after a few hard braking i was like HELL no! but he touched it and it was not even warm....=) i think its worth spending that $1800 if you have use for it...

i might just be getting some AEMs but they crack easily(from what ive heard). man i might even just go with the 2 piston brakes form 93 and up, im broke! just bought new suspension! somehting better than these single pistons clipers are better..

but again if i have the $$ id go for the stoptechs just because te hardcore guys have proven it...=)

ian
 
#7 ·
Well, the Stoptechs don't seem to be that bad of a price...atleast compared to the Brembo GT brakes or the Baer 4piston setups. The list is "only" 1695.00 on them. The list on the AEMs are like $2400.

I'm thinking of picking up a set of Stoptechs this winter once I get rid of some performance parts I got laying around...and once everyone pays me what they owe me.
 
#9 ·
I am one of those guys that would kill to have good drivable brakes but funding is low. If I had the cash i would go with one of these set ups. I was sure you would have to run 17-18 inch wheels for stopping power like that. Good info!
 
#10 ·
shit if your making some serious power or somewhat you also need to stop. betterbe safe than sorry.. i canyon run alot and since i made a bit more power i took a break til i get some sort ofbrake upgrade.. it gets dangerious.. even in th 1/4 ull need to stop..thin about the street.. it would be so niceif you kno in the back of your head that youll stop before rear ending someone in he freeway.=)

ian
 
#11 ·
I can tell you now that the AP racing stuff will work better. The willwood stuff works VERY well, but the single peice rotors are heavier as are the calipers. The Wilwood calipers aren't nearly as stiff and solid as say a Brembo 4-pot monoblock ('Big Reds') or a AP racing caliper.
Unless your accually competing in wheel-to-wheel racing you probably can't justify the extra cost of Brembo and AP stuff over Wilwood though.
The Wilwood stuff is excelent for the price, but definatly not the best. Alcon, AP, and Brembo make some of the best calipers out there.
 
#12 ·
Yeah Stillen uses the AP calipers and 2 peice rotors for there upgrades for the Eclipse. They only have listings for the 4 piston calipers and 13" rotor sets. They are $1900.00 if I remember correctly. I do beleive that they will do an upgrade using 6 piston calipers if you want to pay the difference. They do swear by them though. Excellent quality.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
Dyre13b said:
I can tell you now that the AP racing stuff will work better. The willwood stuff works VERY well, but the single peice rotors are heavier as are the calipers.
Click to expand...
Perhaps the 1-piece rotors are heavier, but this kit uses the 2-piece rotors which are quite light. I also find it hard to believe that AP Racing's calipers are substantially lighter than the 3.75lbs (4-piston) or 5lbs (6-piston) Wilwood calipers. I believe the weight comparison between stock and the 4-piston setup was 10 pounds unsprung weight saved per corner. Thus, the 6-piston calipers add a little over a pound back per wheel.
The Wilwood calipers aren't nearly as stiff and solid as say a Brembo 4-pot monoblock ('Big Reds') or a AP racing caliper.
Unless your accually competing in wheel-to-wheel racing you probably can't justify the extra cost of Brembo and AP stuff over Wilwood though.
Click to expand...
One of the observations that Paul made about the difference between the 6-piston calipers and the 4-piston calipers is that the cross-bridge bolts on the 6-piston calipers don't appear to be there to add structural rigidity, unlike the 4-piston caliper. Keep in mind that these are billet aluminum calipers, not cast pieces. You can save some money, lose some glamour, and add some weight by choosing a cast caliper.
The Wilwood stuff is excelent for the price, but definatly not the best. Alcon, AP, and Brembo make some of the best calipers out there.
Click to expand...
It's easy to race on paper...I highly doubt that the Wilwoods are going to slow any of us down. If you're a good enough driver to be worrying about items like that, somebody else should be picking up the bill. :p Tighten the nut behind the wheel before you blame things on the brakes! :D

Erik A.
#206/1000
 
#14 ·
As far as I know only the 4 pot AP racing brakes are available for the Eclipse(according to the US importer). The Stillen kit is a good price until you realize that it doesn't use AP rotors, but cheaper Coleman rotors. I would rather go the whole way and get the entire kit(which I am doing) from the AP importer. The Stoptechs are a great low cost option and work fantastically well. However the AP's are definately in a class by themselves. I would not recommend the Willwoods for anyone doing street driving as the do not have dust seals and squeak and rattle your ears off. They will also need to be rebuilt very often. $1650 for Stoptechs is a great deal. $2200 for a true AP racing set up is not a great deal, however its cheaper than Baers race kit, AEM's kit and Brembos option. This car really does need better brakes andwith the AP's on the car I will stop as well as I intend to go with the upgrade list I am compiling.:D

Brett.
 
