Big Brake Kit Question

I have been toying with the Idea of going with a Big Brake Kit recently, and I like the look and the feedback i have received about the Brembo Mono-blocks. My question though is with regards to the ABS system already installed on my Supra, would I still be running ABS with this larger set-up, or would the ABS be disabled?

You can run ABS with BBK's

You can run ABS with BBK's

Cheers Rich, can i then ask, do you reckon i will get a better feel of the brakes by not running ABS. I am looking to get one of the Sup's into track shape so that I can get back into some form of track attendance

Sunny I was out in Biebers car a couple of weeks ago & he demonstrated his Brembo brakes & I can confirm they are extremely good! Much more of a harder bite than the UK's and you can easily lock the wheels if you didn't have ABS running. Would be a fantastic brake upgrade option!

Sunny I was out in Biebers car a couple of weeks ago & he demonstrated his Brembo brakes & I can confirm they are extremely good! Much more of a harder bite than the UK's and you can easily lock the wheels if you didn't have ABS running. Would be a fantastic brake upgrade option!

Thats great to know Abz, I have now hit my deposit amount and have said goodbye to that chunk of change, but now I am once again in a position to start looking at a shopping list of sorts.

When you say "you can easily lock up the brakes" are you suggesting that I should keep the ABS working?

When you say "you can easily lock up the brakes" are you suggesting that I should keep the ABS working?

I used big brakes on the track and even with sticky tyres the ABS would kick in and allow the car to stay in a straight line, the ABS cannot detract from the brakes power so I dont see any benefit in disabling it.

When you say "you can easily lock up the brakes" are you suggesting that I should keep the ABS working?

I certainly would, at least until you get a feel for the new brakes and the pressure required to pull up quickly.

Depending on disks & friction material in the pads it can be very easy to lock unassisted brakes, even the UK four pots, without a lot of effort.

I finally killed off a set of track tyres on a dry day at Mondello partly because I was trying to acclimatise to new race pads and kept locking the fronts

It was certainly going to be the tyre's last outing anyway, 4 year old R888s, cooked and bald as eggs, the grip was all but gone out of them.

I used big brakes on the track and even with sticky tyres the ABS would kick in and allow the car to stay in a straight line, the ABS cannot detract from the brakes power so I dont see any benefit in disabling it.

Gravel traps aren't as effective if the car in a hurry towards the tyre wall has ABS.

That's the main reason mine is disabled.

Gravel traps aren't as effective if the car in a hurry towards the tyre wall has ABS.

 

That's the main reason mine is disabled.

Good point, I dont think I ever drove it anywhere near its limits to be honest

Okay well this is helping me decide which supra I will be using as a track toy.

Thanks chaps

ABS would still be running Sunny as its part of the hub I believe, would be good to keep it if you can, as for its age I think its a surprisingly good system, much better than stock TC and the brembo's are awesome I've been a passenger in biebs car many times and I can never get over the stopping power of the 4 pot monoblocks, and he tells me he never really has to use any more than 1/3 of full brake pressure, I believe what Abz was talking about with the bite of the brakes is more down to the stock brembo/chris wilson fast road pads, compared to the stock UK pads, which are a bit poo in my opinion, as I reckon with right pads UK's might be quite close to the monoblocks.

ABS would still be running Sunny as its part of the hub I believe, would be good to keep it if you can, as for its age I think its a surprisingly good system, much better than stock TC and the brembo's are awesome I've been a passenger in biebs car many times and I can never get over the stopping power of the 4 pot monoblocks, and he tells me he never really has to use any more than 1/3 of full brake pressure, I believe what Abz was talking about with the bite of the brakes is more down to the stock brembo/chris wilson fast road pads, compared to the stock UK pads, which are a bit poo in my opinion, as I reckon with right pads UK's might be quite close to the monoblocks.

Thanks for the info mate .

I am running a set of UK Spec brakes with OEM Disc's and CW fast road pads, which were fully refurbished by the an him self, so I can agree that the UK's do there job well. I just wonder how well the UK's would fair on the track, as the difference between road and track usage is obviously massive.

I am running a set of UK Spec brakes with OEM Disc's and CW fast road pads, which were fully refurbished by the an him self, so I can agree that the UK's do there job well. I just wonder how well the UK's would fair on the track, as the difference between road and track usage is obviously massive.

The nums run UK spec brakes on their weapons mate speak to either and I'm sure they will tell you of any shortcomings.

And not that it is as good an endorsement but I also run UKs on my own car and found them very capable and Mondello is a real stop/start kind of track.

