Brake Upgrades?
 

Any ideas? I would love to upgrade to 2 pc Carbon Ceramic.

I think the Z28 CC rotors fit the ZL1. Not a cheap option.

FWIW I've read that unless you do a lot of tracking there really isn't a noticeable difference between CC and the stock ZL1 setup.

Yes, they will work, but you must purchase the Z28 Calipers and what ever other parts to do a full conversion. The cost is about 10k. I don't think I will spend that. I am OK staying around 5K.

From a completely functional perspective, the stock ZL1 brakes will continue to stop the car at the traction limitation of the tires for a very long time. If you want to brake in shorter distances you need to upgrade the traction of the tires. If you mount a set of Hoosier R6 race tires on the ZL1 the brake system will first boil the fluid, soft pedal need to pump the brakes to stop. Switch it to motul 660. Next the pad will get heat glazed and you will have a hard pedal that will not stop even if you push for all you are worth. Install porterfield racing pads. Car will continue to stop at limitations of tire adhesion all day long. Rotors will get red hot and heat crack.... replace as needed. The carbon brakes will not stop any better but the rotors will probably last longer....don't know what the carbon rotors cost though.

My research has show that we can not get a CC rotor that will work with our current brake set up. Everything would have to be upgraded.

No, when I refer to ceramic rotors I'm referring to the complete Z/28 braking system. All of the porsche owners that I road race with remove the ceramic brakes that come on their car when the first set of rotors is worn out. This is because the actual stopping distance is no different on the cast iron parts and replacement/maintenance cost are much less for iron, at least for Porsche owners.... my point is if you want more stopping power change the tires, fluid and pads....or remove a lot of weight from the car. The reason the Z/28 stops faster is because it is lighter and has better tires, it is not because the ZL1 brakes are not powerful enough to stop the car.

If you pull the ABS fuse on the ZL1 it can still lock up road racing tires at 150+mph. I don't recommend this but forgot I had the fuse out once. The only thing that "upgrading" to carbon brake system will do is make the car lighter, it will not make it stop better.

Less rotational mass is always a good thing. Anyone know the weight difference per rotor?

I spoke with my source today and I can get the complete Z28 brake package. Includes a bunch of stuff.. My cost is $10k

Does anyone know what a complete ZL1 brake package with Hawk Ceramic pads would sell for? less then 800 miles on them. Never raced or beat on.

I was wondering if anyone knows of an aftermarket replacement brake pad for the Z28. Part of the cost from GM for the Z28 brake upgrade is $1850.00 in pads. Kinda nuts

CARBON BRAKES ROCK....BUT UPGRADE KITS TEND TO RUN IN THE $8-12K RANGE LIKE YOU SAID....GOTTA BE A BALLER TO RUN THEM.

I WOULD HIT UP STOPTECH/AP RACING/BREMBO AND GET A HUGE STEEL BRAKE SETUP FOR HALF THE COST...LIKE YOUR 5K BUDGET.

I REALLY DOUBT ALMOST ANYBODY WOULD OVERHEAT/MAX OUT A GOOD STEEL BRAKE SETUP AS LONG AS IT VENTED/COOLED PROPERLY...DRIVEN PROPERLY..HEY THE PROS' USE THEM IN RACING.

IT WON'T GIVE YOU THE BLING THO.....

Carbon-ceramic brakes are great for street duty. Since you never overheat them at the street, they would likely last the lifetime of the car. That said, as others have also pointed out, it will not help you reduce your panic stopping distance. Actually, when MotorTrend swapped Z/28 wheels/tires on their Z/28 test car with their 1LE test car, the 1LE actually stopped even better than stock Z/28 stopping distance by 1+ feet, and this with the 4 piston 14" SS Brembos! In other words, even the smaller system used by the Camaro SS has more than enough power to stop car as soon as possible, even with the R-compound Trofeo R tires of the Z/28.

The point is, the bigger system will not necessarily improve your emergency braking distance, but will rather help you in having a consistent system at the track. You already said your car is never tracked/abused; are you looking for this system only for street use? If you just need a strong bite, then why not replace the crappy ceramic brake pads withe something with serious bite, as others suggested?

Dangit ipad shut off and I lost a long message.

Why do you want "better brakes" if I may ask? Track, looks or lower mass?

The camaro z/28 brake rotor is not designed to wear, only lose mass by burning off epoxy. If you switch to a different pad it might actually wear the rotor and the rotor will lose integrity. Not designed for that. Those brakes are as track capable as you need, no other pad will be better.

The new z06 CCM calipers are same as z/28, ask how much those pads and calipers are. Should be same pad kit, doubt it will be cheaper so go to amazon and buy the ZR1 pads, same pad but amazon might sell cheaper.

Try pagid race pads on ur ZL1 system, they are very capable. However noise will be high. Stillen sells AP racing 390mm front brake systems for about $3600 i think front only. Huge brakes. Very heavy though.

Also, make sure any pad or system you buy doesnt have chamfers on the pads for noise control. This hurts track performance. Ur stock brakes have chamfers so if you get pagids make sure no chamfers to lose pad area.

Finally, I doubt the 1LE would be under triple numbers in stopping distance after 5 stops. CCM brakes need a bit heat so the z/28 will improve or repeat same numbers for a long time. The crossholes on the CCM are there to improve initial bite in cold brake daily driving situations as well.

Oh forgot to mention CCMs have a wear sensor on pads. Reason is if the backing plate touches rotor it can be catastrophic. In the z/28 it warns you but your zl1 ABS module doesnt have that hardware or harnesses to have sensors mounted. I wouldnt worry about it as long as you check pads a lot and make sure you dont go low.

Another thing, z/28 has a different booster because CCMs are very grabby with heat. Heel and toe becomes impossible in some cases with your booster. Your brake pedal will not travel as much and you cant get to your gas pedal. Hence, another part to change.

WOW, thanks for the great info. I am going to pass on the CCs. I think I am going to go with the Brembo GT Systems. (Link Below) I am not worried about the track. Maybe once a year.

http://www.racetechnologies.com/prod...olet_CamaroZL1

Hmm, what does that GT setup offer that the stock setup doesn't? Isn't that pretty much the system that is on the ZL1 now?