Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I've had my Wilwoods on my car for a few weeks now and wanted to give it a review. This is Ed's 13" 4 piston kit on my 3500lb Camaro. I am currently using the Wilwood BP-10 pads. Rear brakes are stock discs with fresh Hawks HPS pads and new rotors. I have a adjustable proportioning valve that is set pretty conservatively (front bias).

On the street these brakes feel MUCH better than stock. I now have confidence stopping my car in somewhat dangerous situations. I do have brake groan on slow stops where there is minimal brake pressure. I have tried bedding the brakes several times and had the groan each time. I will be trying Hawks Ceramic pads on the street to see if they are any quieter.

I spent this weekend at Pacific Raceways for a performance driving school. Pacific is a 2.25 mile 10 turn road course. I was not willing to try this kind of event in previous years solely because I did not have confidence in my brakes.

On the track these things are fantastic. I put 60 track miles on the car with no hint of brake fade. This includes a 130 to 60 slow down for turn 2. Brake feel and modulation was excellent. Again this is still with the BP-10 street pads. I do not feel I need to use full race pads unless I go to r compound tires or get a bunch more horsepower. This is great because I don't have to do pad changes at the track.

I did have some fit and finish issues with Wilwood. I will not go into details as it seems most users of this kit have not had the same issue. In any case it was a Wilwood issue. Everything from Ed was great.

With that said I'd highly recommend this kit to someone who is looking for bang for the buck brake kit ($1000).

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/...e3f9e62b_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1278/...fc66e16223.jpg

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Good stuff man glad to hear all worked out well with Ed. I am currently waiting for him to call me back so I can order a full C6 Z06 kit from him. Hopefully I hear back by early next week.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Thats so cool that the fit under a stock wheel.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I also have the same "brake groan" in same situation described but i was assuming it had somthing to do with slotted rotors. I have ls1 setup with hawks hps pads on my 87 also was stock on my 02 WS6 with hawks pads and they both did it.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Who is "Ed"? Any links?

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

wow, how did I miss this thead, thanks for taking the time to post your results op.

this is the exact set up I'd want to put on my bird and still retain the stock formula wheels.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Update.

Brake groan has stopped. I guess it just took a few extra miles to get fully broken it.

As for bird wheels. Make sure they fit. I know some bird wheels do not work, like the crosslace wheels.

Link for Ed's company.

http://www.flynbye.com/

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I have the same brakes except with the 2 piece slotted rotor with aluminum hats. I concur..just did a track day on a 4.2 mile course this past weekend and they preformed excellent. I am sad to hear you say the crosslace wheels dont work with these brakes... those would be the "GTA" wheels correct? That was going to be one of my future purchases for the unsprung weight savings. bummer

oh ya. i have brake groan as well

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

ed has a kit for the gta wheels, but using a smaller 12.2 rotor. but 2 pc rotors.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

These are the wilwood 12.2" rotors and FBSL 4 pistons under the GTA wheels. There's not much extra room! This isn't Ed's kit but one I cobbled together myself. It uses most of the same parts as his. When I started this project Ed didn't have these kits ready for delivery (I've been working on this car for 14 years!) If I were doing it now, I would buy a kit from Ed!

As far as groan on this setup: I started with HPS pads and the nise at slow speeds was unreal! Switched to BP-10s and it's very quite now.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I am just in the process of upgrading my front brakes and have some ??
Does this kit include spindles hubs rotors calipers in other words a strait bolt on ?
How would my bias be in my 89 Iroc,i have the 9bolt 11.65 discs J65 option in the back maybe i would need a valve to adjust bias ?

best regards Mats

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

yes this would be a straight bolt on. Everything needed is included. Wouldn't be a bad idea to get the 1le prop valve from Ed as well. I dont know for sure that there is a big difference between what valve you have and the 1le, but I think it could only help.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I'm not sure. I run a Wilwood adjustable valve.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Are you concerned at all with understeer on brake application in corners. It would seem that your stock rear brakes are no match for those excellent looking Wilwoods. Ive had miriad problems with my stock rear discs. The integral prarking brake is a very poor design.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I use a wilwood adjustable prop valve to correct the bias. I have not noticed any understeer under braking. Although I must admit I try to avoid heavy braking and heavy turning at the same time. I did not have any bias issues at the track.

Since getting the wilwood adjustable prop valve, I don't seem to have the same problems with the rear brakes as everyone else. I think most of the problems people have are related to the extreme front bias of the stock prop valve. The parking brake issues also seems to be related to the lack of use of the rears. My parking brake is not great, but it does work OK.

