13 inch Brake Comparison?

[SinisterSHO]

Did a search, didn't find what I was looking for...

I know there are at least three different 13 inch brake packages. The Cobra's, the Baer's, and the TCE Wilwood kits.

Are there any major advantages or disadvantages from one kit to another? I know that the pads for the Cobra kits are the same as Mustang Cobra's, making them pretty available. Also, after looking at a few of the Wilwood kits at the convention, I noticed most of them had the two piece rotors. I have honestly not heard much about the Baer kits, and I'm thinking the Cobra upgrade is the most common, with the TCE kits being for more track duty.

Would the TCE kit be too much for a daily driver, or rather, are there any 'street' rated pads available, which would not need to be at optimum temp. to work at thier best?

Also, which setup has the easiest installation? I know that the caliper brackets for the cobra kits need to be modified some how, but I personally do not know how, and do not recall seeing anything about this.

So, again, any major advantages from one kit to the other, and major down sides?

 

[SHO2NV]

While I don't know much about the different 13" brake kits, I have read that unless you are making a track monster the 96 upgrade is all that's really necessary. Not to mention, a whole lot cheaper.

I still need to do this........prolly gonna be my winter project.

 

[twr]

The Cobra and Baers are one in the same. The biggest difference is the Cobra/Baer use a floating 2 piston caliper. The Wilwood uses a 4 or 6 piston fixed caliper. There's a pretty good selection of pads for both. The Cobra/Baer is a bolt on for 94 and newer SHO's. The Wilwood kit needs modifed knuckles to work. I think the Baers are more than enough for a street driven car.

 

[luigisho]

As terry stated the baer's and cobra's are the same. Someone was putting together a 13" upgrade kit here on the forum for a very reasonable price. Look around for the thread. Nevermind http://shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=32143

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

There is a difference in between the Cobra and the Baer kits. The Baer uses Corvette rotors that are different from the Cobra's. Caliper's are the same, caliper brakets and rotor the offset are different. They are VERY comparable for function.

 

[Dr. Tweak]

There is a difference in between the Cobra and the Baer kits. The Baer uses Corvette rotors the are different from the Corbra's. Caliper's are the same, caliper brakets and rotor the offset are different. They are VERY comparable for fucntion.

Either one better?

 

[SHO92]

Depends on the offset of your wheels. The corvette rotors will also put the rotor closer to the ball joint, which can cook the grease inside if you get them nice and hot.

 

[Lance Cheney]

Depends on the offset of your wheels. The corvette rotors will also put the rotor closer to the ball joint, which can cook the grease inside if you get them nice and hot.

The Bear kit fits under most 16" wheels, as uses a 12.5" rotor. If you go with the Cobra kit then you need 17" wheels.

The 12.2" Wilwood (base) kit also fits under most 16" wheels, and you can upgrade to a 13" and have a few options for rotor width (bigger = more heat capacity and better cooling). Also you have 6-*** options, and the kit comes with 2-piece rotors which are a little lighter (note that you can get these for the 13" Cobra kit if you are willing to spend the $$$).

-Lance

 

[K-Dawg]

I thought Baer offers 12.5" and 13" brake kits for the SHO. IIRC, doesn't the 12.5 use the 89-93 knuckles and the 13" use the later knuckles?

 

[olympic]

K-Dawg nailed it, both kits are shown here http://www.spmotorsports.com/taurusbrakes_kits.html

The 12.5" kit uses vette parts and modified pre-94 knuckles, the 13" kit uses Cobra parts and 94-95 knuckles.

 

[shojuan]

The TCE Wilwood kit is the lightest option of all the brake upgrades if that's important to you. You might not care about all the excess weight on the calipers of the other kits but keep in mind the lower weight from the rotors will free up some WHP thanks to the aluminum hats. The aluminum hats will also help heatsink a lot of brake heat to your rims for extra cooling ability.

Your car should feel lighter and faster with a base TCE kit. A 96 upgrade might give adequate braking on the street but the extra weight will add to the big car feel. Also there are TONS of pad options that Wilwood offers that should cover whatever your needs or desires might be. And of course you can always get custom pads made by Carbotech if you want (that option would be available to you with any of the different brake options you might get) and I'm sure lots of other companys make pads for Wilwood calipers.

Rick

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Baer no longer offers a 12.5" kit, at least not one that I show a part number for. I would suspect SP is having the rotors custom drilled and modifying the knuckles so that the bracket sits closer to the center of the hub.

Baer's current part numbers only show a 13" kit.

 

[Shoaz]

Just a quick addition: Baer has (or had, as the case may be) three kits to pick from for the SHO, a 12", 12.5", and a 13". The 12.5" is the only one that used the deep offset Corvette rotor. The 13" kit uses Cobra rotors and won't have the clearance issue with the ball joint.

You can get two-piece rotors to fit just about anything. I have the 12.5" Baer kit and have two-piece rotors. I think Baer (and others) make two-piece rotors that will fit the 13" set as well.

 

[Todd TCE]

The original TCE kits were sold in 1993, based in part on the design and work done by Roush for the Bondurant cars back in 1989....yea, been around a few years!

The criteria was to fit the stock 'slicer' wheel. That means 12.2" and ample wheel spacer built into the hat, longer studs and modified steering knuckles on exchange.

Over the years the product has evolved and grown. Now with 17s being popular a 12.2 kit can be 'converted' to 13" rotors. And if there is ample room to the wheel the hat can be reworked to reduce the wheel spacer aspect.

Going one step farther last year I began to offer 1.10 rotor flavors to help those who need the thermal capacity for more track use. However as the rotor is wider so too is the need for spoke clearance for calipers.

All of the above and other kits mentioned will meet the needs of a daily driver who does a track day one or two times a year. For those who are more serious about comp use, the fixed caliper, cooling properties, pad selection etc. of the bigger kits has some hard to ignore value. But it comes at a higher price too.