Early on, drag racers learn shaving that weight will make your car or truck accelerate, turn and even stop quicker. Basic science tells us that it’s easier to move a lighter object and this is especially true when starting from a dead stop like in drag racing. Now, when the component is something that rotates, we can see even bigger gains in performance by reducing weight, or as it’s called, rotating mass.
One place where you can find performance is in the braking system.
Stock brakes, especially on modern cars, are often quite heavy. Manufacturer’s design braking systems to meet the need of all types of conditions and driving styles. This means your car likely has robust rotors and big calipers, as they can handle repeated stops on a full-weight vehicle without glazing or fading. But if you’re predominately drag racing, you may not need massive brakes.
Baer Brake Systems SS4+ Deep Stage Drag Race brake kit is often perfect for those looking to run quick on track but still have brakes suitable for daily driving. The kit is easy enough to bolt on in your driveway, is affordable, too.
Baer makes SS4+ Deep Stage Drag Race brake kits for a wide range of vehicles and they are available at SummitRacing.com.
“The kit was developed was developed to be straight forward,” said Bill Fowler VP of development at Baer Brakes. “We wanted to design a lighter brake package that allowed 15-inch wheels on modern cars and some trucks. The kit uses four-piston calipers so it can put the squeeze on the rotor at the track or on the street. In fact, it can stop cars in 7s [in the quarter mile] without a parachute. Major benefits are reduced weight in the caliper and reduced centrifugal mass. We still use a more traditional vented rotor on the front that will keep you safe in any kind of road driving conditions. They won’t fade and you get a brake upgrade over traditional braking performance,” he added.
Baer’s SS4+ kit includes attractive 4-piston, S4 calipers, 11-inch 2-piece slotted, drilled, and zinc plated rotors and all the mounting hardware. The calipers feature DOT-compliant dust and weather seals and use the popular DR1 or HB100 type brake pads.
“The calipers are assembled with 10mm cross bolts for maximum stiffness, stainless steel abutments and noise suppression springs, hard anodized aluminum pistons and have an internal crossover design, dual seals (dust/weather and pressure) to meet DOT specifications and a machined logo that is hand painted,” added Fowler. Rotors are pre-assembled with NAS high-grade stainless hardware, and the kit uses common 4-piston pads for easy replacements.
“The SS4+ Deep Stage system is the first drag race system designed specifically for heavy, fast cars that might also see street use,” stated Fowler, “In addition to a well-thought-out design, we used a square seal that causes the pistons to retract as soon as you get off the brake pedal. This eliminates drag and gives you extra performance. The caliper is a two-piece unit that’s fully machined in Phoenix, Arizona, and we make everything right here at Baer. We even make the pistons from stainless steel alloys for the calipers. The body of the caliper is forged, machined, and then finished with powder coating that is offered in silver, black or red colors, but they are available in a full range of colors for a small upcharge from our Baer Custom Shop. And the 11-inch SS4+ Deep Stage system fits most 15-inch and larger wheels, too,” he added.
We followed True Street and Tremec Stick Shift Shootout competitor Jeff Smith who upgraded the stock brakes on his Competition Orange SVT Cobra with combination of the Baer SS4+ Deep Stage Drag Race front kit (PN BAE-4261376C) and EradiSpeed rotors on the rear. Smith’s Mustang has run low 9s, but he’s looking for every advantage on his street-driven Cobra. Smith turned to VMP Performance in New Smyrna Beach, Florida for the install.
“Smith will notice a reduction in weight and not give up any braking performance,” said Fowler. “We offer our bolt-on kit for the front, but on the rear of 1999-2004 Mustangs with an IRS, the only thing available is a rotor swap. In this case we recommended the EradiSpeed rotors, which are lighter than stock and use a proprietary material with a higher co-efficient of friction for better braking. On a non-IRS Mustang we offer a single-caliper or a staging brake, which is a dual caliper. The advantage on the latter is for greater control of staging, especially on big-power turbo cars,” he added.
The SS4+ Deep Stage Drag Race front kit proved to be affordable and lightweight, and offers a nice level of customization/personalization. Everything was included for a quick and easy install, save for brake fluid (you’ll need to bleed the brakes once you’re finished).
And as we mentioned, Baer offers kits for a variety of vehicles, so head to SummitRacing.com for more details.
Comments