I gotta ask, why do you think you need $1600 brakes to stop your car?
I know they are cool, but c'mon, that will buy a lot more speed elsewhere.
I race a 2700 lb Audi in hillclimbs and track days, single piston 4 wheel disc brakes that aren't especially big, and with Hawk pads and stock everything else I can haul that pig down with no problems.

 

Hi.

First let me preface this with, I am not, nor will I ever be the "brake authority", however I can say that I experienced some issues with brake performance in my RS in extended mountain driving at speed, so I did a little research on the topic myself.

From what I gather the issue with Wilwood calipers in general is that they lack dust seals: This means frequent rebuilds. This pushed me away from any consideration of the new Wilwood big brake kit or the Perrin kit. Brembos, though nice are expensive and do suffer from warping, according to a number of other forums. Thus I considered two other positively regarded setups, the ProDrive Big Brake set and the StopTech Big Brake set.

Impressions on both seem to be very positive. The StopTechs are lighter than the ProDrive and probably are easier to get parts for as they are US based. That said, it seems that stopping distances are comparable and my experience with ProDrive in general has been overwhelmingly positive.

I finally chose the ProDrives because after an argument with their supplier TireRack, TireRack decided to clear out all ProDrive products including wheels and brakes. You might want to check the site out to see what is still available. When I bought the brakes they were about 2/3 original price ($1399) while StopTechs with some extras are usually about $1695. For a minimal difference in performance between ProDrive and StopTech units, I thought the ProDrives were the better deal.

It should also be added that unless you are using 17 inch wheels neither the StopTech nor ProDrive will fit.

 

Well one other thing to add. I have a buddy running new pads, stainless steel lines, and better brake fluid. This certainly improves feel and stopping distance. Ultimately much cheaper than buying a whole new set of brakes while providing a significant improvement over stock.

Good luck!

Thanks

TG

 

Keep researching, but why not try pads and better fluid for now? You may find it does what you need, and you save yourself a lot of bucks. If it doesn't do what you need, well, you haven't really wasted much.
I agree, not much to be gained by screwing with the rear brakes.

 

I am definitely not anything close to a brake expert.

I have put close to 3000 track miles on my 99 RS and have only experienced fade once - running west loop of thunderhill while trying to keep up with a near novice driving a Viper ACR. At the time I was running stock rotors (still am), Axxis Metal Master pads front, stock rear, stainless lines, and that's it.

I'm about to swap in the single stage booster that's been kicking around, and replacing the fluid with super blue. I hear the stock ford brake fluid has a boiling point of around 540 degrees and is a lot cheaper than blue. Finally I'll swap in Axxis Ultimates to replace my metal masters.

I don't know what you've done to your RS. But if you're still running stock pads, dump them for something with a higher functional temperature. Just make sure they're streetable pads - something that will grip at ambient temp - not race temps. You could also try ducting air to your rotors to cool them.

My thoughts are two fold. First, for 1600 dollars, you could go to pretty much any race school and drop seconds off your laptimes - on any car. Second, while Team SMR runs stoptechs front, Gary is still on stock rears but with a more aggressive pad.

Am I trying to discourage you from spending the money on brakes? Not at all. They're a hugely important aspect of going fast. But so is driver skill, tires, and so on. Before spending big bucks on rotor and caliper upgrades, I would upgrade the supporting cast - lines, pads, fluid, and possibly master cylinder and cooling ducting...