2018 Mustang GT Baer 6 Piston Brakes

[Chris Barnes]

They are different. GT350 uses a different Brembo caliper which was designed specifically for the Shelby. It also uses a 15.5” 2pc rotor as well. The rear 2pc rotors almost share the same diameter as the GTPP fronts, def a huge upgrade.

I forgot the front rotors on the Shelby are 15.5". That's a giant rotor! I guess the better question would be if the front GT PP calipers and rear GT 350 caliper piston sizes are compatible to maintain proper brake bias? I think i'm glad i went with a complete system designed to work together. I'm hoping to be able to pick up my Baer system later this week (I'm in Phoenix where they are located). My plan is to post detailed front and rear weight differences as well as before and after 60-0 and 100-0 results as measured by the factory computer. Fingers crossed!

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[Chris Barnes]

Picked up my front and rear systems yesterday. Got one corner done so far. I'm documenting and weighing everything as I go. I ended up going with the 1.33" thick rotors instead of the standard 1.25" thick. They are over a pound heavier, but have a lot more cooling veins and are just a more robust casting which is good for a 4,000lb car I hope. The Baer front rotor/caliper combo is 14.9lbs lighter than the OEM PP Brembo setup. The stock rotor is exactly 10.0lbs heavier than the Baer, so that's a nice decrease in rotating mass per front corner. Only took me 35 minutes to install the first corner. Baer's attention to detail and instructions are second to none! If people are interested, I'll keep posting pics and results once I get the rotors/pads seasoned and bedded.

 

[codesx100]

Interested to see the results and thoughts are after your complete!

 

[Chris Barnes]

A bit more progress. Both fronts are complete and ready to bleed. Rear brakes are mocked up and shimmed, ready to pull off and install backing plates and E-brake assembly so I can re-assemble.

 

[Chris Barnes]

Finished the rear system yesterday and got all four corners bled. Was quite a bit of work since I had to remove the rear hubs to install the Banksia park brake backing plate. I have about 50 miles on the new brakes and all seems well. I'm taking it very easy on them until I wear off the zinc coating and prior to seasoning/bedding. Theres already an immediate difference in the feel of the brakes. Instead of a slight nose dive, I feel the car squat when I brake. Can't wait to get the break in process complete so I can really see what these brakes are capable of!

 

[Austin01WS6]

Updates??

 

[Chris Barnes]

Not much. I've been simply driving the car for the last few weeks. I plan on attending some open track events in the fall here in the Phoenix area. The brakes are rock solid and there is zero noise, other issues or compromises over the stock PP brakes. The only comment i've gotten is from my wife the drives the car more than me. She thinks they are a tad bit touchy/grabby compared to the stock brakes, but not in a bad way. They for sure have more initial bite than before and simply instill confidence. The car literally feels like it squats when you grab a bunch of brake. What i love about great brakes is that they don't have any downside to daily driving like most performance mods.

 

[Bull Run]

The iron disc/aluminum hat design probably does more to break up the heat conduction path from really hot rotor discs to things that don't particularly like a lot of heat like hub bearings than anything else.

It's not even that the hat is aluminum so much as it's the thermal discontinuity provided by the hat and the disc being two separate pieces.


Norm

I did an unscientific test of your theory and it seems to be right. After the rotor seasoning process (many 60 to 15 MPH brakes by 10 cooling period in the end) the aluminum hat was only warm to the touch whereas I can only touch the rotor surface for 1-2 seconds before it got painfully hot.

Do you think that many of the premature hub failures were caused by the heat issues? Especially with non-GTPP rotors?

 

[Chris Barnes]

Just wanted to put a quick update up on the Baer brakes since installation. Although I still haven't done any track days I can say these brakes are nothing short of amazing compared to factory PP. The confidence they inspire continues to impress me and everyone that has driven the car. After several thousand miles of driving id say the addition of more rear brake is what really makes the difference. The nose dive is gone, not to mention the pedal feel that is sublime. Wondering if there's a more affordable rear brake upgrade for the S550 that would give a similar result with a better bang for your buck? My car is around the 700whp mark and the brakes are by far my favorite modification!

 

[timd38]

What did you do about the rear parking brake? Thanks!

 

[Chris Barnes]

The Baer extreme plus comes with an integrated park brake. It has a very small and light weight drum system inside the rear aluminum hat called "Banksia". I think it may have also been used on the OEM Corvette system at some point? It uses the OEM brake cables and is actually super simple and effective.

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