Wilwood brakes
 

i have been tossing around the idea of switching over to Wilwoods from stock but I haven't seen to many reviews of them on here. I had AP's on the old car while those are always a option again, I like how the Wilwoods don't have dust boots and I can find pads, rotors and other hardware for them locally. Has anyone here tracked them on the Z or another car?

The only thing that scares me is "caliper flex" google it, it seems to be semi-common on Wilwoods

Hmm, that is news for me. Need to look into that

Someone else had brought up the question before about the flex issue. The answer was that they do flex. How much, I don't know.

I guess that explains why they are not very popular here then.

The caliper flexing doesn't give me much hope, in videos you can SEE it flexing even without the damn micrometer, lol

I had the Wilwood Superlites on my race Prelude. They did flex and I got a lot of pad knock back. I will not be using them again. The stock Akebono have served me pretty well so far.

Largely depends on the exact caliper of use. How much pressure it sees and how they are used.

First; all calipers flex. Aluminum more than iron. Smaller ones more than larger ones. And many "tests" conducted make no mention of the pressure being put into them. If a caliper flexes horribly at 1500psi (OMG! LOOK AT THAT!!) well...let me tell you that you'd be in one of the biggest slides of your life putting down some serious skid marks! lol

Most systems operate at a 500-800psi range and under harder use perhaps 1000psi. What happens above the point of wheel lock up is really rather moot.

Now combine both the wrong caliper (think body class size) with the wrong pad (think street pad with little bite) used on the track and wrong piston sizing (think too small) thus requiring yet more line pressure to make them clamp...yup, you have issues.

Using the proper class caliper with the proper pads in the right application caliper flex is hardly an issue on Wilwood or many other brands to concern yourself with. Today's Wilwood Aero series and Billet Suprlite parts all come with internal cross overs- a design that would not hold up under use and create body leaks if it were all so true.

Not saying this cannot be an issue, only that such testing needs more evaluation before you can toss a blanket over the cause. Running 3lb billet dyanite cotte pin calipers on a 3500lb car...then blame the part? Dune buggy parts on your open track day car you purchased for $100ea because they were on sale at Summit? Those things are not parts problems they are application problem. There's a reason why the "right" kits/parts for you car from Wilwood cost $1600-2000. Cheap out on non Wilwood kits (anyone can sell their calipers) and you get what you pay for.

I would actually consider $2000 for a complete Wilwood kit cheap since the AP's I had were almost double that that and worth every penny. I fully understand running the proper caliper for your car which is why I have only gone with either Brembo or AP Racing since they are pretty much the biggest names in brakes for street and race. I am still doing some more reading but I also don't want to be the guinea pig for these on the 370. I really can't find any information on the 370 specific kit and how it has done. Most of the reading that I have been doing since hearing about Wilwoods flex has been with their older calipers too. Thanks for the info though, gives me info to use for my decision when I finally make it.

Complete front kits can be had for under $2k, complete four wheel kits for under $3k.

By cheap, if some feel the quality is not up to par...that's fine too. There are plenty of kits on the market to choose from. Not everyone wants to shell out $6000 for brakes on a car they drive to work. In fact some buyers purchase simply for the visual enhancement of their car. That's cool. I'm not one to judge, just get you the best value for your money.

I think any buyer in today's market would find the Wilwood factory kits for most applications to meet or exceed their needs. The beefier TCE Aero6 front kits take that to a higher level yet.

was there ever any more info on this anyone rocking wilwoods now?