Friday, January 24, 2014

Ford Focus ST Better Braking with Brembo Big Brakes

Our Ford Focus ST project car is 1 year old and with under 3000 miles, she is barely broken in.  With the Agency Power widebody flares, 19 inch Niche 3-piece wheels, Agency Power full power upgrades, and a Cobb Accessport tune, this car is dialed.  But with all this perfection, it is missing 1 thing… Brakes!  If I was ok with Grandma’s 1998 Ford Taurus brakes on this 300 wheel horsepower car, this blog would be done now.  We don’t, we aren’t, we can’t allow that.  Going fast and looking good is one thing, but functionality through the turns is always a way to build a well rounded Vivid car.

To be able to go fast in and fast out, you need a good set of brakes.  Sure some upgrade pads from EBC or Hawk with matching drilled rotors would be nice, but we want neck breaking.  Front wheel drive and front engine means 80% of the braking is done in the front!  Its not the amount of pistons you have, but the rotor surface area, the vanes of the rotor, and how that brake system dissipates heat.  Like many times before on past project cars (M3, CLS63, 997TT, 996TT), we have chosen to go with Brembo.  The Brembo brake system for the Ford Focus ST is a massive 365mm rotor.  The 2 piece rotor with patented floating hardware allows the pads to have true even wear under braking.  The drilled rotor design gives it the cool factor, literally, while the extensive vane construction allows for the primary function of heat dissipation to occur.  The 4 piston monoblock caliper offers extreme rigidity and has been engineered to the needs of the Focus ST.   The calipers are supplied with street performance pads that in our experience, take some real abuse.  As with all Brembo brake kits, steel braided brake lines are included which give the pedal a nice firm feel.

Installation on these brakes is quite simple.  Don’t expect to fit these under the stock Focus wheels though.  The rotor size will require 19 inch wheels.  As far as the price, everything has its justifications.  For function, there is no comparison to having a big brake kit on a car over stock.   This kit comes in around $3000.  But if that is to rich for your blood then Brembo still has your back with their 1 piece slotted brake kit at around $1900.  So how does the kit performance compared to stock?  You will just have to wait for the video on our YouTube Channel so make sure to subscribe!

Check out all our Ford Focus ST Tuning Parts Here

View more photos of this Focus ST Project Car Here


Ford Focus ST Better Braking with Brembo Big Brakes

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