Hi guys,

I was reading an article in Street Tuner mag about a Willwood Big Brake kit for the G35 Sedan. The article featured a brake shop in the Valley that is somewhat local to me. They are selling the Willwood brakes for a really great price.

Can anyone here comment on the quality of Willwood brake kits? I am seriously considering buying the 13" slotted rotor brake kits for my ride.


2004 G35 Sport 6MT Black on Black Sedan
Stillen CAI, Stillen Cat Back, Stillen Swaybars, plenum spacer.
Castaic California

 

heheh i had it on mine. Mine isnt' from the valley. I got mine from a person in texas. It worked out well at first but then i had problems with it. Why not go Stoptechs or something?

Ed

2003 Transport V35SKYLINE. Team Transport! www.teamtransport.org

 

Wilwoods are a good "bang for the buck" brake kit, but they aren't up to the quality of companies like Baer or Brembo. For the price, they're hard to beat though. As an alternative, you might consider just upgrading your pads, brake fluid and go with stainless steel braided brake lines. It's an inexpensive option if you're looking for a moderate performance increase.

Sherwin's the guy in the article that owns The Brake Zone. I bought a set of Wilwoods from him for my last car. He's super nice and even gave me his cell phone number in case I had any problems with the install (which there were many!). Give him a call and he'll hook you up with whatever your budget will allow.

 

Hi Lin,

I looked at the Stoptechs, Willwood and a few others and found the Willwood's are being sold at relatively good prices:
13" Fronts @ $1400
13" F&R @ $2700
14" F&R @ $3500

For me, the minimum requirement is 13" Fronts with upgraded slot rotors and Hawk pads in the rear. And this is probably what I would go with.

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

It worked out well at first but then i had problems with it.

<hr></blockquote>
What kind of problems?...

I also condsidered just upgrading to Hawk pads all around, but this probably won't cut it. From my experience at Buttonwillow the OEM brakes are TOTALLY unsuitable for tracking. You could even say they are boarderline unsafe for track events. I'm sure a moderate upgrade (with only better pads) will leave me wanting for more.

I noticed Clint used with his Hawk pads for only one track event before upgrading to a Stoptech kit. I also spoke with another Gman at the track who upgraded all his pads to Hawks and he wasn't exactly satisfied either.

I plan on using the brakes very hard at my next track visit.



2004 G35 Sport 6MT Black on Black Sedan
Stillen CAI, Stillen Cat Back, Stillen Swaybars, plenum spacer.
Castaic California

 

The Wilwoods brakes are good. For club racing ... you will hardly tell the difference between a well designed BBK based on Wilwoods calipers vs. Brembo or even Stoptech. I liked the Stoptechs because they took the extra step further with proper f/r biasing from control tests.

IMHO ... I don't believe anyone will be disapointed with the Wilwoods. The Wilwood kits Sherwin at Brake Zone produces are very good. I've driven them several iterations of those at the track ... no complains from me.


BTW ... I actually went through several track events w. the Hawk HP+/HPS setup before finally going to Stoptechs.


Clint (THX723)

 

Oh btw ... I've driven G35Lin's old Wilwood setup on two seperate occassions (half an year apart). If this 'issue' is what I think it is, which I experienced it the 2nd time I drove his car ... I say it's 'User Error' :P

I don't think Ed ever properly bedded his pads in. HAHA
The problem should go away after a good round of bedding procedure.

Clint (THX723)