Brembo 18Z 356mm brake upgrade – What I’ve learned along the way…
Hi All,
As some of you will have read, I’ve wanted to upgrade my brakes for a while, and for a long time I’ve been slowly collecting parts. Like with everything else, I’ve not made it easy for myself; I enjoy learning about what I’m doing, sourcing the parts individually for the best price and doing what I can myself – I work in medical so this hobby is worlds apart from my day job.
So, I started by wanting to use Brembo 18Zs rather than the 17Z variant as allegedly you achieve a better pedal feel as they use slightly smaller pistons, from what I’ve read (17Z 38,36,34mm Vs 18Z 38,34,30mm pistons). I’ve also read that 17Zs fit behind 17 inch wheels and 18Zs behind 18 inch wheels. In hindsight, I’ve reviewed and discovered other options which are competitive alternatives (had I have known…) - List is just what I’ve looked at:
• ECS Porsche Stage 5 kit – Nice and complete but it’s expensive and I’ve heard from some that have used it that the drilled elements of the discs have been prone to cracking.
• Badger5 334mm brake upgrade using the existing LCR Brembo calipers – a competitively priced and well performing kit by all accounts.
• AKS Tuning 370mm brake upgrade consisting of Aston Martin 4 Pots and AKS bells & discs – I like the look of this a lot.
• Forge 356mm caliper and disc upgrade – heard mixed
reviews about this product – a bit soft in feel on the pedal in the LCR apparently, but then others have raved about it.
• K-Sport and PB 356mm calipers and discs – Very competitively priced and the PB products are highly regarded in other car communities, with good performance tests to prove too.
Like I said, the list isn’t extensive but this is what I would have considered as an alternative to an OEM product.
I purchased the Brembo 18Z calipers second hand for £300. They were removed from a 2009 Audi Q7 Quattro. They’re also fitted on the Porsche Cayenne and VW Touarge. I didn’t need to but I decided to buy bits to replace the working parts:
• Brembo OEM brake pad wear indicator.
• Brembo front brake caliper seals rebuild kit, which includes 38mm, 34mm and 30mm pressure seals, and 38mm, 34mm and 30mm dust boots .
• Brembo front brake pad fitting kit including brackets and pins.
• x4 Brembo dust caps and S/S bleed screws.
• Bell exact fit braided brake lines.
• Brembo brake fluid.
With nice results achieved, they were built back up. I’m really pleased and hopefully they’ll be super durable.
Other things to consider….
Mount Adapters: To achieve fitment to the hub and against a 356mm sized disc, I needed a set of adapters. This was the hardest part of the search. Long searches through loads of forums that led me to a guy called Lee who made a few pairs to work against either 334mm or 356mm fitment. Luckily I managed to buy one of his last sets (his prototype set) for £60. Top bloke, very helpful and a great product.
Bolts: I needed 4 new carrier to hub bolts to fit the adapter (8 bolts in total – 4 each side). I bought 8 bolts priced at £1.82 each from David at Sere Motors. David was very helpful as always and they were delivered promptly.
Discs and Pads: This was the expensive part from me. I purchased Forge’s 356mm 6 grooved discs and bells. AP Racing I found to be very complicated and others wouldn’t sell bells and discs separately from their kits. They were £590 delivered. Ouch… I’ve decided to buy a set of Pagid pads, and we’ll see how they bed in. I've used DS2500s over the past few years and really liked the wear rate and performance of them. However, at £260 I can’t justify the spend just yet, as there’s so much I want to do to the car on a limited budget.
Hopefully they’ll be fitted over the next month along with the arch work that I want to complete, and then it’ll be onto the rears… Still some decisions to be made…
I'm not sure I actually want any wheels yet but it might be nice to get some one day. There's loads of other bits that should really take priority - a respray being the obvious pressing one.
