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Stuart Taylor brake improvements
John G - 9/9/25 at 05:43 PM

I have a factory built Stuart Taylor with a zzr100 engine. The front and rear brakes are standard ford cast iron calipers and can be quite vague . It is running two master cylinders with a balance bar.
Any advice on getting more feel, stopping power?
Considering a new set of calipers on the rear and possibly some four pots on the front but not sure on which direction to go?
Regards, John

jacko - 10/9/25 at 09:29 AM

As you probably know front brakes are more important then rears I would do them first
G

JAG - 12/9/25 at 07:38 PM

The vagueness you mention is likely due to the brake pads not the calipers.

New brake pads, of a different material, will help.

If you want to reduce the unsprung weight a bit then some sexy looking lightweight calipers are a good way to go. Just make sure you get some with a similar piston area - to maintain the front/rear brake balance

baz-R - 14/10/25 at 11:23 AM

quote:
Originally posted by John G
I have a factory built Stuart Taylor with a zzr100 engine. The front and rear brakes are standard ford cast iron callipers and can be quite vague . It is running two master cylinders with a balance bar.
Any advice on getting more feel, stopping power?
Considering a new set of callipers on the rear and possibly some four pots on the front but not sure on which direction to go?
Regards, John


I'd be very surprised that given most 7's weigh half of the donor cars - my bet is either your very used to servo assistance or your pedal ratio is not right or MC bore diameter is a bit too large

look at your M/C size as possibly too large but most likely your not used to unassisted braking

gremlin1234 - 14/10/25 at 12:58 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jacko
As you probably know front brakes are more important then rears I would do them first
G

as importantly, you really don't want the rears to lockup first.

JoelP - 14/10/25 at 03:47 PM

My mk has a servo, which I feel really helps the braking. You just don't need to press very hard. Suddenly occurs to me though that that won't work if I do decide to stick a Zx9 in instead of the pinto!

Sanzomat - 14/10/25 at 04:49 PM

As mentioned above, the Sierra brakes should have plenty of stopping power on a light 7. My Locost R1 has standard Sierra front and rear and can lock up hot slicks without much trouble when the pads are warm, plenty of feel and progressiveness too. Cold pads are a different matter altogether. I use EBC Yellows and being track focussed they are great when hot but the first couple of prods each session are borderline scary if you don't anticipate it and allow for it. They do still stop okay but need to stand on the pedal. Makes me wonder if you are using a track focussed pad on the road? Especially if you have the vented front discs - the pads would never get to operating temperature! I think on a light car pad choice is super critical and matching the type to your normal usage.

Fancy calipers are great for saving weight (and unsprung weight too so extra nice) but also great for emptying your wallet! In terms of just braking performance I doubt you'd see much difference. They do look nice though!