Blue98Gs3

iTrader: (1)

Was just watching a Horsepower TV show I recorded with my Tivo, they dropped the 60-0 time in braking from 170 ft to 106 ft just by adding a 2 piston front, 1 piston rear brake upgrade to a 97 Camero SS.... That's some sad stock brakes for ya when it only takes a 2 piston front, 1 piston rear and bigger rotors to drop the length 70 ft.....

You would think chevy would put a little more effort into safety with braking performace, especially in their high end SS sports coupe....but, that's what you get with a Chevy i guess.

jet864

I've noticed some Chevy brake problems. My dads 01 vette got warped rotors pretty quick (however, coulda been his fault). Now he has Z06 upgrade so its cool. Also, in the 80's on Grand Nationals, very high performance cars, they had drums on the rears and those breaks are absolutely horrible. I guess normally in the case of the SS, there's usually a lot of room to stop at the end of the quarter mile.

James

Leets

I had a 98 Camaro SS, and that thing had the best brakes I've ever tried on a car. Some people I knew ended up with warped rotors on theirs but it turned out that was due to the wheels not being installed properly.

Blue98Gs3

iTrader: (1)

Well, It still had pretty ****ty brakes for that car. Horspepower TV put on that baer brake 2 piston front, 1 piston rear and it dropped the distance 70 ft.

jdmaristo

yeah man ..my pontiac formula takes a while to slow down too also goes out of control easily

mmarshall

Yes, Corvette and Camaro owners do tend to drive their cars hard, and some people in tire shops who don't know what they are doing tend to overtighten lug nuts and cause rotor warpage, but even so, it is no secret that GM uses poor quality metal in the rotors, and has done so for some years now.

GM once had almost 60% of the new-vehicle market share. Today it has barely 20%. That did not happen for nothing or by sheer chance.

RON430

I assume those brakes were not in "as delivered" condition. May or may not make a difference. But then again, as a genuine old fart, I remember the brakes on the new 67 Camaro. Across the board, brakes are in a different league today. Only saving grace for the 67 brakes was that the tires wouldn't have let it stop any shorter anyway.

mmarshall

Since you mention the '67 brakes, though, I think it's only fair to point out that in 1967 front discs ( if my memory is right ) were a Camaro option and standard on 'Vettes. In fact, the Corvette was one of the first American cars to offer 4-wheel discs....something that is taken for granted on almost any high-performance car today. GM, though, was a FAR different company back then than it is today. In 1967 they built, along with some Chrysler products, clearly the best cars on the market for the dollar.

RON430

Option, schmoption. I couldn't get disks on a Camaro until I special ordered my 69 Z28 after having it beat into me that the only way to get a tunnel port Mustang was to be named either C. Shelby or B. Moore. And it came with the headers in the trunk. However, the E type I had at the same time had four wheel disk brakes and as opposed to the weenie setups on todays cars, the rears were inboard. Fair or not, panic stops at that time involved both hands on the steering wheel and both feet firmly on the brake pedal. Still had time to check out what was on the radio before the thing came to a halt.

mmarshall

The Jag inboard brakes of that era were done, not so much for stopping distances, but to lower unsprung weight in the wheels. By having them toward the inside of the car, the lever effect of having them with the wheels bouncing up and down with them was greatly reduced.....one reason for the XKE's legendary ride-handling combo. There may have been a slight additional cooling effect, too, from not having them with the wheel...and more exposed to the wind.
Like I said, that was a long time ago, and I don't remember exactly if you could get the discs on a 67 Camaro....you apparantly couldn't till 69. You definitely could on 'Vettes, though...even 4-wheel discs.
Yeah, tunnel-port Mustangs were not exactly a dime a dozen either.
Did you get the 302 c.i. / 290 HP Z28? That was a well-balanced car....rear-drive with a lot of power and a fairly light engine up front for good handling and stopping. White with the orange stripes?

RON430

Inboard brakes don't do anything for stopping distance, if anything they hurt stopping distance slightly. As you point out, the only reason to put them inboard is to reduce unsprung weight, and that they do very well. With wire wheels, there wasn't a lot of unsprung weight in an E type, at least compared to today. But do they ever make a brake job a thrill. The calipers were on top and slightly toward the front of the car so replacing pads was a major pain. As for surfacing or replacing rotors, well that is another story. Cooling was hindered by being inboard without ducting. But it didn't really make a difference. Compared to competitive vehicles braking capability at the time, the E type was in a different world.

You might have been able to get front discs on Camaros in the first generation, but whether you could find one or not on a lot, was a different story. Getting the four wheel disk setup on the Z was a special order. Autocrossing a drum brake Camaro was a thrill. Until SCCA changed the Trans Am rules allowing the engines to be destroked, the only way you could run was to have the factory make a five liter so the Z28 only came with the 302 until 70 similar to the 303 in the Firebird TA. After that, it didn't make as much difference. As for the 290hp, well that was a little joke for the insurance company. My first Z28 dynoed well over 300 at the real wheels on the way home from the dealership.

I think the white with hugger orange color scheme developed due to pacing the Indy 500. Also came with a so-so houndstooth interior fabric. I wanted black with white stripes but the dealer wouldn't order it. He was afraid if I backed out of the deal, he would be stuck with it, no one wanted black, Z28 or not. The darkest color I could get was Forest Green, with white stripes. Headers in the trunk. That was the first Z28, had five total in various different colors. The first 69 went TA racing and still sits in a garage, although I doubt I will ever race it again.

I really wanted a tunnel port mustang but you had to be somebody to have one built for you. Chevy would sell you whatever was in the book in a Z and turned me into a bow tie boy for a long time.

I also had a 69 L88 Corvette for a while and it did have four wheel discs but it didn't make much difference. You could overdrive the brakes backing out of the driveway. And with the 427, you couldn't get power steering which was great for building upper body strength. Sidepipes sounded great but when you have a gf burn her leg hitting them getting out of the car, well, spending an afternoon in an emergency room isn't a way to get lucky. As for 113 octane Sunoco 260 for 29.9 a gallon, well, that was a land far, far away.