Gauging Interest:New for 2017 Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Competition Brake Kit

[aciddemon]

Option B sounds great. Any estimated timeframe for possible release? Was looking at doing the sprint kit in the next couple months.

[JRitt]

The new four piston Radi-CAL uses a common pad shape that is available from pretty much every pad manufacturer in all flavors (including Ferodo, Carbone Lorraine, etc.). Pad selection will definitely be no more of an issue than it is with our current kits (which=not an issue at all).

Originally Posted by aciddemon

Option B sounds great. Any estimated timeframe for possible release? Was looking at doing the sprint kit in the next couple months.

Since we're just now talking about this one, I'd estimate it will be a few months before we are shipping a final product. I'll take a stab at it by estimating a possible May release??? There's a lot to be done between now and then.

Rear Kits

Based on the past five years of data, we know that a rear kit isn't necessary for the vast majority of our customers with an 86. The performance gains of a rear kit vs. stock are much lower than those achieved by adding a front kit on this platform. We have customers with all types of builds, power levels, and usage environments running our front-only systems all over the world without any issues.

Price is also major issue. How many 86 owners are honestly going to spend $5,000+ for a complete front and rear kit? It costs us a substantial sum to design and build these kits, and we need to justify those costs with a return on our efforts. Anything we would release would be top-shelf, and designed to solve problems. We would never implement a half-baked, 'budget' solution and suggest that our customers actually need them...from what we've seen, 98% of them do not, and we tend not to cater to hard-parkers.

All of the above said, if there is enough real demand/need, we will build whatever people want.

[MaximeT]

A good thing for us poor european guys, is that rear BBK open the choice to more pads.
Especially when we can use same front and rear pads. It makes sourcing pads much easyer.

Pads are so expensive out there that we mostly have to buy in the US or Japan.
Even french pads (CL) are twice the price in France.

[churchx]

Hmm, didn't think of rear BBK for widening pad choice. Sounds valid reason for those that wish to save on wearables.

[renfield90]

I'm in cjd's boat - largely interested in weight reduction, though I do intend to track the car once I've added some additional capacity to the brakes. The Sprint kit has been on my radar for awhile, though it is a bit further down the upgrade path at the moment (knee surgery isn't cheap!). I'd probably be willing to trade a pound or two for better tech, so mark me down as an option A or B kinda guy - but to be fair, you'd just be converting a Sprint kit sale to this.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by churchx

Hmm, didn't think of rear BBK for widening pad choice. Sounds valid reason for those that wish to save on wearables.

Pad choice, ease of swapping pads, and brake feel are the reasons I would consider it... Though unless I get to the point I'm tracking and want the capacity, it's not realistically in the budget either way right now. I already have the Sprint...

I know it would be an expensive option up front, but suspect it would be worth it if I'm ever pushing that hard. I totally get why it may not be worth the development cost, and there are others on the market for those that really need a 4 corner setup.

[aciddemon]

Originally Posted by JRitt

Since we're just now talking about this one, I'd estimate it will be a few months before we are shipping a final product. I'll take a stab at it by estimating a possible May release??? There's a lot to be done between now and then.

That would be perfect. Means another set of stock rotors and pads, but they will be shot in May and then I get the summer off here in AZ to do the upgrade. Highly looking forward to it.

Thanks for the info.

[kch]

So what would be the practical benefits over the AP Sprint kit, if I have yet to fade the sprints? I understand that it has more heat capacity and better cooling, but heat hasn't caused me any issues yet. Of course, I'm only at the intermediate level for now, so I'd imagine this kit would provide more benefit for a more experienced driver?

[churchx]

If rest of brakes decided to keep same - lighter/stiffer/better cooling calipers.

[B T]

I'm in the market for either this kit with option B or the Endurance kit in the near future. I think I would rather have this option.

[sfruski]

I would be interested in the B kit, and in the very near future as well. This is for a new full track build which is starting this Friday.

Two things I missed in the thread: Will the new setup with the 310 rotors be floating or fixed hats? Will the new kit get the brake duct attachment point that the endurance series has?

[enivid]

Option B/C. I've been going through several sets of the 299x32mm disc every year so I need a little more capacity.

[AlphaMotorsports.ca]

Count us in! We've been extremely satisfied with the Sprint Kit and this is just better in practically every way!

Will this use the 25mm pad version?

[JRitt]

Thanks for the continued feedback gents.

Two things I missed in the thread: Will the new setup with the 310 rotors be floating or fixed hats? Will the new kit get the brake duct attachment point that the endurance series has?

The discs on the new kit would be fixed, not floating, just like our current Sprint Kit (which has proven pretty much flawless under all conditions on an incredibly diverse array of twins). The two-piece bracket in the Endurance Kit is hugely expensive to manufacture. If we went that route, we'd be pushing the cost of the new Radi-CAL kit up by quite a bit, and likely placing it out of reach for many. In practical terms, very few people find that they actually need a brake duct with our Sprint Kit, since the AP discs flow so much air and run so cool. We do plan to keep the Endurance Kit around, so if someone is doing a big power build and wants the heavier floating discs and the brake duct provision, that kit will still be most appropriate option.

Count us in! We've been extremely satisfied with the Sprint Kit and this is just better in practically every way!

Will this use the 25mm pad version?

Cool, thanks! Only the CP9668 six piston Pro5000R caliper uses a 25mm thick pad. That's the caliper we're using in our new R35 Nissan GT-R front kit. I would consider that just a wee bit overkill for the 86!

So what would be the practical benefits over the AP Sprint kit, if I have yet to fade the sprints? I understand that it has more heat capacity and better cooling, but heat hasn't caused me any issues yet. Of course, I'm only at the intermediate level for now, so I'd imagine this kit would provide more benefit for a more experienced driver?

If your Sprint Kit is working perfectly for you, then by all means stick with it (thanks for the purchase BTW, and glad you're enjoying it!). If we were to use the same 299mm discs as the current Sprint Kit in the new kit, I wouldn't expect a ton of current Sprint Kit owners to convert over to the new kit. Maybe if their current CP8350 calipers were tired after several years of hard use and they were considering a rebuild, then the new calipers would be a potentially attractive upgrade option. If we stuck with the 299mm discs, I'd primarily view it as a serious consideration for new buyers who want the latest and greatest technology.

From the responses I'm reading though, it's looking like Option B has the most interest at this point. A kit with that specification would add practical benefits to both the calipers and discs of the Sprint Kit, while still keeping with our ultra-lightweight ethos and a maintaining a reasonable price ceiling. That may be the sweet spot. Thanks again guys!