With that said, as soon as someone comes out with a Wilwood kit for the 9-bolt, I will be getting it. I will not be getting a mismatched (corvette, Lt1, LS1, baer, whatever) rear kit, unless the rears become ineffective at the track, maybe with slicks.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Thanks for the reply 87350IROC, I am planning on installing the same front brakes on my 87IROC. I really want to upgrade the rears along with the fronts, especially since my rears are terrible. I installed all new calipers, pads and rotors 30K miles ago and have had nothing but trouble with the rear brakes. I really dont want to spend any more money repairing the stock system either. Dont you think that even the C5 parts would be better on the back?

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Hey Hey Hey, I just found Wilwood's list of rear brake sets. They make a 4 piston rear caliper that appears to match their FSM fronts perfectly. I seem to suck at posting attachments but I found Wilwood's site with a Google search. Check it out!

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

As far as I can tell though, no kits available for the 9 bolt.

I think the corvette rear brakes would work fine. I just didn't want to mix and match wilwood front / corvette rear just for aesthetic reasons. However I would still try an adjustable prop valve on your setup before you spend the big bucks on the corvette brakes. Like I said, it worked magic on my car.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Did your kit come complete with spindles? Or did you have modify yours?

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Sorry doc, I forgot to get back to you.

Yes, my kit came with spindles. I think all of Ed's kits come with them. In fact if you want, he can send them to you fully assembled on the spindles already.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Thanks, Im ready to order today. How do I find Ed? I was on his co's website before but forget the name.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

His site is

http://www.flynbye.com/index.html

Be aware he is a bit slow to respond and it will probably take a few weeks to get a kit out to you.

I found it best to call him.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I called and left a message. I also PM'd him. Im anxious to get started on the job but I dont want to harass the man either. Lol. Thanks for your help.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Is the .300" increase in offset noticeable visually?

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I'm working on PMs and e-mail, be aware that I may not get back to you immediately but I try. Working nights, 72hrs a week, etc....busy fellas, sorry.

The .300" is hard to notice, barely the width of a finger.

I will assemble a matching Wilwood rear setup, possibly with LS1 or C5 e-brake mechanisms when I can get to it, likely next month. I'm still working on the 9 bolt rear Wilwoods, 5G SS Brembos, and C5s at this time but won't get to closing them out until Thanksgiving or so.

Ed

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! I feel like a kid at Christmas. Spoke with Ed this morning. Yes he is a busy man and I have such deep appreciation for his hard work. He makes it possible for us to have state of the art braking systems on our 3rd gens. We all know the OE brakes was one severe shortcoming on our beloved cars. He also lets us have these awesome brakes at a very affordable price. $1,850 for four wheels. Wow!

I can hardly wait to get busy installing these pieces. I ordered the 13" Wilwood set for the front and the LS1 rears. Ed even found a set of black powercoat LS1 calipers for me to match the WWs. In the future when Ed does get a WW set together for the rear, I can envision swapping calipers while retaining the remainder of the rear setup. With these brakes, my beasty will finally be complete.

Well, complete that is, except for all the other tricks Im bound to perform on her as time and money allow. Being on this forum I constantly find more fun things to do to her. Oh boy!

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Just heard from Ed today. My brakes are on their way. It's been a wait but well worth it. You cannot find brake kits like these for our cars anywhere. And the price is great. I've had a chance to do alot of great work on the IROC this winter and she's sweet. These brakes will be the crowning touch to her for the show/race/touring season this year. Ill post photos after they're installed.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

just recieved my new spindles from Ed at FlyN'Bye today. What gorgeous work. These pices dont look llike reworked OE but more like brand new custom. The fab work is perfect. And with brand new zinc plated hubs. Soon I'll be bedding my new brakes.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Nice. What pads and rotors did you go with?

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Whatever comes with the kit. I didn't specify and they aren't here yet. I spoke with Ed yesterday and he was just shipping them. Did you special order your slotted rotors?

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Yeah I special ordered them. They look nice but they have been the hardest set of rotors to keep quiet than any other I have used.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Agreed.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/...b1c76606_b.jpg

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Ed (and Wilwood) does some real nice stuff - might get one of his setups for my next thirdgen project. I want to point out that there are a few good choices for high performance braking systems for your thirdgen - I run a Baer track system on my 84 (since 1997!) and it was an incredible jump up in braking performance over stock, even better kits are on the market today.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

paul,

The Baer track kit is nice, and probably the only kit available in '97. I feel its way overpriced right now though.

