Quote:
Originally posted by BostonRocket
Rave,
Congrats buddy! Whenever you can, could you post some pictures? Thanks!
'Rocket
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I'm sorry I don't have a ton of photos. (Or any photos, for that matter!) This was the first StopTech kit I've installed and I was focused on getting the installation technique down and totally forgot to take any shots. StopTech doesn't have any real nice photos of the kit on their website either.
First impressions of the kit:
The folks at StopTech do know the meaning of the word "ergonomics". The way the kit is boxed up is fantastic. Reminds me of unpacking a Dell computer. The rotors are mounted to a stiff cardboard backing plate and sealed in plastic film. There are
handles that make it easy to lift the rotors out of the box. Very nice touch. All components are very nicely labled, which is great for the novice installers. There are comprehensive instructions, although I did spot a few errors and areas for improvement.
Ron's kit came with Pagid blue pads that were the same form factor as the rear Porsche 993 TT pads on my wife's 540i/6. They are 62.5 square centimeters. This is slightly less than the mov'it front pads which are 75.5 square centimeters. It wasn't obvious from holding it in my hands. I had to go look up the numbers later.
The calipers are very nice looking units and have slightly smaller piston sizes than the mov'it. In theory, that should mean that the pedal feel is stiffer. We took the M5 on a 30 minute drive to break in the pads and rotors, but the traffic was too heavy to do anything other than scare or piss off a few fellow highway drivers. (I wish I lived in New Hampshire again!) We weren't able to do enough cycles of 80 to 5 mph braking, so the brakes didn't really feel that strong. I'm sure they will get better after Ron has put them through their paces. I've been through this before and there is a big difference when the pads are bedded in and the rotors seasoned.
StopTech has a patented bridge design that they claim stiffens the caliper by 30 percent. I believe them. It's a substantial looking piece that's held in by two bolts and it's obvious that it adds structural support to the caliper. Unfortunatly, the bridge bolts are inserted from the inboard side and the lower one interferes with the M5 lower ball joint. This means you need to unbolt the caliper bracket and swing the entire assembly up before you can remove the bridge bolts. This could easily be fixed if StopTech would simply reverse the direction the bridge bolts were inserted into the caliper. Doing that would greatly speed up pad changes. As it is, it's a a bit of a pain. But unless you track the car, you should get at least 50,000 miles per set of pads.
Bottom line - the StopTech kit is a serious competitor to the 320mm offering from mov'it. Pricing is identical, unless you consider that the mov'it kit includes rear lines and the StopTech kit does not. Rear lines are available from StopTech as an extra cost option.
Aesthetics are always a consideration here. Until recently, the mov'it kits had the "Porsche" logo on them. Not any more. Porsche put their foot down and now all mov'it brakes carry their own tasteful logo. The StopTech logo needs some work. The rectangular outline of the logo clashes with the organic form of the caliper and the graphics look dated. I'm hoping that StopTech simplifies the logo and makes it smaller and more complementary to the flowing lines of the beautiful caliper.
The choice of brake kits may come down to wheel fitment issues. The StopTech kit uses a slightly smaller caliper than mov'it and the rotor hat and bracket seem to position everything just a bit more inboard. This means that the StopTech brakes work with stock M5 wheels without spacers. StopTech is better in terms of caliper to wheel spoke clearance. However, the larger diamter 355mm rotor (vs 322 for mov'it) positions the caliper futher out and that means it is more likely to interfere with the barrel of many 17" wheels. I tried to test fit a BMW Style 32 (radial spoke) wheel and it interfered with the inner diameter of the wheel. This wheel won't even work with spacers.
When I get some time, I'll do more test fitting and put together a web page of what works and what doesn't for each kit.
My wife and I enjoyed the chance to get to know Ron (aka Rave M5). He's an interesting guy and a clever inventor with some great product ideas. I hope our paths cross again soon.
STOP TECH's are on!
for mounting them, they look a feel great.
Webmaster 
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