With plans to fit a more powerful engine further down the line, I was keen to source a hefty set of anchors for the MV6. My first instinct was to look at off-the-shelf solutions. Discussions with various companies at home and abroad revealed a number of bolt-on options that I could take advantage of, but I couldn’t help but get the sense that I was being offered ‘show brakes’ in place of some serious stopping power.
Anyone interested in motorsport will know that professional racing teams tend to equip their cars with Brembo, AP Racing or Alcon brake kits. If the output of these manufacturers is good enough for contesting championship title races, then I’m pretty sure that it will be fine for my trusty ol’ Vauxhall! Needless to say, I began to draw up a list of OEM brake kits as supplied by ‘the big three’ to European premium car makers.
BMW E38 four-piston Brembos and Lotus Carlton AP Racing calipers quickly appeared at the top of my hit list, but a chat with Seweryn Sidor (a fellow Irmscher-kitted Griffin owner and proprietor of Cambridgeshire-based Vauxhall specialist, SOS Automotive) opened my eyes to the giant six-piston Brembo stoppers fitted to Porsche Cayenne Turbos. Furthermore, Sew reckoned that he could supply me with suitable caliper brackets made out of aerospace grade billet aluminium. Top banana!
An eBay search produced a reasonably priced – if badly painted – pair of Cayenne Turbo six-pots, and I made contact with EBC Brakes when sourcing pads and rotors. The British firm is a world leader when it comes to the supply and manufacture of precision discs and performance pads, and the EBC team couldn’t have been more helpful when it came to selecting parts that would suit my custom brake kit.
EBC Ultimax Audi A8 Quattro 360mm slotted discs and Cayenne Turbo Yellowstuff pads landed on my doorstep a short while later. As expected, the MV6’s hubs needed to be modified in order to accept the discs (another trip to Sew’s was in order!), but I’m pleased to report that everything bolted into place without issue during a subsequent first fitting session. Well, almost without issue...
The Porker runs 350mm discs, and its six-pot Brembos have a tolerance that will allow for 356mm discs under 18-inch rims. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was pushing my luck with 360mm rotors! I’m determined to get the parts to work alongside one another without complaint, though. A trip back to the machine shop will follow this update. I’m confident in my assumption that success will be the order of the day, and I’ll start overhauling the rear brakes as soon as I’ve got the fronts behaving and painted in a fetching shade of yellow. Watch this space!
THANKSEBC Brakes
01604 583344
http://www.ebcbrakes.comSOS Automotive
01480 700655
http://www.sos-automotive.comYup, they should stop it:
Custom caliper brackets:
Koyo front wheel bearing assemblies. These were modified in order to allow for the use of Audi-fitment EBC discs:
Talking of which...
Test fit with new pad fitting hardware:
I'm really pleased with the outcome of this part of the project. Well, apart from the whole 'disc too big for the caliper' bit! Further modification will follow, and the front and rear calipers will be stripped back and powdercoated yellow before being rebuilt with all new seals etc.
