Powerstop Z26 Street Warrior: Any experience?

[Dynamix]

Hello guys,

the next thing I would like to change about my Alero is the brake. The raybestos brakes that have been installed by the former owner are pretty bad. If you are breaking from about 90-100 mph, the brakes start to warp really really bad. In my opinion, the brakes are to small for such a big car. Even my Peugeot had bigger brakes on the rear axle than my Alero has at the front :eek: I think the warping is affected by overheating, right?

My idea was to install a Powerstop Z26 Street Warrior Set on front and back. The discs are slotted and drilled and should hold out much more heat, right?

Has anyone already had this Kit installed on his Alero? Are there any other discs and pads that could be recommended? I am not planning to do a brake upgrade, cause I want to keep the original 15" rims (at least until I bring myself to buy new rims :D) at the moment.

Any advice would be great! This warping makes me nuts and a bad brake can be really dangerous when you are going 100mph and more on the Autobahn!

[tw0123]

Honestly if you're driving at those speeds i would be upgrading the wheels and doing the brake upgrade... these cars were not made to travel at those speeds and the brakes cannot handle it as you've discovered... no stock replacement equipment will handle those speeds...

[sleepyalero]

No matter what you do for these car, if you brake real hard at 100, you will warp a rotor 90% of the time

[Nas Escobar]

Has anyone already had this Kit installed on his Alero? Are there any other discs and pads that could be recommended? I am not planning to do a brake upgrade, cause I want to keep the original 15" rims (at least until I bring myself to buy new rims :D) at the moment.

Any advice would be great! This warping makes me nuts and a bad brake can be really dangerous when you are going 100mph and more on the Autobahn!

What we do stateside on the Alero concerning upgrading brakes is upgrade to Camaro brakes. This usually involves the front brake calipers of a 1993-2002 Chevrolet Camaro, as well as the pads. Then a 2000-2005 Impala rotor can be used, although you can get the Camaro rotor as well. They have the same part number according to some people, despite the different bolt patterns.

This of course would require an upgrade to 17s. The Alero doesn't have a great brake set up. The Camaro swap is a night and day difference. It would bring your car more in line to autobahn specs.

For the rear, usually nothing is done, but if you want you can always do 2004-2008 Grand Prix GXP rear calipers and rotors.

These parts would have to be sent over to Germany as Pontiac (the brand that sold the Grand Prix) was not sold in Europe. Same for the Chevy Impala. Not sure if you can source Camaro parts in Germany. I know they were sold in Europe, but not sure if parts are easy to find.

[Redog]

Yeah but the problem is, in Germany cars have to have 15 inch wheels, no larger. Fallout Boy told us this a while ago on the forum. The Camaro/Impala front brake upgrade and the GXP rear require 16 inch wheels and the Corvette upgrade requires 17 inch wheels.

I never heard of the Z26 brakes you are talking about. I would at least suggest a set of slotted and or cross drilled rotors and a good set of pads. The OE style brakes and suspension is only rated to 110 MPH, at least here in the states. That's why they are goverened to 108

[Dynamix]

Thanks to all for the answers so far. That means that there are no brakes that there is no chance to find a suitable replacement for the OEM brakes, except the Camaro brake upgrade?

My problem is, that a bigger brake has to be recorded in the car documents. This is also valid for the bigger rims. The TÜV (Technical Control board) here in germany nees to inspect the brakes and this still includes the case that the brake upgrade may illegal as well as the rims.

That means it could happen that I have to pay them hundreds of bucks for a break that is illegal in their opinion. Even if they say it is legal, I can expect a bill of about 3000$ for this registration. In addition, I will have to do the same with the rims even if that should be much easier than the brakes.

It is a shame that the german Aleros only have the 15" rims. These Aleros are goverened at about 126mph, not 108.

[[ion] C2]

yay freedom

[falloutboy]

yeah as the folks already told you, we have gone through this topic years ago.

The main issue Germans (and Americans) have with the Alero are the weird pedal feeling - like a roll of dough
Which has way more and way more complex reasons than we as owners could really fix.
And the warping and shuddering brakes, which are mainly a reason of cheap production and material, which concerns almost every brake dics on the market today.

As I told you a few days back, some way of avoiding the disc warping is to make sure the disc is up to spec from the start, and then mount and fasten it the way DonC described it on the other forum - a bit lengthy to type here again - and doing a proper brake-in procedure which, again, is something most people totally don't do anymore.

As I also said, I never really had warping issues with my brakes (Wagner and Raybestos), but I had rust issues, due to the long periods of standing around outside.

[tw0123]

Julian could you copy and paste the link to that other forum write up on the installation? It would save you writing it all here but still let us see his suggestions as well! That is if it's in English for us to understand haha! :)

[falloutboy]

to be honest, I would have to look it up myself.
Maybe there isn't even one thread that depicts "his" installation approach, rather than a cluster-fuck of posts that came to one in my mind.

And yes, all of it native German :rolleyes2:

alright, I found it after some searching
http://www.motor-talk.de/forum/ebc-scheiben-vorne-haben-nach-ca-30-000km-schlag-t4739929.html#post38669379

[tw0123]

Thanks! I'll try putting it in a Google translator tonight and read up lol!

