On the STR 2007 the Brembo brakes were dropped, Why? anybody know ? was it due to cost as the brakes that are now fitted are the same as fitted on the XF. Would there be any advantage in fitting Brembo brake calipers and pads to a 2007 STR, Would I gain anything in fitting better brakes. Are Brembo Brakes better than the standard OEM brkaes on my STR. All help appreciated.

 

Hi MACSTR,
Althoug my S type is N/A, I can chime in as I've managed to learn way more than I initially wanted regarding the Brembo setup.

Keep in mind, I am planning on upgrading my Front brakes only. This should be similar to your 07 STR.

I am going to need:

Rotors- Brembo uses 365mm in front
Calipers- Obviously
Steering knuckles- The brembo calipers bolt directly onto the steering knuckle which is different on the >2005 MY STR and it is different on N/A versions

Caliper bolts are also required


Apart from that, you can find used sets of calipers online for a good price.

Maybe someone else can give their opinion on the performance of the brembos.

 

They probably are better, but the cost of changing is horrific so doubt it's worthwhile.

The rears have a separate EPB caliper, too. (And check whether solid/vented disks...)

I bet it was cost.

 

Excluding labour I believe we could be talking about £3k. I have just been emailed by a friend who says he knows that I am wasting my time and will not gain any benifits from changing from the OEM setup. The reason that Jaguar changed was that they became too expensive to fit after I think 2005-06 so they were dropped.

 

You want a full set? you'll need what Gabriel suggests in his list.

Performance v expense, this depends on what you spend, but they're good, don't fade, are susceptible to warping (favourite is coming down from high speed to dead stop holding the pads on the rotors, not ideal) They squeal at low speed stops but copperslip/anti chatter pads help here.

Maybe contacting the likes of EuroJag and all the other usual breakers and see what they have, or more importantly what they charge

 

This is the crux of the matter- to be 'better' they must outdo the stock brakes.

AFAIK, the stock brakes are capable of activating the ABS during hard stops time after time with no fade and with reasonable pedal pressure. If true, the brakes are not the weak link and a swap to Brembos will not improve anything.

 

Which ones squeal? Not the Brembos. At least, they shouldn't and mine don't.

 

Most squeal can be attributed to an installation issue... The other cause is build up of material on the rotor.. Re-bedding the brakes usually clears that up..

I shrunk your quote, Mikey, but totally agree.

Jaguar changed brake suppliers for the "06" models (that I assume came out in 05 in the UK). This was across the whole line. Pre-06 base cars had two piston calipers that were dropped to single piston. The R lost the Brembo's and received two piston front calipers.

While initially regarded as "man they went cheap" change, go ahead and search brake performance issues on 06+ cars and you will pretty much come up empty handed. They are fine...

So, really the only reason to spend thousands would be to get pretty "Brembo" stickers on your calipers... Another thing to remember, just like "premium car parts", "premium brake parts" will be more money. Why spend more for pads and rotors if what you have is fine?

Just my 2 cents...

Funny thing is this comes up on the LX forum all the time. SRT8's came with Brembo's and people talk of changing over their base cars to them.. and again, it is really not that much better than the standard brakes..

 

I think the reason most people are wanting to change is due to the bling factor. Not much is sexier than a set of 4 pot fixed calipers peeking out from behind a wheel.

 

Ding, Ding, Ding, Perfect answer Mike.
Exactly what I think.
FYI, I was poking about a $140,000.00 XKR-S last week at the dealer and it does NOT have Brembo's, just Jag brakes, that puppy puts out some serious HP so stopping must be a huge consideration.

 

Ya not to bring up another brand, but even BMW doesn't put fixed piston calipers on their ///M cars (except the 1 series M)

 

My old Corvette has fixed four piston calipers on each wheel- (16 pistons total) and relatively huge ventilated rotors front and back. Braking performance is on a par with just about any car today with tires and traction being the limiting factors. Yet- the boy racers just can't wait to toss all that hardware in the garbage and 'upgrade' the car to single piston floating calipers. Most times they can't be talked out of it either.

 

I've never liked floating calipers. That sliding pin is always an issue if it doesn't slide real well and that has happened to me.

I've both styles on my cars and the fixed caliper four or more piston design works darn well. I have racing Brembos on my track car and changing pads on that is almost identical to changing the pads on the STR. Very easy. Same thing for my mid 1980s Maserati that uses fixed four piston calipers same as the BMW of that era.

There are aftermarket rotors for the STR Brembo equipped cars that are reasonable too. With 33K miles I haven't had to do that as yet. Just a set of Akebobo pads.

That being said I don't think I'd convert a later STR to Brembos even if is possible?

 

Are the Bembo's better? Yes but on the street with regular drivers you won't know the difference.
Yes Jaguar did it to save money.

Tires make the biggest difference in stopping distance. Put some good low wear rated tires on 180 or less and you will swear it's a different car. Try UTQG's of around 100 for even more stick!
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I do not think that is that difficult of a project to undertake. I am pretty sure that the front knuckles are all the same on the pre and post Brembo STRs.
The caliper mounts on the front knuckle are not symmetrical about the hub center. Therefore the calipers mounts have unequal spacing. (see attached image) If you are serious about this you need to do some P/N research and find out what else changed besides the calipers. - Rotor? Did they change the rotor offset between caliper changes? Hubs?
ABS Module? - You need to calculate the piston area in the Brembos and compare the area to the piston area in the current Caliper. If they are within 10% then you should be good to go. If they changed the ABS module, then you could have additional issues.

As far as I can tell for the front brakes, this is all that should need to be changed.

STR Brembo Calipers $400 to $600 used
Pads $150 to $175
Good quality Front Rotors $400 to $600.
New flexible SS brake lines $100 to $200.

If you plan on only driving the car on the street, then this upgrade really wont do much for the overall performance of the car. BUT! if you plan on driving on the track, or autocross, or drive where you have continuous hard acceleration followed by heavy braking, so brake fade will occur, then it would be worth considering.

 

just in case anyone is interested. On the attached image on the left is a stock STR caliper and rotor, on the right is the 8-Piston Brembo caliper and 15" rotor that is going on my 2000 S-Type Conversion project.

2000 S-type Rotor diameter = 300mm
STR Brembo Rotor Diameter = 365mm
New Front Rotor = 380mm