Long discontinued. I've been able to find nos sets on Ebay. Also, occasionally I'll see them in the junkyard, another option.
-
Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software hereThank you for being a part of our community!
Any reviews of the BNE Medium Brake Brembo kit?
- Thread starter DME
- Start date
Stock Volvo pads and whatever quality rotors are good enough to lock up the tires we race on. They’re good enough for your street car. If you’re turbocharged with 250+hp and drive the car hard, then I’d say an upgrade is probably worth it. Otherwise, your pads aren’t the problem.
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
The ability to lock em up is not a very good test, unless that's how you typically use your brakes when racing.
This reminded me of my first car, a '66 Chevelle with drums. Before I upgraded the shoes, the fastest way to get around corners AND still have brakes after was to stab hard and lock em up before the corner, often meaning I was sliding through corners. Otherwise they'd get hot and pretty much go away completely after one or two hard pushes. Very crude, but it worked and surprised a lot of better handling cars.
Back to Volvo content: I'll mention that I spent a lot of years trying various pads and various rotors (drilled, grooved, etc) and better fluid for the stock calipers in several 240s. Good improvements did come, BUT when I look back at those improvements after doing things like R calipers and 13 inch rotors or Wilwood 4-pot calipers and 12 inch rotors, the difference is absolutely night and day. And my car is strictly a street car, but I do occasionally use 90% of the brakes in very spirited driving when a road comes along that begs for it.
Yo it me!
(spotted...although not by me personally)
Also the real wheel view hurts from this angle. Needs spacers. Although I am hopefully mooting that entire issue with new wheels soon.
I'm beginning to think that the stuff the PO put on just isn't that great and is likely my issue. So I'll be replacing everything and putting in braided lines.
Toybox
mostly lurking
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2018
- Location
- N SF Bay Area
True. I could easily lock all four 9" drums in an old Dart. It was hardly a high performance car, either Go or Whoa.
Tell us more about this "night and day"? I never found stock 240 brakes to be wanting. It's not an exaggeration to say the brakes alone can demonstrate why seat belts are important.
But I'm willing to consider.
Pietercc
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Location
- Stockton,CA
I've burnt up stock brakes while driving home from Mammoth lakes, and driving down Old priest grade from Groveland. Both times I wasn't engine braking much, but an auto car would have had the issue
2manyturbos
Moderator
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
- Location
- Monroe, OR USA
Have you ever driven a car with real brakes? Not Flintstone brakes? Serious question. The difference is immediately noticeable. My S550 Mustang weighs almost 3,800 lb, yet, I guarantee it will out stop any Volvo I have ever driven. And, it does it again, and again and...
2manyturbos
Moderator
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
- Location
- Monroe, OR USA
Pad choice makes a huge difference. I tried Powerstop Z26 street performance pads in my GT because I wanted something that didn't eat my rotors like the Powerstop Track pads did. They are advertised as having better stopping power than the factory Brembo pad and were $75 instead of $240 for the fronts alone. What a crock of s**t. The braking was terrible with the Z26 pads. I went to EBC Bluestuff pads at the recommendation of Sam Strano of Strano Performance. The EBC pads are easy on the rotors, almost dust free and stop like hitting a brick wall.
Toybox
mostly lurking
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2018
- Location
- N SF Bay Area
I think I would need a real car and real tires to go with those real brakes. Serious answer.
But you already knew that, given my comments. Other than the 240s, I come from a world of econoboxes. Sure, I'm curious about driving on a race track, but would likely get laughed off the place, so I don't dare. Well, not to mention the term disposable income is an oxymoron. Not to mention "don't risk your only viable transportation."
This is why I'm asking the questions. Can you (or anyone else) provide a convincing description of what this experience feels like, what it allows you to accomplish, rather than just a string of superlatives? I still don't see the point to increasing stopping power if the car is at the limits of what even a top-of-the-line Grand Touring tire can accomplish, unless I also add ABS which I have mixed feelings about.
I guess I'm kinda looking for a salesman. By the time you add up brakes / rims / tires, this is an investment that could double the purchase price of the vehicle.
