Cobra brake kit

MustangGT95 · Jan 17, 2007

400$ even for 2000 cobra stuff. What year are the parts from in the kit?

Nevermind just realized the other kits came with the cobra mounting bracket or whatever also. Maybe it isn't cheaper then.

BTW how much better would the first kit he listed stop compared to stock 95 stuff? I know my brakes suck.

Also the RR kit will fit these wheels?

extremetrek · Jan 18, 2007

Sorry if this is a noobish question, but I have been looking to do an upgrade to my brakes ever since they failed to stop me in my accident last year. Is it okay to just upgrade the front brakes with the Cobra kit, will it make a big difference? Or is it best to upgrade all four all the way around? Also, is the installation difficult, or something you can do in the space of a day in the driveway? Im ready to make this purchase, thanks for the help.

MustangGT95 · Jan 18, 2007

Installation of brake calibers and rotors is not hard. There is a pretty decent chance the metal line will break whenever you try to remove it from the hose. Which isn't a hard fix but most definitely a PITA.

But brakes are not hard. Might want to do some research if you are unsure. However, it is definitely something you can do in the driveway with basic hand tools.

Labora · Jan 18, 2007

Just go for the Cobra brakes, sure the bigger ones are nicer but I doubt you will be maxing out the Cobra Brakes or getting them hot enough to cause fade with a good set of pads. I know I haven't been able to get my brakes to fade with a good set of Hawk pads on them done a few autox days too.

MustangGT95 · Jan 18, 2007

My GT brakes fade at when I pull out of the driveway lol. They are pitiful. My old 88 z28 with single piston front brakes will 11'' rotor and 9.5'' drums stopped better.

Car Nut · Jan 18, 2007

I did the full 2004 Cobra brake upgrade over a year ago and couldn't be happier. Total cost was under $850. Performance Parts Inc. is the company I used and I would definitely recommend them to anyone. They had the stainless lines I wanted for about $15.

My kit came with the Anniversary calipers, so they are red with the Cobra logo. Both front and rear kits are identical to the 2004 Anniversary Cobras.

The kits came with:

All mounting hardware and brackets
All new parts
Calipers
Rotors
Pads
Banjo bolts

Like I said before, I've had the brakes for over a year now and now my stang finally feels and actually is "safe".

Keep the stock MC, because pedal feel will be perfect.

Of all my upgrades, this was the smartest one by far.

Car Nut · Jan 18, 2007

One last thing..........

A nice benefit to having Cobra brakes like the ones I bought is that replacement parts down the road will not be expensive AND parts will be plentiful.

Pokageek · Jan 30, 2007

Ok, so my brakes locked up yesterday and I could not control the car as I had ZERO time to quote "PUMP" them and smashed into them. I must say that this car has the WORST braking system I have ever encountered and the front of the car NOSE dives.

So anyway, won't an even STRONGER brake lock the wheels up even faster? Anyone understand how this works?

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?cmd=print&id=1437507

Ok, so don't flame me for WHERE i found the most incredible thread on braking. But it leads me to the questions..what makes the Cobra front brakes better? SO the rotors being larger are just PART of the equasion. The CALIPERS must be better in either technology or SIZE. For example, if you are gripping the rotor with the same width caliper then you are almost no better off than with the stock brakes...

BUT a larger rotor will dissipate more heat = fade less BUT will not stop you any faster unless the CALIPER covers more area...So are the cobra calipers larger? Aren't they um.. like 2 piston or something as upposed to stock 1 piston?

bimmertech · Jan 31, 2007

Pokageek said:
http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?cmd=print&id=1437507

Ok, so don't flame me for WHERE i found the most incredible thread on braking. But it leads me to the questions..what makes the Cobra front brakes better? SO the rotors being larger are just PART of the equasion. The CALIPERS must be better in either technology or SIZE. For example, if you are gripping the rotor with the same width caliper then you are almost no better off than with the stock brakes...

BUT a larger rotor will dissipate more heat = fade less BUT will not stop you any faster unless the CALIPER covers more area...So are the cobra calipers larger? Aren't they um.. like 2 piston or something as upposed to stock 1 piston?

the cobra's are a 2 piston floating style.

but heres the kicker, the cobra caliper has a very small pad area compared to other brakes. it has prolly only 66% the area that the brembo kit has, and i would be willing to bet that it is roughly the same size that the 99-up 2 piston caliper is.

brake dive should be left to a whole nother thread as that mainly has to do with our suspension.

parchisi · Jan 31, 2007

Pokageek said:
Ok, so my brakes locked up yesterday and I could not control the car as I had ZERO time to quote "PUMP" them and smashed into them. I must say that this car has the WORST braking system I have ever encountered and the front of the car NOSE dives.

