Bigger Rotors with Stock Calliper. How big can i go

[2oo3MustangGT]

i'm going to be replacing brakes and wheels with in the next few months and obviously stock just isn't good enough. but i don't have the money for a full brake upgrade but do want better. I would like to get bigger rotors and keep the stock callipers but not sure how big i can go. I'm planning on getting hypercoated fr500's if that helps with clearance issues for the callipers. anyone done something like that?

 

[Jbauer]

I'm not sure you can do that, i've looked for the same thing and your only choice to my knowledge is to buy the kit, someone correct me if i'm wrong.

Your not really going to get any added braking power. You can have the biggest rotors on the planet, doesnt mean jack if your covering the same surface area.

if you want performance you need to upgrade those pads, along with new rotors. The HAWK HPS are excellent pads, i love them, i feel they have the best stopping power from any brake pad in the world for both every day driving and performance.

 

[rconaway]

I bought 18" wheels and use the 2000 R rotor/caliper kit. It runs about $1000 or so depending where you buy it. On the track is was like night and day. It won't fit under the 17" wheels.

 

[2oo3MustangGT]

cobra r brembo's are the dream brakes, but for now i'll just be getting the better pads and hopefully some brembo drilled rotors, sounds like the stock sizing will do the trick but i know on some cars you can go bigger on the rotors and just get a different mounting braket and utilize the stock caliper. helps performance a little with the bigger rotors but largely just fills out the wheel with something other than blank space...cosmeticly looks better

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

cobra r brembo's are the dream brakes, but for now i'll just be getting the better pads and hopefully some brembo drilled rotors, sounds like the stock sizing will do the trick but i know on some cars you can go bigger on the rotors and just get a different mounting braket and utilize the stock caliper. helps performance a little with the bigger rotors but largely just fills out the wheel with something other than blank space...cosmeticly looks better

that's not really the case for GT's, either you buy better pads or you go 13" cobra/mach 1. There's even a kit to convert to 14" GT500 brakes, but all these use new better calipers over stock brakes. Unless you're 96-98 "upgrading" to 99+ PBR's 13" is really the next step.

 

[san~man]

cobra r brembo's are the dream brakes, but for now i'll just be getting the better pads and hopefully some brembo drilled rotors, sounds like the stock sizing will do the trick but i know on some cars you can go bigger on the rotors and just get a different mounting braket and utilize the stock caliper. helps performance a little with the bigger rotors but largely just fills out the wheel with something other than blank space...cosmeticly looks better

By the time you buy Brembo drilled rotors, assuming they're genuine, you've already spent over $300.00 (check tirerack) for them alone, w/o pads. You may as well get the mach/cobra/bullitt kit with new oem brembo rotors, pads, calipers and ss lines and be done with it. You'll spend less to boot.

 

[blubullett]

By the time you buy Brembo drilled rotors, assuming they're genuine, you've already spent over $300.00 (check tirerack) for them alone, w/o pads. You may as well get the mach/cobra/bullitt kit with new oem brembo rotors, pads, calipers and ss lines and be done with it. You'll spend less to boot.

+15.3

 

[SaleenGT2001]

i've never heard of a kit that lets you run bigger rotors up front with the stock calipers......i'm happy with my $250 cobra brakes all around!

 

[Mustang5L5]

i've never heard of a kit that lets you run bigger rotors up front with the stock calipers......i'm happy with my $250 cobra brakes all around!

It's a ricer thing. It's just an intermediate bracket that bolts between the caliper and mounting flange and allows you to run a bigger rotor from another vehicle. Some of these kits are poorly made.


thankfully none exist for the Mustang since the front 13" upgrade is cheap enough.

By the time you spend the cash on "gimmick" rotors and pads, you could have bought the 13" upgrade anyway. Crossdrilled rotors do nothing for performance anyway. You'll get better braking from a 13" solid Cobra rotor than you would with the fanciest crossdrilled/slotted/cryfreezed/blessed GT 10.8" rotors and pads around. Leverage is a strong force.



BUT, i love the guys who do brake jobs and slap on crossdrilled rotors and pads on their stock GT setup and then swear it stops better. That's because you replaced WORN brakes with NEW brakes. You could go out and buy the cheapest Pep Boys crap rotors and pads and put them on and you'll swear they brake harder than what you took off.


Like said before, save your $$$ and do the 13" Cobra upgrade

 

[xseler8]

You may have to upgrade the spare to a Cobra Spare