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brake upgrade confusion |
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Twinn 
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Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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 Topic: brake upgrade confusionPosted: 16 March 2012 at 2:24pm |
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I am hoping to hear from some of you that have done engine swaps or are running on 17 or 18 inch rims. Did you do a brake upgrade and is it needed? If so which upgrade did you do? I just read an article by theogre (from penncock's forum) on his Looking for some insight from the locals |
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Colby
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Joined: 30 March 2009 Location: Abbotsford/Sask Status: Offline Points: 665 |
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Posted: 16 March 2012 at 5:47pm |
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I'm sure some will disagree with me, but I've always thought that big
brake upgrades are kind of overkill. Unless you're doing it purely for
looks or you'll be driving in situations where the extra diameter of
bigger rotors is helpful to manage the heat (racing on a track, driving
down really big hills all the time, etc.).
Basically, if you can lock your wheels with a reasonable amount of effort with your current brakes, then they're already capable of overworking your tires and all you'll accomplish by putting on bigger brakes is overworking your tires more easily. If you truly want to stop faster, you first need better tires. Of course if you can't lock your wheels with your brakes then you're missing out on some stopping ability and you'll need to do something with your brakes. And if you have replace everything anyway, an upgrade would be pretty tempting. I've never driving a Fiero with an engine swap, but it can't be much worse for your braking than permanently having a heavy passenger in the car. But you really just have to test yourself and see. Are you happy with your car's braking now? We can only guess what kind of state your brakes are in now. Just don't forget how important tires are. |
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88 Formula 5 speed
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Dawg
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Joined: 15 August 2009 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 988 |
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Posted: 16 March 2012 at 8:09pm |
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My vote is the Grand AM upgrade. Very easy to do and cheap.
IF your car is stock and you drive normally, Fiero brakes are fantastic. Add larger diameter tires with wider tread and drive fast, and I think an upgrade is needed. Dawg |
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You dream it up....I'll make it
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Twinn
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Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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Posted: 19 March 2012 at 7:59am |
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The Grand AM brake upgrade is the exact one that theogre (from penncock's forum) on his talk about on his "fiero cave" website. Has anyone else read this article? He mentions that the Grand AM brake upgrade is actually dangerous and has some data to try and bad it up. Anyone else with thoughts or has anyone here done a brake upgrade? |
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Capt Fiero
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Founding Member Joined: 12 February 2007 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 4039 |
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Posted: 19 March 2012 at 11:05am |
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I have driven Fiero's with everything from 13" wheel and tire combo's to 20" wheel and tire combo's. More importantly is 22" OD to 27" tire combinations. The basic rule is that if you have stock wheels and tires and drive at normal city speeds you won't need anything more than stock brakes. However the larger the wheel the more brakes you need to compensate. There is a reason GM upgraded the brakes on the Fiero in 88 to basically Grand Am brakes. They felt that people were going to be driving it more as a sports car and less as a commuter car which meant better brakes would be needed. If you look at 88 Brakes and Grand Am brakes they are very similar. However when it comes to the rear brakes I would recommend the Cadillac / Le baron setup as you get to keep the E-Brake, if you don't care about the E-Brake then doing the Grand Am on the rear is a very cheap and easy way to increase braking power. I ran stock brakes on the front and Grand Am on the rear of my 85GT for years and frankly loved it. I had larger rear tires and hence wanted better braking for the rear. The Grand Am calipers have a larger bore and hence offer increased output with the same pedal effort. |
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Capt Fiero
88 Fiero GT 5spd V6 Eight Fifty Seven GT V8 5spd. |
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Colby
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Joined: 30 March 2009 Location: Abbotsford/Sask Status: Offline Points: 665 |
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Posted: 19 March 2012 at 11:20am |
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I've read that article and I mostly agree with everything The Ogre has written. I think his main point is that since the brakes on a car are arguably the most important component of the car, modifying them them without completely understanding them can often do more harm than good.
I don't pretend to completely understand the Fiero's brake system so I've always chosen to keep them basically stock. I haven't been disappointed with their performance yet, except for when I was driving on really cheap tires (I had an '86 Fiero before getting my '88). |
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88 Formula 5 speed
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Twinn
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Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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Posted: 19 March 2012 at 4:42pm |
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Thanks for the feedback I think with bigger rims 17 to 18 inch the fiero needs bigger brakes. the ogre articles about the grand am upgrades just has me all confused. |
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Dawg
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Joined: 15 August 2009 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 988 |
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Posted: 19 March 2012 at 8:45pm |
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If you're worried about it, go get yourself an aftermarket
proportioning valve. Then you can tune it all to your liking. What is his main problem with the Grand AM upgrade? Dawg |
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You dream it up....I'll make it
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Colby
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Joined: 30 March 2009 Location: Abbotsford/Sask Status: Offline Points: 665 |
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Posted: 21 March 2012 at 9:29pm |
Well, here's a link to the article: http://home.comcast.net/~fierocave/brakeu.htm He makes a bunch of points, but rather than me summarizing what he says, just look though headings and you'll find what you're looking for. |
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88 Formula 5 speed
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Dawg wrote: