Stillen Brakes upgrade

[faspony]

I am considering replacing my stock front rotors with Stillen OE rotors on my 06 Mustang GT. I will also replace the stock front brake lines with Stillen braided lines.

I know nothing about Stillen, but I have heard they have good reliable stuff. Have any of you guys had experience with the company or their brakes?

I guess no replies means no one has any knowledge of Stillen brakes, which is fine.

Here's another question, if you where going to upgrade your brakes, would you just replace the rotors with an upgraded OE rotor, like Stillen or some other brand, or would you go with 14" rotors?
Now if you go with the 14" rotors there are a couple of options, Bear offers a 14" rotor kit which allows reusing the stock calipers providing you have 18" wheels , or for a lot more money you can replace both the rotors and the calipers.

I am struggling with which way to go and your thoughts or personal experience might help.

Thanks

 

[Chris_B]

I am considering replacing my stock front rotors with Stillen OE rotors on my 06 Mustang GT. I will also replace the stock front brake lines with Stillen braided lines.

I know nothing about Stillen, but I have heard they have good reliable stuff. Have any of you guys had experience with the company or their brakes?

I guess no replies means no one has any knowledge of Stillen brakes, which is fine.

Here's another question, if you where going to upgrade your brakes, would you just replace the rotors with an upgraded OE rotor, like Stillen or some other brand, or would you go with 14" rotors?
Now if you go with the 14" rotors there are a couple of options, Bear offers a 14" rotor kit which allows reusing the stock calipers providing you have 18" wheels , or for a lot more money you can replace both the rotors and the calipers.

I am struggling with which way to go and your thoughts or personal experience might help.

Thanks

I have lots of personal experience with Stillen and AP Racing brakes, so don't take my response as completely non-biased. That said, they have been in the high-performance brake market for over 20 years. They actually started the market in North America by bringing in Brembo back in 1990 when nobody else had yet heard of them.

Their Sport Rotors are very good quality, using ramped out slots and radius-chamfered holes. Most people seem to like the cross-drilled and slotted version for better pad bite as well as for their looks. These put up with quite a bit of abuse, short of full track duty. They also bring in the DBA rotors for those wanting even better, thermally post-processed iron for a few more bucks.

Stillen brake lines are made by Goodridge, arguably the best braided line company in the world. They reduce line swelling by 99% compared to rubber OE lines.

They are also a technical engineering partner with AP Racing, working directly with the engineers in the UK in coming up with new street/track day solutions. They offer a 14" 2-piece rotor with a 4-piston caliper for the front, plus a Sport Rotor upgrade to match out back.

For the ultimate brake system on a S197 Mustang, the way to go is a 6-piston APR system up front using a 2-piece, 14.25" rotor and a rear 4-piston on a 2-piece 13". This setup isn't cheap, but it works better than anything else on the market. It's the only rear system I know of that deals with the floating rear axle in a way that eliminates pad knock back.

I've driven on all versions mentioned above. While each is better than stock in various amounts, the 6P front / 4P rear system transforms the car under braking. I could never go back to stock again!

Chris

 

[faspony]

I have lots of personal experience with Stillen and AP Racing brakes, so don't take my response as completely non-biased. That said, they have been in the high-performance brake market for over 20 years. They actually started the market in North America by bringing in Brembo back in 1990 when nobody else had yet heard of them.

Their Sport Rotors are very good quality, using ramped out slots and radius-chamfered holes. Most people seem to like the cross-drilled and slotted version for better pad bite as well as for their looks. These put up with quite a bit of abuse, short of full track duty. They also bring in the DBA rotors for those wanting even better, thermally post-processed iron for a few more bucks.

Stillen brake lines are made by Goodridge, arguably the best braided line company in the world. They reduce line swelling by 99% compared to rubber OE lines.

They are also a technical engineering partner with AP Racing, working directly with the engineers in the UK in coming up with new street/track day solutions. They offer a 14" 2-piece rotor with a 4-piston caliper for the front, plus a Sport Rotor upgrade to match out back.

For the ultimate brake system on a S197 Mustang, the way to go is a 6-piston APR system up front using a 2-piece, 14.25" rotor and a rear 4-piston on a 2-piece 13". This setup isn't cheap, but it works better than anything else on the market. It's the only rear system I know of that deals with the floating rear axle in a way that eliminates pad knock back.

I've driven on all versions mentioned above. While each is better than stock in various amounts, the 6P front / 4P rear system transforms the car under braking. I could never go back to stock again!

Chris

Chris, thanks for the info.

You have at least help me to have confidence in Stillen's products.
However, I'm still not sure the Sport rotors will provide any better braking power than the stock Mustang rotors. Is it all about the fact that they are drilled and slotted, is that what provides the braking power?

 

[Chris_B]

Chris, thanks for the info.

You have at least help me to have confidence in Stillen's products.
However, I'm still not sure the Sport rotors will provide any better braking power than the stock Mustang rotors. Is it all about the fact that they are drilled and slotted, is that what provides the braking power?

Simplifying things quite a bit, drilling and slotting provide more leading edges to engage the brake pad. These leading edges slightly "bite" the leading edge of the pad each time they go by, creating a bit more brake torque than plain face rotors. The biggest effect on performance is the initial bite, or what you feel when you first push on the brake pedal at higher speeds. I've done back to back tests on the street with drilled and drilled & slotted rotors, plus track testing with slotted rotors, and found almost every driver can feel the difference compared to plain faced rotors.

The down side is slightly higher pad wear. And, if all done wrong, it could mean faster rotor wear and even cracking in the worst cases. For quality drilled and/or slotted rotors, this is extremely rare for typical street use. Drilled rotors are not recommended for heavy track use.

Chris