How much power with stock brakes?

[H4Z4RD]

Hey Guys,

Dropped by to see my Holden dealer today to confirm delivery date for my SSV. We discussed an OTR, exhaust upgrade & tune that would push the power to best case scenario 370kw, all covered under warranty.

My question is, how much power would you guys have without upgrading the stock VE brakes? Would it be worth looking at some of the front brembo pairs from the redline pulloffs?

[Bravotwozero]

I've found with all the Commodores I've owned that they are always under braked. Personally I think upgrading to the Brembos would be a good idea. Don't bother with slotted or drilled stock sized brakes as they will offer little improvement.

[Darren]

I don't know about anyone else but I thought the stock brakes were rather ordinary, the best thing I did was change to decent pads and rotors.

I had the RDA rotors on a VY before my first VE and couldn't wait long enough to change them, I went RDA on the VE as well.

Can't really comment on the Brembo brakes though.

[MathoSSV]

Even if you mean 370kw at the fly, there is no way an OTR, full exhaust (inc headers and cats) and a tune would make that much power. You would be looking at on average around 260rwkw with an M6 so about 320kw at the fly, which will be fine with stock brakes for everyday purposes. If you are planning on doing track days etc then I would seriously consider a brake upgrade.
Its good that your dealer will cover everything though

[tomholzy]

^^ correct, you will be seeing 260ish kw at the wheels (330ish kw at the engine) with otr, exhaust & tune
the series 2 will actually make slightly less power when tuned than the series 1 due to the afm cam/lifter setup (yes, even in the manuals unfortunately)

anyway, on the street the stock brakes will do even given a lot of power, but if youre talking track they wont last 3 laps!
the best bang for buck would be getting the front redline brembos as they are quite cheap in terms of brakes ($1500) versus several thousand for full setups!

[YES18U]

Even if you mean 370kw at the fly, there is no way an OTR, full exhaust (inc headers and cats) and a tune would make that much power. You would be looking at on average around 260rwkw with an M6 so about 320kw at the fly, which will be fine with stock brakes for everyday purposes. If you are planning on doing track days etc then I would seriously consider a brake upgrade.
Its good that your dealer will cover everything though

Yes it can make that power i have the dyno papers to prove it! stock brakes pulled up fine i had to get the harrop ultimate on after supercharging to 470kw atw
so u shoudnt have to much probs with the power your aiming at.

[RUF-60L]

best case scenario maybe but the figure would be a bit lower than that id say, if ur not gonna thrash it around all the time, the brakes should be fine...

[sickooli]

Book me in so they can take away the cam that I got because, I got all that and a 25% under pulley and I got 294rwkw, There is no way you will get what they told you.

[UFO]

street use/ on budget = upgraded dba rotors and better pads.

track use/bigger budget = bigger upgraded rotors (dba, brembo, ap racing etc), bigger calipers, better pads, and DOT5 fluid.

also depends on how much you want to spend.
but if you arent planning on boiling the fluid on track days or otherwise getting some serious brake fade, then I'd start with better aftermarket pads and see how you go.
surface area makes the biggest difference, so bigger will always be better, but otherwise higher quality pads will be your next best improvement. better fluid will just help you get around longer on the track before you start losing braking... and will otherwise not be noticeable on the street.

[RUF-60L]

Book me in so they can take away the cam that I got because, I got all that and a 25% under pulley and I got 294rwkw, There is no way you will get what they told you.

its 370 flywheel kw, not rear wheel relax haha car companies always use flywheel figures

[tomholzy]

its 370 flywheel kw, not rear wheel relax haha car companies always use flywheel figures

Hah

Youre not gonna get close to 370 flywheel kw with otr exhaust & tune only, show me it on a 'real' dyno (mainline or equivalent)

VE SS have been done to death with exhaust otr & tune, literally thousands, and not one approaching 370 at the fly, just flick through the many on My Ride and see for yourself

[RUF-60L]

most manuals are around the 270-280rwkw with those mods, mine is auto and made 263

[MathoSSV]

Yes it can make that power i have the dyno papers to prove it! stock brakes pulled up fine i had to get the harrop ultimate on after supercharging to 470kw atw
so u shoudnt have to much probs with the power your aiming at.