So anyway, won't an even STRONGER brake lock the wheels up even faster? Anyone understand how this works?

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?cmd=print&id=1437507

Ok, so don't flame me for WHERE i found the most incredible thread on braking. But it leads me to the questions..what makes the Cobra front brakes better? SO the rotors being larger are just PART of the equasion. The CALIPERS must be better in either technology or SIZE. For example, if you are gripping the rotor with the same width caliper then you are almost no better off than with the stock brakes...

BUT a larger rotor will dissipate more heat = fade less BUT will not stop you any faster unless the CALIPER covers more area...So are the cobra calipers larger? Aren't they um.. like 2 piston or something as upposed to stock 1 piston?

Cobra brake rotors have a larger diameter, so they dissapate heat better, but they also provide a longer moment arm. Think of it like trying to loosen a rusted nut. Its easier to do it with a longer handled breaker bar than with a regular ratchet. The same applies with brakes. The caliper is farther away and has a greater moment arm which allows it to produce more stopping torque.

1TallMF · Jan 31, 2007

I'm no expert on the subject, but my view on why bigger brakes are better while using the same ABS unit is as follows: When you are using the same master cylinder with the same ABS unitl, there will be essentially the same amount of hydraulic pressure applied to the brake system. By simple math, you know that by increasing the piston surface area you will increase the net clamping force that can be applied to the pads and rotors. Increasing the effective surface area of the pad has the same effect, so there is no sense in going to a caliper with more pistons and smaller pads area since thats kind of counter-productive. Now, by going to a larger rotor, this clampin force is being applied at a farther distance from the hub center, and is capable of producing more braking "torque", so to speak, than a smaller rotor using the same caliper/pad surface area. This increase in leverage obviously increases your stopping power.
Now, this is all common-sense stuff. But the area that I can understand you're having trouble with is if there is more clamping force/leverage with Cobra brakes, won't the wheels lock-up easier? Well, in theory, yes. But what is happening is that the the ABS unit will pulsate the hydraulic pressure at the same frequency as with the stock system, the difference being that the Cobra brakes will provide greater clamping force and brake leverage between each pulsation, resulting in a greater reduction in rotor speed between each pulsation, without locking-up the wheel. Now you might also ask, won't the larger brakes tend to fade more because the instantaneous velocity of the area of the rotor contacting the pad is greater than on a stock smaller diameter rotor, and will therefore create more heat? Well this is true, but that all lies in the pad and rotor design, and their ability to dissipate heat and gases.
So the short answer from my point of view is, bigger is better when it comes to an ABS-equipped car

Pokageek · Jan 31, 2007

1TallMF said:
I'm no expert on the subject, but my view on why bigger brakes are better while using the same ABS unit is as follows: When you are using the same master cylinder with the same ABS unitl, there will be essentially the same amount of hydraulic pressure applied to the brake system. By simple math, you know that by increasing the piston surface area you will increase the net clamping force that can be applied to the pads and rotors. Increasing the effective surface area of the pad has the same effect, so there is no sense in going to a caliper with more pistons and smaller pads area since thats kind of counter-productive. Now, by going to a larger rotor, this clampin force is being applied at a farther distance from the hub center, and is capable of producing more braking "torque", so to speak, than a smaller rotor using the same caliper/pad surface area. This increase in leverage obviously increases your stopping power.
Now, this is all common-sense stuff. But the area that I can understand you're having trouble with is if there is more clamping force/leverage with Cobra brakes, won't the wheels lock-up easier? Well, in theory, yes. But what is happening is that the the ABS unit will pulsate the hydraulic pressure at the same frequency as with the stock system, the difference being that the Cobra brakes will provide greater clamping force and brake leverage between each pulsation, resulting in a greater reduction in rotor speed between each pulsation, without locking-up the wheel. Now you might also ask, won't the larger brakes tend to fade more because the instantaneous velocity of the area of the rotor contacting the pad is greater than on a stock smaller diameter rotor, and will therefore create more heat? Well this is true, but that all lies in the pad and rotor design, and their ability to dissipate heat and gases.
So the short answer from my point of view is, bigger is better when it comes to an ABS-equipped car

Pretty good explanation 1Tall. I think the other part to the equasion is TIRES. Mine have tread but slide = not good no matter how good the brakes are.