The track kit is $1450. That is for corvette c5 2 piston sliding calipers. Ed sells a 12.75"x1.25" C5 kit for $950. Thats a lot of profit.

Now Baer's new monoblock calipers are beautiful, but very pricey.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I agree with 87350IROC. Most quality aftermarket brake offerings for the 3rd gen are pricey. I never meant to say that aftermarket brakes aren't available. Just that they are pricey and require fabrication to fit our 3rd gens. Baer's track kits dont compare with the Wilwood FSL 4 piston fixed calipers. And at $1000 including spindles, you can't touch the price.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Absolutely - great bang for the buck, can't agree more.

Although I will say that in terms of performance, a good 2 piston kit is pretty darn close to a 4 piston one with the same size rotors. When I put the kit on my car I did some testing and it was stopping from 60mph in 100 to 105ft all day long, FYI.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Im sorry if it seemed as if I was criticizing your brake choice. I certainly didn't mean to. I'm sure those brakes are fabulous. Especially compared to the anemic OE offerings. I can barely drive my car. Double the factory HP and it takes all I have sometimes to stop it. Scary.

You will hear me often singing the praises of FlyN'Bye Performance. Ed is wonderful to deal with and he really does produce the best brake options I've seen yet for the 3rd gen at unbelievable prices. I still can't believe the brakes I got for $1,850.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Don't feel bad - I am running almost 4 times the hp my car came from the factory with (550 vs 150) and I have no trouble stopping pretty darn well.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Resubscribing

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

It's taken some time to get this all together. In the meantime I've done some nice upgrades over the winter. Finally, I have my Wilwood calipers in my hand. These are beautiful peices. I can't believe what FlyN'Bye gives for the price. Ed says my rotors will be here by month's end and I'll be installing and enjoying these excellent brakes.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Today is the day that I finally installed my new front brakes. The 13" rotors with 4piston Wilwood calipers. The job went so smoothly. I did have to make shims to properly align the calipers and rotors but this was a small setback.

The first side took maybe 2 hours with setting up the alignment and deciding on the routing of the brake hose to avoid contact with the wheel. The second side took 30 minutes. I look at my wheels now and I see big fat brakes and sweet Wilwood calipers. Once I break these babies in, I know that when I step hard on the wide pedal, my car will stop quickly. Heck, it will stop as well as it goes, and that's quick.

These brakes are absolutely beautiful. And the price is unbelievable. Ed and FlyN'Bye come through once again. BRAVO!

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Excellent. Pictures?

Also be sure to check the alignment of the top of the pad to the edge of the rotors. My original BP-10s overhung and edge of the rotor.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

You know? I completely overlooked that. I got the clearances perfect from front pad to rear pad. I will check for overhang today.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I have 1/8" of rotor surface outside the pads on both wheels. About perfect I would say.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Sounds good. Mine was about 1/16" the other way.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

I just recieved my rear rotors for the LS1 kit. I already wish they were 13". They will still be far better than the Delco Moraines.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Anyone have a comparison with the 14" Brembo 5th gen brakes?

Also, what Rotors does the Wilwood kit use? What options do you have for a replacement?

I am seriously considering the Wilwood kit now. My brakes suck.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

The 14" kit requires minimum 18" wheels. The Wilwood kit fits stock 16" IROC wheels and uses '97 vette rotors. They are available in any style you like(smooth, slotted, cross drilled, slotted & cross drilled) and since the kit includes hubs that convert the crummy stock one piece hub&rotor to a seperate hub and slap on rotor, changing rotors is easy.

The stock brakes do suck even without serious mods to the car. When you build a serious motor like I have, you really feel the deficiency. These 13" brakes, even as I am breaking them in, already feel very capable. With good rear brakes to match, the car will stop as well as it goes.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

No pictures. I was too focused on installing the brakes. I had thought of grabbing my digital camera but never took the time. I guess it would have been kind to others to have created a photographic installation guide. I will say again that Ed's fit and finish of these parts is excellent. Still can't believe the value of this kit.

Re: Ed 13" Wilwood 4 Piston kit review, with track time
 

Shame on you for not taking before/during/after pics!

I would love to see some pics and know how they work, as I hate my Delcos. You know what I mean, stopping is a gamble. I can't believe GM got away with leaving these products on the road.
I can't afford $1800 brakes, but it wouldn't take much to better what I have. It's good to know Ed was good to work with, thanks for the report.