Project FR-S: Getting Stopping Power with Stoptech Brakes!

Martin places the Trophy Sport Aerorotor in place.  We used a 335mm rotor instead of a 355mm so we could have the option of running 17″ wheels if we wanted to.  Since the FR-S is a small and light car we didn't feel the need to go with super large brakes so we did not want to have overkill and excess unsprung weight.

Martin torques down the Trophy Sport ST40 caliper.  We could have gone to a larger six piston caliper but again we felt that it would be overkill and add excess unsprung weight.  The ST40 has a much larger brake pad area than stock and is exceedingly stiff.  Martin also installed the braided steel brake lines and we bled the brake system thoroughly using Motul 660 brake fluid.

Although show guys might just opt for huge rotors and six piston calipers,we feel that we will have plenty of braking power.  In the car's current trim, we think we can probably get around the track fade free using Stoptech's provided high performance street pads and not have to resort to less rotor friendly race pads.  In our grumpy old age, we don't feel like changing pads at the track.  Like the rear calipers, the front Trophy Sport calipers are FEA optimized and have excess material CNC machined from the standard forged four piston ST40 caliper body realizing an approximate 20% weight reduction with no loss in stiffness.  The calipers feature stainless steel abutments for shielding from the steel pad backing plates and tough hard anodizing.  Trophy Sport calipers also feature high temperature silicone rubber dust boots.  Most racing calipers remove the dust boots as they tend to burn up during track use but this affects seal life on the street.  Silicone boots are a good compromise for a dual use calipers.  The ST40 caliper also has a stiffening bridge assembly that bolts in place on top of the caliper making it perhaps the stiffest caliper on the market.  One thing we love about Stoptech brake kits is that they always have correct hydraulic proportioning.  Stoptech engineers their brake systems to maintain the same piston area ratios as stock so the pedal travel, front to rear proportioning, ABS and stability controls are not impacted.  With today's modern electronically enhanced vehicle dynamics this is pretty important.

Wow those rear brakes really look awesome.  We retained full functionality of the rear parking brake as well.  The rear brakes are about two pounds a wheel lighter than stock.

The front brakes are equally awesome looking.  The front brakes also shave off about two pounds per corner.

It takes a lot to get a car ready for SEMA. After a long day getting the StopTech Trophy Kit installed we catch Martin taking a nap, pretty sure it was around 1:00 a.m. at this point.