1TallMF · Jan 31, 2007

This is very true. Good tires will make a difference as to under what braking force the tires will begin to silde and lock-up.

On a side note, with really really good brakes and tires comes the next issue which is nose dive. Especially with lowered cars where bumpsteer is always an issue, hard braking causes both tie rod ends to max-out and pull on the car from both sides simultaneously, thus steering the car unpredictably. But thats a whole other subject for a whole other thread.

Car Nut · Jan 31, 2007

+1 for tires being a problem, too. Road surface is another factor to consider.

I had a situation a few years ago in my stang where I had to slam on the brakes. I couldn't believe how bad the stopping power was. With the new tires, I could stop the car a whole lot better.

A couple weeks ago, someone pulled in front of me from a side street. I wasn't sure that I could stop in the distance I had, but after putting the brake pedal down hard and keeping it there, the ABS kicked in half way through (pedal felt weird and ABS sounded weird) and I stopped 3-4 feet short of the Suburban (could have been a nice hood ornament ). I made this stop from 45mph in a perfect straight line and could have maneuvered, if necessary.

If brake dive is a major issue, bring it up in another thread. Brake dive is all about suspension. You can't stop it on a street car, but you can reduce it anywhere from a little to a whole bunch. My suspension helps my braking a lot.

If you've got stock 94/95 GT brakes and worn tires, then you're stopping distance won't be great and you'll feel pretty much unsafe at anything above 30mph (if you have to come to a complete stop). Stopping quickly is one thing, but stopping while in control is the way to go. Shame on Ford for the stock brakes, but at least there are plenty of upgrade options.

gcomfx.com · Jan 31, 2007

Just be sure to dot your i's and cross your t's if you order from BuyFordRacing.com

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=680239

extremetrek · Feb 1, 2007

I got the Mach 1 kit from Buyfordracing today, seems it came with Calipers (pads inside), Rotors and brake lines but no hardware included. What else do I need to buy to make this work? Bolts, mounting brackets? Thanks for the help.

EDIT: DISREGARD, I found the bolts and washers in question inside of the brake line packaging....

215what · Feb 1, 2007

My cobra brakes SUCK. The gt stops better.

MattZ281LE · Feb 1, 2007

bimmertech said:
the kit i bought came with goodridge braided hoses and the calipers were filled with pads.

fwiw the hoses they gave me did not fit on my car. i ended up reusing my cobra hoses with no problems.

you will not be disappointed--i garauntee it.

The hoses are left and right. The fitting to the hardline is of diff size. The goodridge are nice pieces. I piced up a set of brand new red anniversary calipers, pads, rotors and Goodridge lines for 285.00 shipped.

go-stang5.0 · Feb 1, 2007

I dont see why you guyz are having such problems with the stock brakes. On my 95 vert. I was able to make the abs kick on on dry pavement at will, on a 275/40/17 BFG G-force front tire mind you. How often do you all change your brake fluid and what kinda pads do you run? THe factory stuff was not bad at all on the street. I would think most you guyz would be fine with fresh high quality brake fluid (not the cheap stuff and nothing out of a plastic can)changed anually or semi-anually (if your anal like me) and some PFC, or HAWk high performance street pads. You would be amazed at what a good set of brakepads can do. But what the hey, those cobra brake kits are cheap enough. A proprer stock gt setup should stop just as well as the cobra setup as they should both be able to lock up your front wheels. However the cobra stuff will be much more fade resistant. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I can see that you guyz may want the cobra stuff because it may look cooler or something like that, but I dont see why you all are have such problems with the stock stuff.

urban96 · Feb 2, 2007

+1 on the fluid

my stock brakes looked like poop. all rusty and not too healthy looking, even after i cleaned them all up and painted them they still looked... meh.

when it was time to replace pads/rotors it wasnt much more to just go with the cobra kit so thats why i did it. i also changed out all the brake fluid and pedal feels so much better now, like a whole different car.

Cobra brake kit

MustangGT95

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