Brake Madness With V6 Track Car

[I am not a robot]

Hi there!

I'm working on turning my V6 into a lightweight track eating machine and was looking through some brake kit prices. For my car and the size of brakes I wanted I have seen some 2012 M3 brake kits (yes from the BMW) that are a decent price and would fit my car. Has anyone ever tried this swap? Do you have any idea how well it would work for track purposes?

 

[Mustang5L5]

You'd have to link to the kits you are looking at. Without looking though, main concern would be rotor offset when you place it on the hub, and an adapter bracket for the caliper. I also think '12 BMW's had a different bolt circle than the Mustang. Plus on top of that you'll need to do the math to see if a master cylinder change is needed, and factor in cost of MC and plumbing to adapt. Plus you'll probably need 18" rims at a minimum.

So even if the kit is cheap, having caliper brackets made, and redrilling the rotors, MC, lines will drive your costs up.

Why not look at the Mustang specific options out there. There already exists a 330mm Brembo option
http://www.cjponyparts.com/ford-racing-cobra-r-front-brake-kit-1994-2004/p/M2300X/?year=2000&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=New Bing Shopping Ads&utm_term=1101206496806&utm_content=All Products

Or even cheaper is a standard Cobra 13" brake kit
https://lmr.com/item/SVE-2300K-S/19...=uZLeDwJB_pcrid_11623812257_pkw__pmt_be_pdv_c

Plenty of other aftermarket options exist as well, and you will definitely want to upgrade the rear solid rotors to at least the 12" vented rotors available on Cobra
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms-m-2300-m

Plenty of guys road race with the standard Cobra 13" kit on their heavier V8 cars. Good fluid, and right pad selection and they do very well.

 

[I am not a robot]

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine...bUEastm-qhHABeBVCNqDUwO0CJWS8978UYaAr4r8P8HAQ

These are the ones I was looking at.

 

[I am not a robot]

Would you straight up recommend the Cobra kit? I have a buddy who races with his Camaro and uses StopTech but I am not sure if they are worth the extra expense as opposed to Brembo or Wilwood 4-piston brakes. I actually don't know a ton about StopTech in general but I am open to opinions/suggestions.

 

[Mustang5L5]

What sort of racing are you actually planning on doing? How light is your car going to be? How much do you want to spend on brakes?

 

[I am not a robot]

What sort of racing are you actually planning on doing? How light is your car going to be? How much do you want to spend on brakes?

The budget is mostly flexible. I will be doing mostly autocross with two races a year at a regional track (no wheel-to-wheel racing). I have swapped a bunch of the support structure out for lighter and stronger aluminum materials (K member, drive shaft, sway bars), lighter seats and have done a rear seat delete. The only real reason I should ever need slotted brakes is for the two track sessions a year, so I'm not sure if that would justify it or not.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I was going to say, just doing autoX, the standard Cobra setup would be more than enough. With proper pads, quality rotors and good brake fluid, it could do quite well on some track events. I know of a few members here who open track with the standard cobra setup.

One of those things where you'll need to try it, and then make changes based on your needs.

But with AutoX, it's more than enough brake. I used to autoX and made 3 back-to-back passes on day without issue. brakes held up great

 

[I am not a robot]

Thanks so much for the input! I think I'll probably go with the Cobra brakes since they seem to be cheaper than most others and basically bolt-on.

 

[Mustang5L5]

What year is your car?

 

[I am not a robot]

It's a Base Model '01 (obviously not stock).

 

[Mustang5L5]

In that case, 1" bore MC. No need to change out the master cylinder