Would be good to really understand why it's worth considering... especially when mashing the pedal in a stock 240 will put a nose print on the inside of the windshield...
mopar318
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Location
- Fort Wayne
A lot of use here have wide sticky tires and 600+hp. Stock brakes are fine for stock cars, or even a stripped-out road course car (you aren't THAT hard on the brakes, in those cases)I think I would need a real car and real tires to go with those real brakes. Serious answer.
But you already knew that, given my comments. Other than the 240s, I come from a world of econoboxes. Sure, I'm curious about driving on a race track, but would likely get laughed off the place, so I don't dare. Well, not to mention the term disposable income is an oxymoron. Not to mention "don't risk your only viable transportation."
This is why I'm asking the questions. Can you (or anyone else) provide a convincing description of what this experience feels like, what it allows you to accomplish, rather than just a string of superlatives? I still don't see the point to increasing stopping power if the car is at the limits of what even a top-of-the-line Grand Touring tire can accomplish, unless I also add ABS which I have mixed feelings about.
I guess I'm kinda looking for a salesman. By the time you add up brakes / rims / tires, this is an investment that could double the purchase price of the vehicle.
You’re right that tires are a huge factor in braking performance. If you’re reaching the tire’s traction threshold with stock brakes, adding higher-performance pads or larger rotors won’t improve how fast you can perform an initial hard stop. However, if you are repeating those harder stops in quick succession, the stock pads / rotors will reach their limit more quickly than a physically larger setup.
For example - my V70 R is not fast (in comparison to many other cars on here) but it is decently heavy at ~3,800lbs. The stock 302mmx26mm brakes could stop reasonably hard (meaning at the traction limit with ABS engaged). After upgrading from 205/55/16 all-season tires to 225/45/17 summer tires, the stock 302mm brakes and performance pads had a harder time consistently reaching the tire’s traction threshold on hard stops and would more easily fade from excess heat caused by hard braking.
I then upgraded to 330mmx32mm rotors, which have a far greater thermal capacity, and allows me to make repeated threshold stops without an issue.
2manyturbos
Moderator
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
- Location
- Monroe, OR USA
Not knowing what you own, or drive, or your experiences, my post was serious. Not an attempt at being funny or a put down. Your sig has a Lambo in it. Who knows what you have. So sales pitch: Based on what you said here the stock brakes on a 240 are up to the task. For the vintage of car a 240 falls in to they had excellent brakes compared to other cars of the same period. I have never bothered to upgrade the brakes on a 240 or on my daily driver 940s. The braking is great for a car that is running the size wheels/tires they come with. The Volvo ABS helps quite a bit with braking distances. Greg Ervin's 740 that we used to Autocross had stock calipers and slotted rotors. He may have had special brake pads on it. It worked fine for our needs because it was so light. Stripped down to 2,200 lbs without the driver. That car was on slicks or R-comp tires the entire time we ran it. The harder you push a vehicle the better the braking needs to be. I can head at corners and brake super late because of the brakes that are standard on a Performance Package Mustang GT. It comes with 15" front rotors and 6 piston Brembo calipers. It scares the crap out of passengers the first time they ride along with me.I think I would need a real car and real tires to go with those real brakes. Serious answer.
But you already knew that, given my comments. Other than the 240s, I come from a world of econoboxes. Sure, I'm curious about driving on a race track, but would likely get laughed off the place, so I don't dare. Well, not to mention the term disposable income is an oxymoron. Not to mention "don't risk your only viable transportation."
This is why I'm asking the questions. Can you (or anyone else) provide a convincing description of what this experience feels like, what it allows you to accomplish, rather than just a string of superlatives? I still don't see the point to increasing stopping power if the car is at the limits of what even a top-of-the-line Grand Touring tire can accomplish, unless I also add ABS which I have mixed feelings about.
I guess I'm kinda looking for a salesman. By the time you add up brakes / rims / tires, this is an investment that could double the purchase price of the vehicle.
^This.
