GT 350 brakes

[Hack]

In the spirit of new and varied discussions here - are any of you planning brake upgrades? Different fluid, pads, other mods?

What have you done with past cars and why?

They've said none of the testers have been able to fade the GT350 brakes. Do you believe it? Do you expect you will be able to fade them? If so, what kind of conditions are you used to during your track days?

Photos of mods to your past cars welcome, especially if you have a Boss 302 with brake upgrades or other late model Mustang.

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[DrumReaper]

My understanding is that the ceramics were discarded in favor of costs as the benefits did not justify the costs. That would mean the brakes are pretty impressive in my opinion.

 

[mustang_lurkers]

I don't think these brakes will need to be upgraded unless you are going to spend mad money to get the Carbon Ceramics that Ford chose not to go with because they wanted to keep the cost down. The Shelby GT350 has the biggest rotors ever on a mustang and they are two piece cross drilled rotors with 6 pot front and 4 pot rear caliper with the floating pin set up. This car is giving us much more than what most of us could ever need. I don't think most of us could drive the car hard enough to justify needing a better braking system.

 

[krt22]

On street tires I am guessing no changes needed, I Will change to RBF660 just in case.

you might need ducts if you are really a hot shoe with r-comps and running extended sessions. The stock pads are likely pretty soft to keep noise down, but with them being so massive you can likely still be fine in all but the most extreme cases, but dedicated track guys will likely still switch pads depending on initial bite preferences.

 

[Grimace427]

Common brake upgrades might be to reduce the rotor diameter to improve wheel options for actual racing, like Time Attack or auto-x.


I don't think any members here can really be planning on brake upgrades without knowing how they actually perform.

 

[krt22]

Common brake upgrades might be to reduce the rotor diameter to improve wheel options for actual racing, like Time Attack or auto-x.


I don't think any members here can really be planning on brake upgrades without knowing how they actually perform.

Never underestimate serial modders who mod just to mod, not because there is any need for them :cheers:

 

[Hack]

Common brake upgrades might be to reduce the rotor diameter to improve wheel options for actual racing, like Time Attack or auto-x.


I don't think any members here can really be planning on brake upgrades without knowing how they actually perform.

I don't disagree.

That was partly why I tried to expand the discussion to also cover past mods - what people did with their current track day car, etc.

I considered better pads for my 2015 before my last track day, but I wasn't able to find any aftermarket pads. I also thought about swapping fluid.

In the end I just decided to drive the car and see how it did. It was a cold day in the lower 40s, but I didn't notice any serious fade. I also deliberately took it easy on the brakes just in case there might be a problem. I was surprised how well the brakes worked on the track in a non-PP GT.

 

[Hack]

On street tires I am guessing no changes needed, I Will change to RBF660 just in case.

you might need ducts if you are really a hot shoe with r-comps and running extended sessions. The stock pads are likely pretty soft to keep noise down, but with them being so massive you can likely still be fine in all but the most extreme cases, but dedicated track guys will likely still switch pads depending on initial bite preferences.

Will you change the fluid prior to your first track day, or do a change afterwards? Have you run a previous car without good enough fluid and had a problem? How hot was it?

 

[krt22]

I will switch it. I remember a few years ago, me and a buddy had similar cars (evo IXs) with similar mods (300whp, R-comps, aggressive street pads). I was running RBF and he went with ATE cool blue and in the final sessions (~90F day) his pedal was bottoming out, mine was still very firm, not doing any sort of crazy pace either. I've also faded the brakes on track bikes even with RBF, so its one of those "can't hurt" swaps

But could be a complete non-issue with the GT350 with the shear size of the brakes, quite a large volume of fluid im sure

 

[FTD]

I will change the pads and fluid.

I prefer more bite and heat tolerance than OE. I won't daily drive mine, so dust and noise is not an issue.

 

[TraKWeapon]

My understanding is that the ceramics were discarded in favor of costs as the benefits did not justify the costs.

I've heard this as well. Pagid pads and Motul RBF600 is what I use. The radial mount front calipers are a nice touch but too bad the rears don't use the same mount. The question will be will you replace the stock rotors with OEM when they wear out or go to something like a Stoptech two piece? Not sure what the stock rotors cost but from some research I've done the Audi R8 guys had some minor issues with them. I'll be able to answer that as soon as we see the price of the stock rotors.

 

[TraKWeapon]

Common brake upgrades might be to reduce the rotor diameter to improve wheel options for actual racing, like Time Attack or auto-x.

Why? The best DOT tires are available in 19". Hoosier R7, Trefeo R, Cup 2 and even NT01's. The GT350R-C cars use race Brembo brakes that are 15" and fit in some 18" wheels but few will go that route unless it's a full blown race car and the plates come off.

 

[Hack]

I will change the pads and fluid.

I prefer more bite and heat tolerance than OE. I won't daily drive mine, so dust and noise is not an issue.

What kind of pads do you prefer? Do you do race only pads?

I would consider swapping back and forth having an extra set of pads and rotors bedded together that I use for track days. Any advantage to that?

 

[jjw]

Do the cars have braided SS lines from the factory? If not, I'd say lines and fluid…. and a really good power bleeder for replacing fluid at least yearly.

 

[Mountain376]

Why? The best DOT tires are available in 19". Hoosier R7, Trefeo R, Cup 2 and even NT01's. The GT350R-C cars use race Brembo brakes that are 15" and fit in some 18" wheels but few will go that route unless it's a full blown race car and the plates come off.

With a factory 15.5" front brake set up, you're going to have to use 19" wheels. There isn't a big selection for 18" wheels that'll even fit 15" brakes. The GT350R-C uses the 15" brakes likely for that reason and also because race calipers are generally able to handle heat better ( I.e. No piston dust boots) and they need to use a 4-piston, since 6-Pistons aren't allowed.

The street car doesn't come with stainless braided lines, from what I've seen and know. Those lines, fluid and maybe a front pad change (feeling and performance preference) would be all the street car would need for track days or time trials. Probably even club racing. For autocross... Stainless lines maybe - that's about it.

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