[Nas Escobar]

Yeah but the problem is, in Germany cars have to have 15 inch wheels, no larger. Fallout Boy told us this a while ago on the forum. The Camaro/Impala front brake upgrade and the GXP rear require 16 inch wheels and the Corvette upgrade requires 17 inch wheels.

I never saw that post. For that I do apologize. I did not realize in Germany, you couldn't even change your wheels. That's pretty sad.

One thing I never tried but I should have is whether or not the 1G W body brakes would fit the N body. The 1st W bodies had dual brake pistons in their caliper standard until the switch to 2G in 1997.

Thanks to all for the answers so far. That means that there are no brakes that there is no chance to find a suitable replacement for the OEM brakes, except the Camaro brake upgrade?

That means it could happen that I have to pay them hundreds of bucks for a break that is illegal in their opinion. Even if they say it is legal, I can expect a bill of about 3000$ for this registration. In addition, I will have to do the same with the rims even if that should be much easier than the brakes.

It is a shame that the german Aleros only have the 15" rims. These Aleros are goverened at about 126mph, not 108.

You are correct, the upgrades to OEM brakes are not very great at all. Slotted rotors and ceramic pads is basically you can do with stock calipers, but the problem is that the N body's caliper is single piston instead of a dual piston. The best way to have a high performance brake system is upgrading to dual piston.

I have the Camaro in question (4th gen) and the braking power is awesome. A quick brake to the floor will almost always activate the ABS because the power is insane.

[Redog]

I agree, the Camaro brakes are awesome. I had a panic stop about a week after install, and DAMN. I seriuosly thought the back wheels came off the ground :eek: Also the 60-0 was much better. The old brakes I would have stopped just past the white intersection line, the upgrade stopped me about 20 feet short of the intersection

[Dynamix]

I never saw that post. For that I do apologize. I did not realize in Germany, you couldn't even change your wheels. That's pretty sad.

One thing I never tried but I should have is whether or not the 1G W body brakes would fit the N body. The 1st W bodies had dual brake pistons in their caliper standard until the switch to 2G in 1997.


Well, you can change your rims in Germany without any problems, as long as they have been tested and proofed uncritical or unsafe. If the rims you like have this certificate, it is no problem to change them as long as they have the same size as before. If you wanna have bigger rims on the alero this will mean that I have to look for a tire size that suits to the new rims. The reason for that is that the speedo will become more inexact if you put on any tire/rim combination.


You are correct, the upgrades to OEM brakes are not very great at all. Slotted rotors and ceramic pads is basically you can do with stock calipers, but the problem is that the N body's caliper is single piston instead of a dual piston. The best way to have a high performance brake system is upgrading to dual piston.

I have the Camaro in question (4th gen) and the braking power is awesome. A quick brake to the floor will almost always activate the ABS because the power is insane.

Well, I am not mandatory needing more stopping power. All I need is a brake setup which rotors dont start to warp after a hard brake like the old ones.

[03glgold]

The rotors are warping because you are overbraking for what the stock system can handle. Because of this extra heat builds up and causes your problem. You need bigger brakes because it causes the system to strain less. The heat that warps your rotors so fast hurts other things. At a certain point brake fluid boils and begins to change composition causing farther braking problems.This is where your pedal feel comes in because IIRC when it boils it creates air in the line and the pedal becomes soft.

[Redog]

16 inch Alero rims. 225/50/16 tires.

That's what they came with here in the US.

However, you will need to upgrade your spare too, if you do this upgrade. The stock 15 inch spare will not fit over the brakes. I tried it out before ditching the spare and picking up a new one.

I just bought a another new one on eBay earier this year. The 2002 Impala spare I had was 12 years old, so I picked up a 2013 Impala spare. Test fitted just fine. Cost all of $50. Considering the tire for the spare is like $115 on Tire Rack, I think I made the right choice :awesome:

[sprocket]

What we do stateside on the Alero concerning upgrading brakes is upgrade to Camaro brakes. This usually involves the front brake calipers of a 1993-2002 Chevrolet Camaro, as well as the pads. Then a 2000-2005 Impala rotor can be used, although you can get the Camaro rotor as well. They have the same part number according to some people, despite the different bolt patterns.

This of course would require an upgrade to 17s. The Alero doesn't have a great brake set up. The Camaro swap is a night and day difference. It would bring your car more in line to autobahn specs.

For the rear, usually nothing is done, but if you want you can always do 2004-2008 Grand Prix GXP rear calipers and rotors.


So not to steal the thread or anything, but would it be possible to just use camero pads and rotors in the rear as well? Since I've bought the car, back in February, the brakes and rotors passed inspection but they really need replaced, and the way I drive, I could use the increased braking power.

I'm looking at these two sets and wondering if they'd work
http://www.pepboys.com/product/details/1171448/00016/parts/brakes_wheel_bearings/disc_brake_kits_front
http://www.pepboys.com/product/details/1171536/00016/parts/brakes_wheel_bearings/disc_brake_kits_rear

[Nas Escobar]

So not to steal the thread or anything, but would it be possible to just use camero pads and rotors in the rear as well? Since I've bought the car, back in February, the brakes and rotors passed inspection but they really need replaced, and the way I drive, I could use the increased braking power.

