AP Racing brake systems in development

[JRitt]

Endurance System is on the car, and pics are up on our blog! We are going to tinker with the duct inlet on the bracket a bit, but everything is looking good.

Sprint System will likely go on the car Wednesday.

Everything is moving along nicely.

[der_rainman]

Wow, that is a really nice integration of the bracket and ducting placement. I guess the big question for the consumer is, is it strong enough in such a critical location? A big hole right there kind of scares me!

Great work, looking forward to see how the ducting actually attaches to the bracket and to the front of the car. Are you planning on making special ABS replacement "inlets" to replace the stock fog light/vent piece as part of a kit?

I noticed a pic on the blog with the fog/vent bezel removed. Do you have pic from the front? I was curious to see if there is actually a straight shot into the fender area or is the vent "fake"?

I see that the "Sprint" kit does not use the vented bracket. I think I understand that Essex has created the two kits with separate goals in mind but I was wondering if it would be possible to get a Sprint ducted version? Basically maintain the light weight setup of the Sprint kit but extend its capabilities with the use of ducting. Or does that just add complication to the product line with "too much" overlap in capabilities?

[JRitt]

Wow, that is a really nice integration of the bracket and ducting placement. I guess the big question for the consumer is, is it strong enough in such a critical location? A big hole right there kind of scares me!

Thanks! Yes, the bracket is absolutely strong enough. Our engineers use FEA analysis when designing parts. They can evaluate the loads and stresses on the parts, and identify any weaknesses. You can see a demo on the SolidWorks website. It's a bit simplified, but it shows the basic idea.

Great work, looking forward to see how the ducting actually attaches to the bracket and to the front of the car. Are you planning on making special ABS replacement "inlets" to replace the stock fog light/vent piece as part of a kit?

I noticed a pic on the blog with the fog/vent bezel removed. Do you have pic from the front? I was curious to see if there is actually a straight shot into the fender area or is the vent "fake"

We are looking at producing complete brake duct kits. They may not be ready at the launch of the Competition Brake Systems. The timeline just isn't completely clear yet, but we are evaluating some solutions.
The big problem on the driver side is the wiper washer reservoir. It is right behind the fender liner, and doesn't leave much room to work. Below is a shot from the front with the fender liner removed. The 'vent' is just some ribbed plastic, and not actually a vent. The whole piece is very easy to remove, and the light just clips in with a simple connector.

I see that the "Sprint" kit does not use the vented bracket. I think I understand that Essex has created the two kits with separate goals in mind but I was wondering if it would be possible to get a Sprint ducted version? Basically maintain the light weight setup of the Sprint kit but extend its capabilities with the use of ducting. Or does that just add complication to the product line with "too much" overlap in capabilities?

Initially, the Sprint Kit will not have an integrated air duct provision on the bracket. That feature adds considerable complexity and cost to the part. One of our goals with that system is to make it as accessible as possible, keeping the price point near our low $2k target range. If down the road we are seeing large demand for a bracket with an air duct provision on the Sprint system, it would be simple to design and produce them as an optional upgrade part for those who wanted it.

We're not terribly concerned about product overlap. That way of thinking stems more from trying to upsell the customer, or getting them to buy something they don't really need. That's not what we're about. We are very open-minded, and we're trying to produce what our customers actually want and need. That's why we are creating such a broad array of brake products for these cars in the first place.

Thanks for the input.

[JRitt]

Got some wheels to test your paper matrix

What wheels? Shoot me an email and I'll send you the templates if you'd like. Thanks.

[MSTiFK8R]

Originally Posted by JRitt

What wheels? Shoot me an email and I'll send you the templates if you'd like. Thanks.

these wheels
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...8&postcount=24

I got your PDF matrix, but I recall you warning the dimensions may change as you hadnt confirmed the final bracket sizes ?

[JRitt]

these wheels
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...8&postcount=24

I got your PDF matrix, but I recall you warning the dimensions may change as you hadnt confirmed the final bracket sizes ?

Nice! Those are some light, sweet wheels!