The nums run UK spec brakes on their weapons mate speak to either and I'm sure they will tell you of any shortcomings.

 

And not that it is as good an endorsement but I also run UKs on my own car and found them very capable and Mondello is a real stop/start kind of track.

Now this is a very interesting reply, thanks buddy. I always wondered what brakes Bignum used on his Supra, I had no idea he was using UK spec's, he definitely does not hold back from his video's, and I'd be telling fibs if I said I would be pushing the sup as hard as he does

Never had a problem with UK brakes on track once i'd binned the rather old brake fluid

and replaced with RBF600 or 660

Stock UK brakes with AP floating and performance friction pads work quite well

Cheers Rich, can i then ask, do you reckon i will get a better feel of the brakes by not running ABS. I am looking to get one of the Sup's into track shape so that I can get back into some form of track attendance

You will get better feel/feedback over the UK brakes (which I found to be very numb) just by installing a BBK.

I don't run any ABS...I don't even have a brake servo, which means I get very good feel/feedback from the brakes, although my right leg does get a big workout when on track

I wouldn't disable your ABS unless you feel its actually hampering your ability to go quick, from memory the ABS on the Supra is fairly sensitive. That said a lot of racing cars run ABS systems which are designed for racing but those cost ££,£££'s

Don't forget that your tyres also play a large part if not the biggest part in your ability to scrub off speed, the more grip you have the more energy your brakes can absorb, which by then installing a BBK with racing pads will be used more efficiently and effectively.

I find the front and rear kit I have on my track car (KSport) is pretty dam good for the price I paid for them, that said when they need overhauling (and they will probably soon) I will be going to a full AP racing BBK setup as they have more available parts.

If you are planning to run a BBK on the front and keep the rears stock then your brake bias may change. It may be worth looking into that. No good if your front brakes and tyres are doing all the work and your rears are doing nothing and even worse if your rears end up doing more than the fronts (Spinny spinny).

My fast road pads will survive mild track day usage, but they are not a race pad. I can make even the Jap spec brakes survive hard track usage with the right pads and fluid, but pad cost, and disc and pad wear would make bigger brakes cheaper in the long term. I used to be able to come into the paddock at Oulton, leisurely remove my helmet, get out, stretch, then light a fag off the front discs on my J-Spec braked auto Supra. It got through a few sets of pads and discs in its time though I wonder if it's still around. One careful owner..... then me

UK discs and pads will survive track days with my race pads, and decent fluid which I also sell. I am amazed how many people will upgrade brakes long before their needs dictae it should be necessary. If they won't light your fag either you ain't trying or they are still OK for your requirements, that's my motto!

Checking your brake fluid is a must, when i bought my car it hadn't been changed since

the car was built and it was virtually black.

The difference is like night and day if you have old brake fluid as it will be full of moisture.

The only problem I hear with upgrading to a bigger braking system, is if it will clear the wheels.

What is worth noting too on the big brake kits is the cost of replacement rotors, where you can get a set of UK front discs for £140, a front set of 355mm brembo rotors is around £750 delivered! For what its worth my brembo kit is absolutely my favourite modification to my car, coupled with the Chris Wilson fast road pads they are fantastic! I have never had UK brakes to compare them to, nor taken my car on a track so I can't really advise if it is worth the extra money over your current set up, but on the road I've been very happy with them.

Big Brake kits are complete overkill for Road and Fast Road use - a UK setup is more than adequate as proven by the num brothers even for track driving.

However if one can afford it then why not - however go for decent brands like Brembos, Alcon, etc.

Personally I wouldnt waste money on cheap rubbish - definitely not on brakes.

I have been running the Brembo Monoblock front kit (with 4 pot rears) for 5 years now and cannot fault them.

I have driven 30k miles including a couple of track days and the pads and front rotors are only now in need of replacement. The rear discs are still fine.

They are very progressive so it is extremely unlikely you will lock them unless your tyres are crap.

Even so, it is wise to keep the ABS in case you try to stop on a slippery/gravelly road where even weak brakes would lock up.

I had UK spec brakes on the car before and can comment that the Brembos are a massive improvement on the stock Toyota discs and pads.

Thank you all for the excellent responses, this thread has really cleared up a lot of the questions that I needed answering

I have been very impressed with the UK brakes I had installed (standard disc's/CW Pads/Goodrich line/RBF600) on my BPU TT. After reading the posts above I will give the UK's a shot on the track before deciding on whether to go with a BBK or not.

Thanks again chaps, really good quality posting

on another note ..

would there be any sense in upgrade the front brake discs and pads and use the stock TT caliper ? and what discs can people recommend ?

Tobias