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Thank you very much for the nice review SpeedDistrict!
We had another gorgeous GT3 RS take our brake kit out over the weekend with excellent results! The owner said, "I’m out at Summit Point with the AP Radi-CAL setup on my GT3RS. Soooooo much better pedal modulation than my PCCB!"
Included was the requisite track grime!
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'09 Carrera 2S, '08 Boxster LE (orange), '91 Acura NSX, Tesla Model 3 Performance, Fiesta ST
Jeff Ritter
Mgr. High Performance Division, Essex Parts Services Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Competition Brake Kits & 2-piece J Hook Discs Ferodo Racing Brake Pads Spiegler Stainless Steel Brake Lines
704-824-6030 jeff.ritter@essexparts.com
These aren't GT3, but I thought you gents would enjoy these customer pics that have been pouring in from tracks around the country. The GT3 crew really needs to step up and get us some good action shots!
One of ZR1 customers catching some air at Shenandoah Circuit
A bad@*** C7 Z06 getting flogged at COTA
GT350 customer with our brakes tucked behind a set of Signature Wheels
I meant to add this last week...One of our customers won the USTCC race at Sonoma with our four wheel brake system on his Z06, and had some really nice comments about the system, "I have to sincerely give this win to the AP Racing team as late braking was the key to the win. I was trailed by only 5 car lengths the entire 40 minutes and my front & rear AP Radi-CAL setup never gave up even as driver fatigued and made some mistakes. It was the difference today. Thank you, guys. On to the final championship round!"
More details in the link below. The race will be airing on NBC Sports in late October, so that would be a great opportunity to see what our kits can do.
Also, Troy Messer won the NASA TTU National Championship at COTA this weekend in his AP Racing-equipped C6 Corvette (prepped by GSpeed). He laid down a smoking lap of 2:16.6!
Thank you very much for the nice review SpeedDistrict!
We had another gorgeous GT3 RS take our brake kit out over the weekend with excellent results! The owner said, "I’m out at Summit Point with the AP Radi-CAL setup on my GT3RS. Soooooo much better pedal modulation than my PCCB!"
Included was the requisite track grime!
Hey! That’s mine!!
Thought I would post a review of the kit as well. No affiliation with Essex or AP, just love my brakes...
I suppose the appropriate place to start is by explaining my background - I’m a car enthusiast from a very young age and it’s a trend that has followed me into adulthood. Many years ago I stumbled upon a movie that solidified my love affair with Porsche, and I set out to get myself the pinnacle of automotive engineering, in my mind. I was 16 at the time. Twenty four years later and I have finally acquired my halo car - a Porsche GT3RS.
I purchased my RS second hand. It happened to be optioned exactly as I’d like it to be - minimally. No leather dash, no deviated stitching, no frills. Just a raw, unadulterated, driving machine. The only options it has are PCCB, fire extinguisher, sport buckets, and white dials. It is, in a word, perfect (for me).
The problem with perfection, especially when you’re a perfectionist as I am, is that you ultimately never find it. Unfortunately, this was also my experience with the PCCBs. While I wanted to love them for their dust-free operation, they lacked what I needed for my track-focused mentality.
My first track event with the car was at VIR - a very fast track with a few heavy braking zones. I was learning the car, and the brakes, the entire weekend - and I loved it; save for one issue: the PCCBs. They lacked the feel and initial bite (even with Pagid RSC1 pads) - it felt like my foot was mechanically connected to a block of wood that was rubbing against the rotors. Almost as if it was leaking fluid onto the rotors themselves. My perfect car was not living up to the expectations of my 24 years of dreaming.
Now is probably a good time to explain my “track pedigree”. I’ve been going to the track for 20+ years running machines from spec Miatas all the way to a fully built race car. I have logged several hundred days on track and have spent many hours jamming on the middle pedal to bring cars to a stop. I LOVE to brake deep into the corners and haul it out with a lot of speed - trail braking as necessary. This requires a lot of confidence in your brakes, however - an artifact that was missing from the PCCBs.
I struggled over the upgrade to the brakes as I didn’t want to miss out on the lack of dust. Sure, irons are cheaper, but at this point in my life I’m fortunate enough to not have to be concerned too much with cost. I was far more concerned with my ideal setup.
After a thorough amount of research I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to the irons - which just led to more research. I’ve had many brake kits over the years and the latest version on my previous car was the AP Radi-Cal setup. I decided to go this route again given my previous experience. Wow, I’m glad I did...
I took the car out to Summit Point Main for a two day event and absolutely beat on the setup. I’m generally one of the faster guys out on track, and this wasn’t an exception. And the brakes were the star of the weekend.
