There has been a lot of discusion about the factory 1LE brakes, but not too much about any of the aftermarket braking systems. Has any done any of the aftermarket conversions? The Wilwood brakes have four piston calipers and run a little over $600 for the kit. It seems to be about as much as the 1LE upgrade costs.
Any comments on the Wilwood ar Baer brakes?

 

The Baer brake kits start at somewhere around $1100 and go up from there. The Wilwood kits are OK for regular street driving, but are not recommended for road-racing (ie: open-track events). The rotors are too thin and the calipers can't handle the extreme temperatures if you install performance brake pads. It all depends on what you will or won't be doing with your car.

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Greg Westphal
'87 IROC 305TPI/A4

 

Baer emailed me back today and they want around $1000 for their two most basic systems. It looks like I can do the 1LE swap for about $600. I think I'll go with the 1LE. Does someone has a comparison between the 1LE and the baer?

 

The Baer kits are pretty much the same as the 1LE kit except for some minor differences. They both use the dual-piston PBR calipers, although the Baer calipers look a little different (smooth on 1/2 of the caliper where the fins are). Baer has a core charge for the spindles, so you'll have to send your old ones back if you don't want to pay it. They include braided S/S hoses in their kits, but you can buy them from Earl's. You can get either 12" or 13" rotors in the Baer kits, whereas the 1LE only has 12" rotors. I think the rotors Baer uses are a little thicker, but I'm not positive on that one.

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Greg Westphal
'87 IROC 305TPI/A4