I will say again...there is NO way you would get 370kw at the fly, which is roughly 300rwkw assuming about 20% drivetrain loss, with only an OTR, exhaust and tune...with a cam of course you can!!! if you have dyno papers, congrats...put them up so we can see what workshop has been fudging figures...old dyno dynamics dyno on shootout mode I bet :P

[MathoSSV]

Hah

Youre not gonna get close to 370 flywheel kw with otr exhaust & tune only, show me it on a 'real' dyno (mainline or equivalent)

VE SS have been done to death with exhaust otr & tune, literally thousands, and not one approaching 370 at the fly, just flick through the many on My Ride and see for yourself

Agree 100%

[Vt_vic]

rear wheel hp is approx around kw at the flywheel 300rwkw is about 400rwhp or 400kw at the engine or there abouts

[Bravotwozero]

How about people not go off topic and stop turning it into a shit fight about power figures?

[RUF-60L]

its been answered, street use minor upgrade, track use bigger upgrade.

now back to the sh** fight! :P

[HSV085]

When i had bolt on's on mine i found that the stock ss brakes were good, but ive now got 320rwkw with a cam upgrade ive found them to be scary(driving around town normally they're ok). I've been speaking with my mechanic regarding the brakes and because mines a daily with no track use, im gonna just upgrade the rotors to slotted ones with some decent pads & braided brake lines(if you have the cash to spend on big brakes then go for it).

[tomholzy]

id save yourself some money and use stock rotors...the pads, lines & fluid definately, but the rotors will make one tenth of f*ck all difference (its all the pads really)

[bonners]

A mate of mine owns a VE SS running 800+hp. You may have seen it. OBLTR8. That car is still running stock brakes. But I know for a fact that he now wants decent pegs. The simple fact of the matter is that whatever power your car is producing above stock will benefit from a brake upgrade.

My car runs 412rwhp and I updated mine to slotted rotors, better pads, fluid and braided lines. It was a good upgrade and cost me about $1000. But now I am going to the big brake upgrade including calipers and rotors etc. I agree with the comment above about rotors. But I have got RDA slotted rotors and they werent much dearer than the stock and look heaps better. Only advice with them though is that they got surface rust very quickly on the hat and edges. I simply ground them back with a steel brush on the drill and painted them with silver brake paint and they look a million dollars.

At the end of the day it all comes down to how much you can afford to spend on your brakes. But it also depends on what you will use them for. Is it simply street. Well then there is a method for that. Is it street with some track work - well there is a method for that as well.

[K-Man]

I have been through this twice now, as Bonners said Step 1 should be - Slotted rotors, high temp pads, braided lines, good fluid.

Want more?

Step 2 - Harrop 'Performance' kit or Surplus Brembos. If you go for the Brembos, dont forget to upgrade the rears. I read in a mag that during the test, the rears gave out before the fronts. Also braided lines are a must for all these kits too. The performance kit can be found for about $4000 delivered.

HARROP | Brakes


Still want more?
Step 3 - Harrop 'Monster' Kit (thats what I had installed on my SSV) AP Racing and PBR.
PBR Performance
HARROP | Brakes
Harrop Brake Install

Sorry cant find the link for AP, but I have seen VE's cruising around with them. Expect $5500 for the Monster kit. Im not sure if PBR do a kit for VE's though. Best check on that before you buy.

STILL want more?????
Step 4 - AP Racing, Alcon, Harrop 'Ultimate' Kit

Holden VE Supercar Spec Front Brake Kit
Holden VE Supercar Spec Rear Brake Kit
KPM also do Alcon.
KPM Motorsport | Holden Performance Brakes - This is the Harrop ultimate kit with a new rotor.

There you go, everything brakes for VE.

I can confirm that anything more than Step 1 on the street is a bit of over kill. I like having 4 Piston callipers and dinner plate sized rotors. They look awesome and you dont see non HSV VE's with big brakes often. But its waaaaaaayyyyy too much for my daily commute to work @ 60-80kph, and the only reason I bought them was I intend to go to the track soon on a semi-regular basis. When I get a weekend free that co-incides with a track day.........

Oh and I got 262rwkw M6 with OTR, Extractors, cats exhaust and tune = 320 kw. Slightly less than the 370.

[bonners]

All for VE you say. Nearly.

Wortec brakes.




They are 6 pots up front and 6 rear. You can have 8's up front if you wish and even a 12 if you have really deep pockets.

Look out in the coming weeks.

[K-Man]

Very nice. Very nice indeed. Rotor size? How long has the brand been around - I spent a long time looking about 4-5 months ago for a big brake kit and never saw Wortec. And ball park $$$ for the 6pots? Sorry for all the q's, but im curious for more info.

[bonners]

I sent a message to the mods requesting some permission to post more but haven't heard back yet. If anybody would like some info pm me with an email address and I will send info including specs price etc