Hauling the car down, turn after turn, without ever fading is an amazing feat - and these brakes lived up to it. They never showed a single sign of not being up to the task. I was amazed by the system, yet again. Pedal feel was back, initial bite was back, releasing of pressure was back. I once again had brakes - and my perfect car was back to perfect.
There are other benefits to the system as well which make it more trackable - including cheaper running cost and easier pad changes. However, those pale in comparison to the feel.
A quick word about dust - sure, there is a little bit of dust but it’s not bad at all. I think these cars are so over-braked that they never really build up enough heat to generate a a lot of pad wear and dust. However, I’d take five times the dust that these generate to get that feeling back.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. If I buy another car, it will be with the irons, and I’ll swap them out for the Radi-Cal, without a doubt. Dream perfected.
He wrote:
"I think it would be a huge mistake to go with anything other than the AP Radi-cal steel brake system. I've literally been beating the snot out of these brakes all season and they haven't missed a beat. I turned sub-2 minute laps at Watkins Glen consistently for over 45 minutes and they kept performing without issue...160+ mph down to 95 mph in 300 feet...over, and over, and over again.
I used to run Stoptech brakes and the AP system is on a different planet compared to the Stoptech's. I had to rebuild the Stoptech calipers at least once a season, sometimes more often.
Check out the previous threads by Essex that go over the specific characteristics of carbon ceramic rotors versus AP's steel rotors.
IMO, there's absolutely NO reason to go with ceramic rotors. I have other cars with CCB's and it's almost embarrassing how much better the AP system is compared to the CCB's. "
Hey Gents,
We're getting packed up for SEMA 2018, and had a few trinkets lying around on the workbench.
Below are the Radi-CAL calipers we use in our 991 GT3 Brake Kit alongside some heavy-hitters from AP's arsenal. I wanted to illustrate that the calipers we're using in our kits are not tarted up road car parts. These are legitimate racing Radi-CALs, and the family resemblance across the designs is quite clear in these photos. Some of these calipers are $5,000+ each!
The CP9661 from our front GT3 kit on top...
CP9661 from our front kit on the far right
Piston comparison
Here's the rear caliper from our GT3 kit lined up with a Formula 1 front caliper
So much drool... I'm going with this setup next spring, replacing my PCCBs as, like others, they just don't have a very good initial bite.
We'll be here when you're ready!
Speaking of carbon ceramic replacements, we had a 2019 Corvette ZR1 hit the track with our iron system at COTA over the weekend (Radi-CAL BBK front and rear with Ferodo DS1.11 pads). He was running a 2:20 flat in damp conditions, and the brakes were flawless.
We also had a gorgeous Huracan Performante at COTA replace his carbon ceramics at all four corners with our iron AP Racing J Hooks and Ferodo DS1.11, and he was over the moon with their performance.
Here's a really nice review we just received from a BMW M4 owner in Europe who made the switch from Carbon Ceramic to our Radi-CAL front and rear iron system:
Here's a different C7 ZR1 running a 1:55.9 at VIR with our front and rear Radi-CAL Brake Kit with Ferodo DS1.11 pads...this time a tasty orange one! :O
Another happy customer. Swapped my CCB's for the radi-cal and absolutely love the setup. Very linear response and I cannot get them to fade during a 30 minute plus CHIN session. Essex coincidentally parked right next to me at VIR.
Another happy customer. Swapped my CCB's for the radi-cal and absolutely love the setup. Very linear response and I cannot get them to fade during a 30 minute plus CHIN session. Essex coincidentally parked right next to me at VIR.
Thanks so much for the purchase, and for your continued support. We're glad our brake kit is improving your day at the track!
Below are some pics of your car, and a bunch of others at VIR today running our complete AP Racing Brake Kits and 2-piece disc kits. We had a whole gaggle of these beasts out there this weekend.
Gratuitous Z06 shot...why? Because they are good, cheap fun.
A very interesting comparo I was able to make was between the stock brake system on the .2 GT3 and the AP caliper/rotor system on my RS. Both cars were running Ferodo DS1.11 pads. I never felt that the Porsche brake system was lacking, and they aren't. HOWEVER, I MUCH prefer how the AP system feels over the Porsche system. The pedal is more solid. There is less variation in pedal travel. The braking is more consistent. This was the system I originally had on my .2 GT3 and transferred to the RS. The Ferodo pads have gone through 5 track days now. After the 4th day I noticed some tapering of the front pads. No big deal to flip them since the pad changes are super easy. On day 5 there is still enough pads left for at least another 2 days (front pads). This is consistent with the DS1.11 on the stock system which usually lasted me 6-7 days (front pads). My best lap that day:
08-15-2018, 12:43 PM
