BBK or Stick with Stock for Daily/occasional track?

[herbotis]

I'd like to get some feedback on folks who have / haven't upgraded to bbk or make stuck with the stock brakes for daily usage / canyon / occasional track days (2-3 times a year).

It's seems like the AP racing 9668 are the ones most popular so I'm considering those, but if the recommendation is to upgrade the stock pads, better fluid then maybe that's the route I'll take.

But tell me what you got and your experience. Im all ears!

[RugbyBro]

Stock are great for your usage - pads and fluid are all you need. I’ve got 10-15 events planned this year and will be upgrading the pistons and seals on the stock 4/2 setup. A proper BBK makes sense on a frequent track car that sees relatively limited street use. Keep in mind the APs you mention and similar like Alcon do not have dust boots because they aren’t intended for street use.

There are street focused BBKs from AP and Brembo but I don’t believe you’ll be able to run 18in wheels with any of them due to clearance issues. That and additional weight are the primary trade offs - these may not matter to you tho.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by herbotis

I'd like to get some feedback on folks who have / haven't upgraded to bbk or make stuck with the stock brakes for daily usage / canyon / occasional track days (2-3 times a year).

It's seems like the AP racing 9668 are the ones most popular so I'm considering those, but if the recommendation is to upgrade the stock pads, better fluid then maybe that's the route I'll take.

But tell me what you got and your experience. Im all ears!

On my last car, I had a more aggressive brake pad installed than factory and it made a huge difference. I then installed a Wilwood BBK front and rear and to be honest there wasn't much difference except for the bling factor lol. Even going up from a stock 2 piston to a 6 piston front brake caliper...wasn't much difference if any for that fact. Tires made the biggest difference, going up from AS3+ to MPS4S was a huge jump in traction.

Brake fade wasn't something I noticed as I probably didn't track the car and just did a lot of canyon runs... like A LOT lol.

As time went on...I had a fear about the lack of a dust boot in the caliper causing some sort of wear and tear issue since I daily drove the car.

Even when I first got the brake kit, I had issues with vibrations. It was a huge pain to get replacement parts. First we tried to replace the rings and then it made a slight difference and then we had to try to replace the top hats since the rotors are 2 piece, after about two months -- it made the vibration go away by replacing the rings and the top hats. Since Wilwood was the warranter, everything had to go to the warranty process and ended with a lot of testing and sending back parts. Very huge waste of time.

Getting replacement individual parts was a drag. It didn't help that this was one one and only car so I had to live with the brake vibration. This also opened my eyes about how difficult it was getting replacement parts for a BBK. So I knew from that experience, if I wanted a BBK on a car, it has to be from factory so if I had issues with like the disc or a caliper, my sole choice wasn't going through one manufactuer.

So in the case of the BMW M4, I would have options like the dealerships, online BMW Parts resellers, and non-OEM suppliers like FCP Euro. In the case of Wilwood, I had to go direct since I can't just go to autozone or the dealership and buy a brake disk or a top hat for a Wilwood BBK.

And that's the end of my story time.

[uncle ben]

Start with upgraded brake pads and fluid. Then if you want to go to the next step, get some Girodisc rotors, and finally consider swapping your caliper pistons to stainless from aluminum.

[TractionControlDelete]

The best thing I’ve ever done for myself, with respect to brakes, is buy a set of OEM discs from FCP. With the lifetime replacements I’m absolutely merciless on them. Combine those with the pads/brake fluid of your choice and you’ll be happy for your use-case.

If you do start going to the track more frequently then I’ve heard that channeling more air (ducts from bumper) for brake cooling is a worthwhile upgrade.

[swagon]

I daily a car with girodisc rotors and ferodo ds1.11s. track a few times a year. great upgrade from stock once your oem rotors are toast

[uncle ben]

Originally Posted by swagon

I daily a car with girodisc rotors and ferodo ds1.11s. track a few times a year. great upgrade from stock once your oem rotors are toast

Running the exact same thing. Think I ran 7 or 8 track days. Worked flawlessly.

[jfritz27]

I've got a pair of the 034 Motorsport rotors for the front for this season to try for first time. Clearly meant to be a Girodisc competitor, same curved vane design. I weighed them, they're within 1 lb of the reported weight I was able to find online for the Giros. Can re-use the hat and just replace disc like Giros.
The best part: FCP has them.

As has been noted elsewhere, something like these rotors + caliper rebuild with high-temp boots/seals, high-temp fluid, +/- some simple ducting for fronts (if you really need it) should be able to take you pretty far

[heyyouduh]

Originally Posted by jfritz27

I've got a pair of the 034 Motorsport rotors for the front for this season to try for first time. Clearly meant to be a Girodisc competitor, same curved vane design. I weighed them, they're within 1 lb of the reported weight I was able to find online for the Giros. Can re-use the hat and just replace disc like Giros.
The best part: FCP has them.

As has been noted elsewhere, something like these rotors + caliper rebuild with high-temp boots/seals, high-temp fluid, +/- some simple ducting for fronts (if you really need it) should be able to take you pretty far

oooooh please report back. My friend bought them for a TTRS and has yet to do a track day with them, 034 seems well regarded in the Audi/TT community. If they're on FCP that's great news !

[jfritz27]

Originally Posted by heyyouduh

oooooh please report back. My friend bought them for a TTRS and has yet to do a track day with them, 034 seems well regarded in the Audi/TT community. If they're on FCP that's great news !

Yes definitely... hopefully they don't explode