AP Racing appreciation - brake, clutch, pedal box, air jack masters

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by mdosu

truth, beat it like it owes me money.

HA HA HA! I'm a fan of a particular commedian LOL

http://youtu.be/kKhf-BZ7uBE

[Halitosis]

Originally Posted by coctostan

It is inaccurate to say that PFC has inferior tech. In fact they easily go head to head with AP in NASCAR, ALMS and Grandam. In fact they have won a few championships in Grandam and NASCAR. They do have far fewer applications for sure and I'm not knocking AP in any way. PFC doesn't spend much to market their calipers because they don't have any consumer offerings although that is changing somewhat.

The advantage to PFC is that their consumer grade stuff is much closer to their race stuff than most others (not many other consumer kits use monoblocks). Of the AP and Brembo kits I've seen for street cars and weekend racers few have anything in common with their race tech. It is still good quality and I would run them for sure.

AP does have a corner on the esoteric market of F1 and LMP but we could be waiting decades for that to trickle down.

Nice thread though and awesome pics. How fun it would be to squeeze the binders on these works of art.

Coctostain, I appreciate your insight but as I had stated it was simply what I had read with regards to PF's caliper designs trailing behind the others. Right or wrong, I'm not sure.

They definitely have their foothold in Nascar, Grandam, Formula Nippon, and others and have won their share of prestigious championships as well from what I have seen/read. Take note that I am far from a brake expert so I am merely regurgitating a lot of what I read online. I am just an AP whore at heart.

Akebono appears to be coming up the ranks as well having their braking systems utilized on the Mclaren MP4-12C GT3 and Lexus LF-A race cars.




Also, I did consider PF's no nonsense Z33 setup for my BMW before 'settling' on a bespoke AP setup. Since I err more towards the aesthetics side (without giving up quality and engineering of course), I opted for a 'prettier' looking caliper and disc combo.

[Mahzari]

Not to take anything away from this thread, but Pagani uses Brembo brakes

[LOVEM]

Mazingly Beautiful. Thanks To Op.

[conradb]

Dang.

[atopa2002]

Originally Posted by Halitosis

Coctostain, I appreciate your insight but as I had stated it was simply what I had read with regards to PF's caliper designs trailing behind the others. Right or wrong, I'm not sure.

They definitely have their foothold in Nascar, Grandam, Formula Nippon, and others and have won their share of prestigious championships as well from what I have seen/read. Take note that I am far from a brake expert so I am merely regurgitating a lot of what I read online. I am just an AP whore at heart.

Akebono appears to be coming up the ranks as well having their braking systems utilized on the Mclaren MP4-12C GT3 and Lexus LF-A race cars.




Also, I did consider PF's no nonsense Z33 setup for my BMW before 'settling' on a bespoke AP setup. Since I err more towards the aesthetics side (without giving up quality and engineering of course), I opted for a 'prettier' looking caliper and disc combo.

"Jesus"

[e679]

Originally Posted by EAS

Might have to agree with you there.

You absolutely right👍

[speedfan]

*bookmarked*
Definitely 1 of my favorite threads.
AP racing is my choice for a BBK for sure.
Rock & roll on a set of AP racing definitely makes you stand out from the crowd.

[Beedub]

ok heres mine....

really pleased to see my actual caliper used in a few of the super-car pics listed!!!
excuse if their are some randoms ones in this post as im copying and pasting from a build thread on my iphone :-) This break setup is without doubt very serious, i love the scraper system dust seals, it was even lighter on every corner than stock bmw items.

[Halitosis]

From Turbocelica.nl

AP headquarters in Coventry, England. Groupon trip here anyone?


Design department


Pressure testing -
"In case of new parts, plastic mock-ups are made to check actual fitment on the vehicle. Next up the prototype parts get fabricated and tested. To test calipers they are connected to a brake line to simulate braking. The test cycle of such a test is 500,000 with a specified line pressure applied plus end load applied to simulate brake torque. This test is carried out on three separate calipers, after which they are burst tested to destruction."


"Calipers and discs are also tested on a dyno where the caliper stops a spinning disc instead of clamping an aluminium block like in the pressure test. This way the actual braking force under different (brake) temperatures can be measured. Pictured below is the spectacular test of a carbon/carbon brake setup using a single piece racing caliper"


"If all tests turn out ok, the parts are taken into production. The production process of all brake parts takes place within the AP Racing complex. After the 'AP Racing' or car manufacturer's logo and other information is machined into the caliper parts they get coated and painted in the final colours. In the main workshop calipers are being built, inspected and stored. Brake discs and bells are bolted together and all parts are packed for shipment in another part of the workshop. While walking along the heart of the plant I was amazed by the number of parts everywhere.."




"Overhauling various special parts like huge Bugatti Veyron calipers and tiny (97 mm diameter) Formula 1 carbon clutches also takes place here and that shows the many motorsport parts AP Racing offers. It's not brakes alone that are impressive to see. WRC pedal boxes and clutches, it's all functional art really. What I wasn't aware of is that besides upgraded units, AP Racing also produces quite a lot of OEM clutches for various road going cars; interesting!

After seeing and feeling the various motorsport parts our guided tour ended. It was very interesting to see the passion involved in being one of the leading and most successful manufacturers in motorsport brake and clutch parts*. AP Racing stickers everywhere, lots of interest for the installation of my setup, it's just cool to see really."

[Beedub]

been to that very factory many a time, its an awesome place!!!

[Halitosis]

Originally Posted by Beedub

ok heres mine....

really pleased to see my actual caliper used in a few of the super-car pics listed!!!
excuse if their are some randoms ones in this post as im copying and pasting from a build thread on my iphone :-) This break setup is without doubt very serious, i love the scraper system dust seals, it was even lighter on every corner than stock bmw items.

Thanks for sharing your setup on the Z4M Roadster Beedub. Glad to hear you are a fan of their 4-wheel Formula kit. ESS supercharged to boot! Definitely a serious road and track toy you got there.

I'm jealous you got to visit the headquarters. Is it open to the public or special access needed?

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by Halitosis

Thanks for sharing your setup on the Z4M Roadster Beedub. Glad to hear you are a fan of their 4-wheel Formula kit. ESS supercharged to boot! Definitely a serious road and track toy you got there.

I'm jealous you got to visit the headquarters. Is it open to the public or special access needed?

ring ahead and they'll open it up if your a customer, i took my calipers directly to the factory to have anti knock back springs installed... while they did it for me ( FREE) i had a little tour, its around 40 mins from my house.

The detail even to the road kits is staggering!! theirs even a little area to apply your heat range stickers, nice detail ;-).... awesome items!!

thanks for the comments on the car.... its very serious indeed, the brakes are probably one of my favourite parts of the package, they haul down every single time what my 500hp car can throw at them.... never once showed signs of fade BUT...

they are noisy, crap when cold, cover my whole car in dust, but i LOVe them, mine are in option only enamel red paint.

again really cool to see my actual caliper used on some supercars. Thanks for the comments bro.... appreciate that

[jqsmooth]

At the risk of sounding naive, I thought BRembos were the best brakes that money can buy. I just got schooled.