Stoptech Brake Upgrade kit
 

Hey guys! So my first week owning my new BRZ, I got in an accident with a driver who turned in front of me as I was going through an intersection with a green light. It was completely her fault, so there wasn't much I can do. However, I can't help but feel that if I had better brakes, I would've been able to stop in time. I found stoptechs upgrade kit on ft86speedfactory and have been considering it. I use my car as a DD, and have no plans to ever track it, but I do plan to do some spirited driving. Will this suit my needs? I know nothing about brakes honestly and can't afford a big brake kit and I feel that will be overkill for my needs anyway.

Here is the link for reference. http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/stop...l#.Vt83cPkrKUk

better tires will help more in braking

Before doing that why not just upgrade your pads and rotors. That is much cheaper and get quite a bit extra stopping power out of it. I like my frozen Stoptec slotted rotors and hawk hp+ pads. But no matter how much stopping power you have you can only stop as fast as the tires you have on the car. That and not all accidents are avoidable. Hence why they are called accidents.

Also, maybe try slowing down a bit... or maybe you just need some more seat time, sounds like you are younger

Any recommendations for good DD and weekend fun tires? I live in Texas so there is never snow, or harsh conditions. Hardly ever rains here either. I just want tires that grip well and low road noise

Yessir, I am 19. However this ONE time I wasn't speeding at all lol

I have Continental DW. Have worked great both on my wrx and now my brz. They have a pretty stiff sidewall so ride comfort does suffer a bit but it takes quite a bit to push these tires over the edge.

The main goal of big brake kits is to increase thermal capacity and efficiency, meaning make them last longer before they overheat.

The kit you mentioned is more of an OEM replacement (and a decent one at that). Really a minimal change in performance, slight improvement in feel.

As others have mentioned...to really improve stopping distances you need to switch to a stickier tire.

- Andrew

Would this kit and stickier tires make much of a difference over OEM brakes and just upgrading tires?

bf goodrich sport comp 2 work well here in sa weather ive had a lot of diffrent tires and these for the price cant be beat, if your running 17 inch rims espino on san pedro can hook you up for around 600 installed. and they usually have the tires within a day. also be mindful of stupid people driving, especially around the 151 area.haha

151, 1604, and 410 haha, so much construction around the city is getting drivers heated :paddle:

Not much if any. The pads are slightly better than stock but shouldn't have much of a difference in stopping distance.

- Andrew

+1 on getting upgraded tires. Even the stock brakes will overwhelm the stock tires, I had it happen to me a few times.

do you remember if you locked up your brakes? if you can lock up your brakes, then your current brakes are fine. you just need stickier summer tires. go on tirerack and see what your options are under extreme summer performance. no matter how good your brakes or tires are though, they will not prevent every single accident on the road. most of it is to do with your driving style and always be paying attention. if you saw the other car inching forward, you should have already been off the gas and floating your foot over the brakes or checking your mirrors to make sure you have room to change lanes.

considering you are on the fence about a BBK, just get slightly more track-oriented brake pads and a fluid swap for now. maybe SS brake lines if you want, but it's not really required. see how you like that set up with stickier tires before spending 1k+ for a BBK. I am running Winmax W5 pads, SS lines, and Torque RT700 fluid on stock rotors and the braking is extremely good. at the end of the straight running CCW on SoW, braking for that tight 180 turn almost rips off my face lol

good thing you are safe though.

EDIT: looked at your link and you will probably get better performance for your buck if you piece your parts together yourself. you don't really need new rotors unless yours are almost gone

You are essentially maximizing the tire grip, which should be your limitation as to how quick you can slow down. The brake pads are just one feature for added bite, modulation, and heat capacity to ensure your braking is consistent. Everything is a balance and brake pad capacity should always be more than you need rather than "just right", because most people will always improve their skill enough to utilize the additional capacity. :thumbup:

As previous mentioned, better tires and better pads would help.

Rather than looking at just random brake kits, we can help you with your brake setup. :thumbup:

ryoma was right on
If the ABS came into play the braking system did as much as any caliper or pad could do.
As said, the only variable would be the coefficient of friction between the tires and the road.
The road is a given so that leaves the tires as the only thing that could have made a difference.

Although lets be realistic here. If you're going 30MPH+ and cant/dont anticipate someone coming into your lane suddenly with no warning, no braking system can be relied on to save you from that. Situations like that are why insurance is required in most places.

Please read my FT86 Brake Upgrade Guide. As others have mentioned, grippier tires would have stopped your car shorter than a big brake kit. Don't throw thousands of dollars at the car before knowing why you're spending it! A big brake kit won't be of any benefit for daily driving, other than looking cool.

Also, don't beat yourself up about your accident. It happens to even the best drivers. After 25 years of driving, the best advice I can give is to do two things:

1. Get out to a local autoX and learn how to control the car properly at low speeds. After a year of autoXing, get out to a local HPDE (track event) and learn to control the car at higher speeds. Knowing how to handle the car under all conditions at speed will make things on the street feel like slow motion. You'll think you're in The Matrix...crap, you were 2 or 3 years old when that movie came out (anyway, look it up it's a great movie). :p
2. Resist the urge to do anything other than focusing on driving while you're behind the wheel...no texting, talking on phone, eating, daydreaming, reaching into the back seat, screwing with the radio, etc. Your eyes should be continually scanning around you, and your hands should be on the wheel. Distractions cause accidents, period.

Focus and improved driving skill will take you a long way towards staying out of trouble on the road. Even then you won't be able to avoid all accidents, because you can't control what all of the other knuckleheads are doing on the road. It's a great foundation though!