AVO Big Brake Kit
 

After much deliberation I have finally recieved and installed my AVO Big Brake Kit. The quality of the kit is great and the job wasn't too hard. There are a couple of minor foibles that I will detail later. On with the pics...

As you can see the larger 330mm rotor looks quite a bit bigger in overall diameter than the standard DBA 650 it is replacing.

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030781.jpg[/img]

These are the brackets that move the caliper out to accommodate the larger rotor.

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030775Medium.jpg[/img]

The rotor is a little thicker than a standard rotor, as can be seen here. Although I am measuring this against the old DBA 650 rotor, it is only 6 month's old and is showing little signs of wear, apart from the heat cracking.

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030783.jpg[/img]

Make your own mind up about rotor thickness...

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030790.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030789.jpg[/img]

The original rotor as it came off the hub. Notice the 2 separate places where the rotor has cracked right through. I did not realise it was this severe.

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030791.jpg[/img]

Bolting up the new brackets. I used a breaker bar and impact hex sockets, to do these up very tight. They were difficult to crack, so I would suggest that anyone else thinking about doing this get something better than an allen key.

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030793.jpg[/img]

This was one of the minor foibles that I was talking about earlier. Unfortunately the caliper does not fit perfectly and fouls against the hex bolt at the bottom. I had to use the grinder to take 1-2mm out of the caliper where it was fouling. There was no mention of this in the manual.

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030797.jpg[/img]

Caliper all mounted up. Note the very small tolerances that these parts are made to. There is a very small gap between the rotor and caliper that is maintained with the new kit.

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030800.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030805.jpg[/img]

Upgrade complete. Note the brake line at the back. Unfortunately the brake line is too short to reach the new mounting position when coupled to the bracket. I can see some braided lines coming up... There is no mention of this in the manual either.

[img]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/gonadman2/P1030806.jpg[/img]

After the job was complete I went for a run around the block. They felt great as the shuddering from the previously cracked rotor was terrible. They were smooth with a nice solid feel. Hopefully after a few bed in km's have been completed I will be able to give them a proper test. Stay Tuned...

now all ya need to do is paint your kalipers gold. :)

Nice write-up!

Whats your expectations from the brakes? Day-to-day driving or occasional Motorkahna/Circuit or semiregular spirited trackwork?

What pads and fluid are you going to run with the rotor?

Looks good dude! not too shabby :)

[QUOTE=maniac]Nice write-up!

Whats your expectations from the brakes? Day-to-day driving or occasional Motorkahna/Circuit or semiregular spirited trackwork?

What pads and fluid are you going to run with the rotor?[/QUOTE]

Well for me the biggest thing is protection from Kamikaze skippys! I do a lot of night driving during winter up here, and having extra stopping power to prevent a mangled front end is a priority.

I have done a few trackday's now and realise the importance of a good braking setup. While I'm sure these are not as good as a 328mm Brembo setup they are a good compromise for the price. A bigger rotor will always result in better heat retention, whether it is thicker, or larger diameter. The larger diameter rotor [B]does[/B] result in extra stopping power on the street, so there is no reason why this should flow onto the track.

At the moment I am using the EBC pads that I had before, just the bed the rotors in. I have some RB74's coming solely for street work. The EBC's have large chunks of pad material missing, and I am surprised at the performace of them. A quick squirt up to 200km/h sees them washing speed off very rapidly. One problem that I have noticed is the rear end does squirm a lot more than it did previously, I'm not too sure what I can do to correct that however.

Overall I am impressed with their performance, and I'm sure it will get better with the new pads. I use Castrol Response Super Dot4 fluid - its cheap and does just as good job as the more expensive stuff!

great write up, some good info.

squirming, yeah, symptom of improved front brakes. not too sure how to fix it other than maybe some more agressive pads on the back?

How much did the kit cost?

I got it for $890 from Tuspeed, [url]www.tuspeed.com.au[/url]

Thats a good site. Why didn't i know it existed? You must have bargained some off the price. Is listed as $935. Good job!

It is! Yea Tu is a good vendor, eager to help and get stuff as soon as he can. I've bought several parts from him now and everything usually arrives before I expect it and at very good prices! Even if he doesn't have something listed he can usually get it too.