Wilwood Brake Calipers

PG5

PG5

Well-Known Member
I've been looking at the line of Wilwood Brake Calipers and wondering how much trouble It would be to mount them to the Goblin. It seems like their Dynalite & the Powerlite calipers could be made to fit with the existing 10" or 11" rotors so 15" wheels should still fit. At the very least we'd need custom spindles or an adapter bracket made to mount the calipers and new brake lines. Although none of this is really worth it since the brakes from the donor are more than enough. Just thinking out loud. Slow day at work ;)
 
Last edited:
TheNuker

TheNuker

Goblin Guru
After riding in the Goblins that Lonny and Adam have down there I don't know that the brakes will be any problem. Now if the stock rotors will stay cool on a track day I don't know.

Nuker-
 
PG5

PG5

Well-Known Member
Well, I agree there isn't much benefit to using Wilwood Brakes.

However, the stock single piston floating brakes will have more chatter and flex which generate heat. The Dynalite Calipers are a fixed 4-piston caliper which should provide more even pressure on the rotor and reduce the chatter & flex technically reducing the heat generated. So I'd imagine they'd do better on the track.

Plus they look cooler :)
 
JSATX

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Dont forget that without ABS you already run a high risk of locking the front wheels up. I have locked them several more times than I'd like to admit...
 
RichN

RichN

Well-Known Member
JSATX said:
Dont forget that without ABS you already run a high risk of locking the front wheels up. I have locked them several more times than I'd like to admit...
Click to expand...
+1
Just goofing around, I lock up the fronts on mine pretty easy. But I am running the stock 16" tires for now and there's only about 1/4 of the tread left.
 
DanPerryy

DanPerryy

Well-Known Member
I have the 11" discs from the kit on the front with a single piston caliper - stock. Have sticky tires all around. The front locks up easily. Stock setup from the kit is a lot of brake for the front!!!
 
PG5

PG5

Well-Known Member
hmm, So are most of y'all locking up the front brakes?

I don't believe either the Ariel Atom or the Exocet have ABS but both have available options for Wilwood Dynalite brakes.

I'm not suggesting bigger brakes, but rather more appropriately sized brakes with the added benefits of fixed position calipers. We could use Dynalite calipers with smaller pistons for the front, and larger pistons for the rear? The brake pads for the Dynalite are slightly smaller in area then the stock pads. Maybe this would be a benefit considering the stock setup is already locking up the wheels?
 
PG5

PG5

Well-Known Member
Just had another thought, has anyone tried an adjustable Proportioning Valve?
 
PG5

PG5

Well-Known Member
Just weighed the stock calipers on my G5, they are 9.9 lbs. I did still have the brake line attached but no pads.

The Wilwood Dynalite calipers weigh 3.4 lbs according to their website and could be used with 10" rotors front and back on the Goblin. So that could shed a fair amount of unsprung weight.
 
PG5

PG5

Well-Known Member
Just a few more thoughts. Since the Cobalt is front engine front wheel drive wouldn't the braking system have a considerable bias to the front? With the Goblin we move most of the weight to the rear and as a result have very different weight distribution then the Cobalt. Wouldn't a proportioning valve be necessary to even out the brake bias? I wonder what trouble Adam and Lonny were having? I couldn't find any reference to it on the forum.
Also by swapping out the drum brakes for another set of front calipers we are increasing the clamping force over stock which was meant to stop a 3,000 lbs car.

This is my idea for a Sport Brake Package:
11" Rotors
1.38" Piston Dynapro Radial Mount calipers for the front
1.25" Piston Dynapro Radial Mount calipers for the rear
Adjustable Brake Proportioning Valve

I think the Dynapro Radial Mount calipers would be the easiest to adapt since they'd just need an adapter plate to mount to the existing setup. However they can't be used with 10" rotors. We'd still be shedding some unsprung weight.

They Dynalite Lug Mount calipers are a little lighter and could be used with 10" rotors, however I believe they'd be more difficult and costly to adapt.
 
Last edited:
JSATX

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Larger rotors are supplied for the front which give it just enough front bias braking.

I had all these exact same thoughts when building mine. Same questions and even wanted to go get SS brake setup. It's all completely unnecessary. Don't get me wrong definitely explore all the options, my only recommendation is don't spend the money until you have actually driven it.

Mildly aggressive pedal pressure locks the fronts. It does not lock the backs. What's there to improve?

I will say I do wish I had some sort of parking brake though....
 
Adam

Adam

Administrator
Staff member
On P2 we ran the base front 10 inch rotors all the way around. This led to the rear tires locking up before the fronts. This is terrifying and dangerous as the rear wants to swing around when this happens. We installed a proportioning valve to limit the rear and we've run it like that ever since.

There isn't a problem with running the valve but with the goal of keeping costs of the kit down and to make assembly as easy as possible, it made more sense to supply 11 inch rotors on the front rather than supplying and installing a proportioning valve.

In our tests, the front locks up just before the rear under hard braking. I've been thinking of what could be causing JSATX's car to act differently from ours. What might be making it happen is the difference in diameter of his front and rear tires. I think they are 205/50-15 front and a 235/45-17. That's ~23.1 tall front and ~25.4 tall rear.

JSATX: 10% taller rear than front
DFKC Turbo: 6% taller rear
Local Factory Built: 5% taller rear
P1: 2% taller rear

I'm thinking that the increased torque from the tall rear tire is decreasing the effectiveness of the rear brakes enough to make the system very front end biased.
 
PG5

PG5

Well-Known Member
JSATX said:
my only recommendation is don't spend the money until you have actually driven it.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I don't plan to. I was just bored and this seemed like an interesting research topic .

Adam said:
There isn't a problem with running the valve but with the goal of keeping costs of the kit down and to make assembly as easy as possible, it made more sense to supply 11 inch rotors on the front rather than supplying and installing a proportioning valve.
Click to expand...
Thanks this is good to know. I agree its MUCH easier to put on 11" rotors then a proportioning valve. Adam, I hope you do get a day off!
 
JSATX

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Adam said:
On P2 we ran the base front 10 inch rotors all the way around. This led to the rear tires locking up before the fronts. This is terrifying and dangerous as the rear wants to swing around when this happens. We installed a proportioning valve to limit the rear and we've run it like that ever since.

There isn't a problem with running the valve but with the goal of keeping costs of the kit down and to make assembly as easy as possible, it made more sense to supply 11 inch rotors on the front rather than supplying and installing a proportioning valve.

In our tests, the front locks up just before the rear under hard braking. I've been thinking of what could be causing JSATX's car to act differently from ours. What might be making it happen is the difference in diameter of his front and rear tires. I think they are 205/50-15 front and a 235/45-17. That's ~23.1 tall front and ~25.4 tall rear.

JSATX: 10% taller rear than front
DFKC Turbo: 6% taller rear
Local Factory Built: 5% taller rear
P1: 2% taller rear

I'm thinking that the increased torque from the tall rear tire is decreasing the effectiveness of the rear brakes enough to make the system very front end biased.
Click to expand...

That wasn't a complaint. That's exactly how I prefer it to be setup I really don't like when the rears lockup.

(Unless it's a bike or quad with independent brakes then it's awesome...hmmm.....)
 
Adam

Adam

Administrator
Staff member
JSATX said:
That wasn't a complaint. That's exactly how I prefer it to be setup I really don't like when the rears lockup.

(Unless it's a bike or quad with independent brakes then it's awesome...hmmm.....)
Click to expand...
Understood, it just sounded like your fronts were a little bit quick to lock up compared to ours and I was wondering why.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top