I'm looking at these two sets and wondering if they'd work
http://www.pepboys.com/product/details/1171448/00016/parts/brakes_wheel_bearings/disc_brake_kits_front
http://www.pepboys.com/product/details/1171536/00016/parts/brakes_wheel_bearings/disc_brake_kits_rear

There is another thread floating around where this has been discussed, but I'll answer anyways....

No, you cannot use the Camaro's rear brake calipers in the Grand Am. You can however use the 2004-2008 Grand Prix GXP calipers, rotors, and pads. The way the caliper mounts for the Camaro is different. You can only use the Camaro's front caliper and pads. I've read speculation about the C5 Corvette's rear brake fitting but no one has done it and posted pictures. Go with the proven method. 4th gen F body front brakes, 3rd gen W body rear brakes.

[That01Olds]

There is another thread floating around where this has been discussed, but I'll answer anyways....

No, you cannot use the Camaro's rear brake calipers in the Grand Am. You can however use the 2004-2008 Grand Prix GXP calipers, rotors, and pads. The way the caliper mounts for the Camaro is different. You can only use the Camaro's front caliper and pads. I've read speculation about the C5 Corvette's rear brake fitting but no one has done it and posted pictures. Go with the proven method. 4th gen F body front brakes, 3rd gen W body rear brakes.

There actually is one person that I know of that did the Corvette brakes both in the front and the rear. A member by the name of leoalero did it on his Alero. He used the brakes from an 08 Z06 for his and I did a little searching and found the thread where they talk about it for anyone who is interested. He mentions that it took him 40 hours of working on it and making his own brackets to make them fit and that was with 20 inch rims on his car. He said you could make them fit 19's or possibly 18's, but they wouldn't fit on the stock 16's. So while it wouldn't be the easiest thing to do, it still can be done lol.

Here's the link to the thread, but keep in mind he's not a very active member so don't get disappointed if you reply to it and he doesn't reply back.

http://www.aleromod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30129&highlight=Corvette+Brake+upgrade

[Nas Escobar]

There actually is one person that I know of that did the Corvette brakes both in the front and the rear. A member by the name of leoalero did it on his Alero. He used the brakes from an 08 Z06 for his and I did a little searching and found the thread where they talk about it for anyone who is interested. He mentions that it took him 40 hours of working on it and making his own brackets to make them fit and that was with 20 inch rims on his car. He said you could make them fit 19's or possibly 18's, but they wouldn't fit on the stock 16's. So while it wouldn't be the easiest thing to do, it still can be done lol.

Here's the link to the thread, but keep in mind he's not a very active member so don't get disappointed if you reply to it and he doesn't reply back.

http://www.aleromod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30129&highlight=Corvette+Brake+upgrade

I've seen that Alero before... I never knew he was a member on here. He's the reason why I wanted to put GTO seats in my Grand Am when I had it. I never realized he had full Vette brakes.

My point is still valid as there's no pictures of someone actually putting them on the way I have pictures of my rear disc swap on my old 2003 GA. At least that way we could gauge the difficulty level of it. I wouldn't want to tell someone "oh yeah, C5 rear calipers will bolt on" only to find that he chewed more than he can handle.

[That01Olds]

I've seen that Alero before... I never knew he was a member on here. He's the reason why I wanted to put GTO seats in my Grand Am when I had it. I never realized he had full Vette brakes.

My point is still valid as there's no pictures of someone actually putting them on the way I have pictures of my rear disc swap on my old 2003 GA. At least that way we could gauge the difficulty level of it. I wouldn't want to tell someone "oh yeah, C5 rear calipers will bolt on" only to find that he chewed more than he can handle.

Yeah man he's been a member longer than both of us lol. He just doesn't post a lot.

This is true and you're right there are no pictures of it being done. Although he did mention in one of those posts that he could show pictures, but idk how in-depth those pictures are or if he even still has them. We can however base the difficulty off of what he said. I mean sure we don't have the pictures to tell us the exact level of difficulty doing this would entail, but I think it's safe to say when he says it took him 40 hours of working on it and having to make his own brackets to make it work that it wouldn't be something very easy to do nor would they just bolt on.

It's one of those things that could be done if you really wanted it, but would take some time, patience, and bigger wheels to do it.

[guiguilandry]

Leo's brakes are mine now... And they barely fit in my 19s... I had to put spacers to clear the wheel

[Nas Escobar]

Leo's brakes are mine now... And they barely fit in my 19s... I had to put spacers to clear the wheel

What happened with his GTO seats?

Would you mind posting pictures of the brackets? Would be interesting to see how modified they are or if they can be sourced from a different car.

[That01Olds]

^This. Any idea or pictures on how difficult it was to swap them over or to make them fit would be a huge help for anyone else looking to do this mod.

Since you have his brakes now though, does he still have his Alero? Or has he moved on?