#15 ·
DSMBRETT said:
As far as I know only the 4 pot AP racing brakes are available for the Eclipse(according to the US importer). The Stillen kit is a good price until you realize that it doesn't use AP rotors, but cheaper Coleman rotors. I would rather go the whole way and get the entire kit(which I am doing) from the AP importer. The Stoptechs are a great low cost option and work fantastically well. However the AP's are definately in a class by themselves. I would not recommend the Willwoods for anyone doing street driving as the do not have dust seals and squeak and rattle your ears off. They will also need to be rebuilt very often. $1650 for Stoptechs is a great deal. $2200 for a true AP racing set up is not a great deal, however its cheaper than Baers race kit, AEM's kit and Brembos option. This car really does need better brakes andwith the AP's on the car I will stop as well as I intend to go with the upgrade list I am compiling.:D

Brett.
Click to expand...
I have the 12.2 kit with 4 piston calipers on my Talon and they don't make a sound. For the dollars I think they are as good as any of those higher dollar kits out there. With regards to the seals on the pistons Wilwood has a new revised caliper to replace the non-booted calipers. However, after speaking to several racers they all said it was not completely necessary to have the boots. All that is needed is a little TLC once a year to inspect your brakes and that's about it. Not to mention Wilwood pieces are very affordable indivdually and highly available.

This is no diss on the other products out there, but you guys seem to think that these brakes aren't up to snuff because they aren't 2k or higher. TCE can surely build your brakes to your specs if you choose. For the money I won't complain as my car brakes 10 times better than it ever did before and it does it with 16" wheels too. :D
 
#16 ·
It's easy to race on paper...I highly doubt that the Wilwoods are going to slow any of us down. If you're a good enough driver to be worrying about items like that, somebody else should be picking up the bill. Tighten the nut behind the wheel before you blame things on the brakes!
Click to expand...
Did I run over you dog without knowing it? I NEVER said that wilwoods suck, or that they would slow you down. All i was doing was pointing out wilwoods rung on the ladder of brake systems. I'm putting a 6-pot 13" wilwood kit on my TurboII. I wouldn't go out and spend $1600 on brakes unless I thought they would kick ass, and I'm upgrading from the already VERY good 4-pot, AL RX-7 setup.

Fact is the ONE PEICE CAST ROTORS are going to be heavier than the 2 piece rotors w/ AL hats that brembo and AP use. Wilwood calipers are still 2 peice billet. This fact alone means they won't be as rigid as the one peice billet AP or Brembo calipers.

Fact is, the 6-pot Wilwoods are probably more than anyone with a street DSM will ever need. And if you need more, you would know it. In fact 1g DSM's the 12.2 rotors with an aftermarket pad should be plenty for street use.

My purpose was to explain WHY wilwoods are marginally cheaper than AP, Alcons, or Brembo parts. Its simple. They aren't as good. Are they better than anything stock? Absolutly. Are they better than a set of Big Reds, or Alcon World Challenge 12-pot 14.5" setups? NO WAY. But thats why they cost what they do.

Sorry if i ran over your dog btw-
 
#19 ·
The calipers look impressive. I downloaded and looked through their product and application guides. They do not list a kit for the 1g though (although I think 2G will fit 1G??). Also says 18" wheels needed? Is that just if you go for the 14" rotors?
 
#20 ·
I also agree that for the money the Willwoods are a good choice. However after selling them for 2 years I would not recommend them for daily street use as they lacked dust seals and would need to be rebuilt at least once a year. If you are prepared to do that then I would not hesitate to get them. If the Willwoods are now coming with dust seals and calipers that don't rattle then they are an even better buy.

Brett.
 
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