As of this morning, we've now put both the Sprint and Endurance systems on our car. We've confirmed that the offsets on our initial designs are all correct and do not need adjustments. The calipers and pads are oriented properly on the discs, etc. Therefore the fitment templates we initially created will not be changing.

When you download the templates, I'd recommend you cut them out and glue them to a piece of cardboard or a manila file folder. That will make them more rigid and easier/more accurate to stick inside the wheel and check fitment. Below is a pic of how the template should be placed inside the wheel. You should be looking to have roughly 2mm of clearance around the template. Also keep in mind that stick on wheel weights inside the barrel of your wheel could ding the caliper, so be mindful of that when checking fitment (that probably won't be an issue on these cars unless you're running 16's, but I figured I'd mention it anyway).

If you do check fitment on a set of wheels, I'd appreciate a picture and all of the details on the wheel you check (make, model, exact size, offset, etc.). I'm going to start a database of confirmed wheel fitments, to make it easier for our future customers. If there isn't a pic, it didn't happen. Thanks!

Click on the links below to download the pdf wheel fitment template:

Essex ENDURANCE Competition Brake System Wheel Fitment Template

Essex SPRINT Competition Brake System Wheel Fitment Template

[ultra]

Thanks for taking the time to put so much thought into this kit.

Suppose I'd better start saving. Since I got the version of the car with the smaller non ventilated rear rotors my brakes will likely be worse than average and pads will be even tougher to find so this seems like something good to aim for medium term.

Which reminds me - what pads will fit this kit? Guessing they'll not be OEM equivalent size.

[track_warrior]

These clear work kiwamis in 18 x8.5 +47 just checked!!

[JRitt]

Wheel fitment templates have been added to my post above.

Which reminds me - what pads will fit this kit? Guessing they'll not be OEM equivalent size.

See post number 38 in this thread for pad discussion. I'll try to snap some comparative pics of the OEM pads vs. the pads the AP calipers use.

These clear work kiwamis in 18 x8.5 +47 just checked!!

Great...thank you!

[der_rainman]

Jeff - thanks so much for the info. I've really come to love your blogs. You can never have too much info I say!

I agree, makes perfect sense to set the sprint kit up as a great "entry level" high performance kit that allows some expandability in the future, i.e. ducted brackets as an option, full floating rotors as an option, etc. I like not be "locked into" a choice and its nice knowing there is some dynamic headroom as my needs and coin purse allow.

Is it within your company's capabilities to have new fender liners made up that include a clean fitment passthrough for the ducting? I guess while you are at it, why not make a shorter, small capacity washer bottle that gives you the clearance needed to get a straight shot to the caliper!

We need someone in the ABS plastic business here! Anyone out there want to do a combo project with Jeff?

Keet it coming!

[mines13]

roto-molding is expensive.

[JRitt]

Thanks Guys.

I put together a page on our blog explaining the pad options for our Competition Systems. Hopefully that clears up any questions or confusion about what pads are available. I used some of the info from one of my previous posts, but also went into greater depth on the 'why's.

Is it within your company's capabilities to have new fender liners made up that include a clean fitment passthrough for the ducting? I guess while you are at it, why not make a shorter, small capacity washer bottle that gives you the clearance needed to get a straight shot to the caliper!

We need someone in the ABS plastic business here! Anyone out there want to do a combo project with Jeff?

Thanks for the suggestions. We aren't in the plastics business, but we are examining options. We are certainly open to partnering with the right business to produce the parts our customers want.:happy0180:

[UncleFester]

Can't wait to get my hands on a sprint kit.

[Arnie_1]

Originally Posted by JRitt

Thanks for the suggestions. We aren't in the plastics business, but we are examining options. We are certainly open to partnering with the right business to produce the parts our customers want.:happy0180:

Jeff - I just saw a post on FB from APR Performance about some brake duct bezels they have in development. I don't think I can post the FB pic here but here's the link on FB. Looks like a good, clean solution.

https://www.facebook.com/aprperformance