C6 Zo6 brakes vs. Baer 6s

[LowchevyII]

Is the performance of the 6s brakes really that much greater than that of C6 Zo6 brakes? I have a front set of 6s brakes for my nova but am still in need of a rear set. However, I'm entertaining the idea of eventually selling them and buying a complete (front and rear) set of Zo6 brakes instead rather than shelling out another arm and leg for rear Baers. What do you guys think I should do?

[Vegas69]

How does a Z06 stop?

[Track Junky]

All depends on what your going for. Not to bad mouth baer because I love their products but I bought a set of new 6p's and once I felt the weight I sold them. Vette 6 piston calipers are way lighter.

[XcYZ]

I'm happy with my C6ZO6 brakes, but there's a few things to be aware of... the stock rotors are extremely heavy, and the stock padlets create more dust than a back country road.

I do like that if I have a problem, I can get/order parts from any GM dealer.

[killer67]

Depends on what the goal of your car is. 6S brakes with aftermarket pads would probably have a better 60-0 time but for the price it may not be relevant unless you are going to be hammering it regularly. C6Z brakes seem to be enough for most cars on this site.

[Matt@BOS]

I had c6 z06 brakes. Scott is right, the stock rotors are one piece cast parts that are super heavy. I never had a problem locking up the tires though, and the calipers are going to be enough for 95% people who run road courses. The only reason I switched to Wilwood brakes was because it wasn't really cost effective to buy aftermarket two piece rotors with a custom hat for a full floater axle.

Matt

[SLO_Z28]

Depends on what the goal of your car is.

^This.

I know a lot of C6 Z06 guys replace their calipers with other brands, as they are a weak link in that car on the track. AP Racing and PFC both make better calipers.

[LowchevyII]

thanks for the responses. Definitely have some thinking to do. The goal of the car would be to flog the hell out of it on the weekends and track days. It wont be my daily driver but it will get driven hard.

[Musclerodz]

better comparison would be 6P to Z06. 6S are huge to better disasppate heat under extreme braking. Unless you plan on tracking the car 6S are way overkill. 6P or Z06 plenty good for street, and 6P use stock C5/C6 pads for replacement purposes

[LowchevyII]

better comparison would be 6P to Z06. 6S are huge to better disasppate heat under extreme braking. Unless you plan on tracking the car 6S are way overkill. 6P or Z06 plenty good for street, and 6P use stock C5/C6 pads for replacement purposes

Ahhh thank you for that. I didn't know there was that huge of a difference.

[The WidowMaker]

I know a lot of C6 Z06 guys replace their calipers with other brands, as they are a weak link in that car on the track. AP Racing and PFC both make better calipers.


i agree, but those guys buy a $75k car and throw another 10k at the brakes. i dont think most of them are on our budget. i also dont see any of them replacing their brakes with wilwood or baer. never looked into why, but i still thinks its because they can afford more.

i have the z06 brakes, but i upgraded to carbotech pads and will most likely upgrade later to a 2 piece rotor for weight savings. i shopped really hard for prices and scored a full set of calipers and pads for 650 shipped to my door. the kids dad was an executive with pbr. my full setup with dba rotors, kore 3 brackets/parking brake and carbotech pads ran me ~$2200 for front and rear.

[killer67]

Lots of deals on z06 brakes coming off C6 Z06's and C6 grand sports. Saw one last week on vette forum for $1350.00 with rotors, pads, and lines with 20K miles. Change pads and possibly upgrade rotors and paint/powder calipers if needed, and you have a top notch system.

[LowchevyII]

yeah that's what i keep leaning towards. I can sell my Baer fronts and get a complete set. Its really enticing so im not sure. Though those bigass Baers do look amazing and i'd assume perform pretty stellar as well....though definitely overkill i'd think for me especially being this isn't going to be a 100k car.

[killer67]

I am the same way Jeff - maybe wait for a pair of used rear Baer calipers to go on sale

[skatinjay27]

isent finch still using zo6 brakes on his car?

[LowchevyII]

I am the same way Jeff - maybe wait for a pair of used rear Baer calipers to go on sale

Hhaha glad i'm not the only one. Used is probably my best bet. Might have to ask Cris at JCG to keep his eyes peeled for me when I have the extra cash. I have a few friends who do powder coating so i could definitely get them matched up and looking good even if they are the wrong color and are a little cosmetically sub par.

And i thought finch was still using them on his camaro and I know billy utley used them on his nova. So maybe, assuming they see this, can chime and give some feed back.

[MarkM66]

I am the same way Jeff - maybe wait for a pair of used rear Baer calipers to go on sale

Here's a set. I'm not sure if it's a good price though..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BAER-6-PISTON-FRONT-BRAKE-CALIPERS-MUSTANG-BRAKES-05-11-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3cba1ed7b8QQitemZ26082 0621240QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries

[SLO_Z28]

You can get an AP racing 2 piece rotor setup and calipers for less than the baer setup and have a dramatically better setup. Weight is the enemy, and brakes that are too big are a bad thing! Wilwood SL4 setups would be perfect for most cars here, and they perform on par with C6Z06 stuff.

[LowchevyII]

Here's a set. I'm not sure if it's a good price though..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BAER-6-PISTON-FRONT-BRAKE-CALIPERS-MUSTANG-BRAKES-05-11-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3cba1ed7b8QQitemZ26082 0621240QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries

I'm not sure what fair market value of those calipers are but a grand for a lightly used set seems like a damn good deal to me. Could be way off base on that assumption though. Good to know the deals are out there. Good find!



You can get an AP racing 2 piece rotor setup and calipers for less than the baer setup and have a dramatically better setup. Weight is the enemy, and brakes that are too big are a bad thing! Wilwood SL4 setups would be perfect for most cars here, and they perform on par with C6Z06 stuff.

I'll definitely have to look into the AP racing stuff. I always just assumed they were priced way out of my league. I got the baers for free from a friend just so you dont think i'm crazy for buying baer 6s' and not even considering AP racing.

[kovert]

Can't wait till they make carbon ceramic brake kits !!
Atleast when there affordable super light weight

[Ron in SoCal]

Can't wait till they make carbon ceramic brake kits !!
Atleast when there affordable super light weight

I agree and love the technology, but I have a feeling they're a long way off. Most carbon ceramics I've seen require ABS to work properly (ask Charlie about that one), and we don't have an out of the box solution for that in our cars yet....

[TheJDMan]

Just to clearifiy, are you all referring to C5 Z06 or C6 Z06 brakes? The two are not even close to being the same thing. I recently purchased a set of C6 Z06 front and rear calipers new in the box for $800 at the Fall Carlisle swap meet. My plan is to run the Hawk Ceramic pads to keep the dust down.

[cencalc6]

Just to clearifiy, are you all referring to C5 Z06 or C6 Z06 brakes? The two are not even close to being the same thing. I recently purchased a set of C6 Z06 front and rear calipers new in the box for $800 at the Fall Carlisle swap meet. My plan is to run the Hawk Ceramic pads to keep the dust down.

C6 Z06 Brakes :thumbsup:

[bardwell81]

I love this forum, lots of info. I'm also leaning towards the C6 Z06 brakes. Can I ask what type of pads are you all running (6 piece vs 1 piece). Has the one piece pad solved the problem with wear? Has it improved the overall performance of the Z06 brakes?
Thanks guys