caliper paint vs. covers vs. nothing

C

CuriousGeorge

Well-Known Member
Several folks here have painted their brake calipers, but has anybody opted instead for aluminum or plastic covers? Or, are any of these even worth it with tentacle spoke wheels?

I like the idea of a bit of energetic yellow peeking through black wheels, but not sure I'm willing to invest either the time (painting) or money (aluminum covers). A potential upside to covers is that they are claimed to reduce brake dust deposits, which if true might be a motivation.

ETA: I see that there are also vinyl wraps, but I can't imagine that is a very good option for a complex, rough metal object that experiences high heat (maybe the vinyl melts into a nice coating? ;)).
 
I looked at all the options and ended up ordering G2 paint before I took delivery in August, but I have yet to apply it. I’ll likely get to it at spring tire swap time. The videos online show that the high-heat wraps are very effective and fairly easy to do overall, but I opted for black paint because I’ll be wearing Power Spokes eight months a year and they hide the innards for the most part. In winter, nobody’s noticing details like that up here. I likely would've gone with a complementary color if I had Tentacles or another slim spoke wheel set.
 
Thanks for the feedback. After watching a video on vinyl film installation, I'm not convinced that it has much, if any, advantage, over paint.

So, call me lazy, but I'm still intrigued by plastic covers, at least if they can be had in energetic yellow. I did find one company that offered custom colors at no additional cost, but 1) they were $230, and 2) whether they could actually match the paint code is unknown.
 
Yikes. At that price I’d save up a “bit” more and get JCW Brembos or some other BBK. ;)
 
I’m smiling, because while I’m envious of your JCW big brakes, I’m also realizing how little use they will actually get in day-to-day driving on the SE. :)
 
CuriousGeorge said:
Several folks here have painted their brake calipers, but has anybody opted instead for aluminum or plastic covers? Or, are any of these even worth it with tentacle spoke wheels?

I like the idea of a bit of energetic yellow peeking through black wheels, but not sure I'm willing to invest either the time (painting) or money (aluminum covers). A potential upside to covers is that they are claimed to reduce brake dust deposits, which if true might be a motivation.

ETA: I see that there are also vinyl wraps, but I can't imagine that is a very good option for a complex, rough metal object that experiences high heat (maybe the vinyl melts into a nice coating? ;)).
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Covers degrade heat transfer, the brakes will run hotter. Probably not a street issue for the SE, don't think there is much towing. Brakes may fade quicker when Auto-crossing, however.
 
SameGuy said:
I’m smiling, because while I’m envious of your JCW big brakes, I’m also realizing how little use they will actually get in day-to-day driving on the SE. :)
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My initial opinion of the SE brakes was they are a little underpowered. I put EBC red on the front, yellow on the back. That added the missing effort. Red/yellow combo adds more to the back than the front. I felt the balance was a little too front biased.

I have never seen a cover that I liked, which is the polite version.
The EBC pads have them my brakes at a good enough level for me. Though I've just added TW200 tyres for cone dodging, so I may revise that opinion.
 
@azausa I have always had modified cars. I work in the business and love cars in general, and have been lucky to always have interesting ones.

The car at present is set up for fast road use but will get some different coilovers and wheels/tires in the spring. Brakes are spectacular and really are a big part of the car's capabilities but far overkill for the majority of drivers. I plan on trying to auto-x this when its out of warranty, which most people aren't. I see about 4.1mi/kwh in winter and as high as 4.4mi/kwh in summer and that's with fairly spirited driving conditions.

tl;dr its the $1700 bolt on JCW kit - not worth it for most people (and the rear caliper doesn't fit on SE, so you keep that original)

IMG_2328.webp
 
callaflatbed said:
@azausa I have always had modified cars. I work in the business and love cars in general, and have been lucky to always have interesting ones.

The car at present is set up for fast road use but will get some different coilovers and wheels/tires in the spring. Brakes are spectacular and really are a big part of the car's capabilities but far overkill for the majority of drivers. I plan on trying to auto-x this when its out of warranty, which most people aren't. I see about 4.1mi/kwh in winter and as high as 4.4mi/kwh in summer and that's with fairly spirited driving conditions.

tl;dr its the $1700 bolt on JCW kit - not worth it for most people (and the rear caliper doesn't fit on SE, so you keep that original)

View attachment 19786
Click to expand...
On my R53, I put R56S front brakes. To keep the balance about the same, I made 38mm Audi calipers fit the back. The rears happened after the fronts and made a very noticeable upgrade to the braking. They have gone from inadequate when I got it, to awesome.
My R53 did have cheapo parts store pads when I got it, so the brakes were even worse than stock.
The standard R53 brake balance is about right for enthusiastic driving. The R56 went to more bias to the front. The F56 is, I believe, the same balance as the R56.
The SE has 280mm 54mm Justa F56 fronts, and 34mm 280mm Clubman rears as standard
You lose stopping power if one end isn't doing its proper share. I feel the SE is somewhat lacking on rear brake bias as standard, more front brake without more on the back will make this worse. As I'm running street stock, brake alterations are limited to pads. I have EBC red front, yellow rear on the SE. Much better now, but I still think that more at the back would be even better. My R53 has reds all round.
I just grabbed my ankles and got a set of 200TW tyres on lightish rims, so more testing now needed.
 
pictsidhe said:
On my R53, I put R56S front brakes. To keep the balance about the same, I made 38mm Audi calipers fit the back. The rears happened after the fronts and made a very noticeable upgrade to the braking. They have gone from inadequate when I got it, to awesome.
My R53 did have cheapo parts store pads when I got it, so the brakes were even worse than stock.
The standard R53 brake balance is about right for enthusiastic driving. The R56 went to more bias to the front. The F56 is, I believe, the same balance as the R56.
The SE has 280mm 54mm Justa F56 fronts, and 34mm 280mm Clubman rears as standard
You lose stopping power if one end isn't doing its proper share. I feel the SE is somewhat lacking on rear brake bias as standard, more front brake without more on the back will make this worse. As I'm running street stock, brake alterations are limited to pads. I have EBC red front, yellow rear on the SE. Much better now, but I still think that more at the back would be even better. My R53 has reds all round.
I just grabbed my ankles and got a set of 200TW tyres on lightish rims, so more testing now needed.
Click to expand...

Although I am unlikely to ever drive my SE hard enough long enough for the performance of the friction brakes to matter, I do enjoy learning new things. So, thanks for sharing your opinion/experience.
 
callaflatbed said:
@azausa I have always had modified cars. I work in the business and love cars in general, and have been lucky to always have interesting ones.

The car at present is set up for fast road use but will get some different coilovers and wheels/tires in the spring. Brakes are spectacular and really are a big part of the car's capabilities but far overkill for the majority of drivers. I plan on trying to auto-x this when its out of warranty, which most people aren't. I see about 4.1mi/kwh in winter and as high as 4.4mi/kwh in summer and that's with fairly spirited driving conditions.

tl;dr its the $1700 bolt on JCW kit - not worth it for most people (and the rear caliper doesn't fit on SE, so you keep that original)

View attachment 19786
Click to expand...

Thanks @callaflatbed
 
Getting BBKs for the SE is purely cosmetic if your driving on the street. I might consider it down the road since I just got a set of 16 inch wheels with all season tires.
 
Ms.Frizzle said:
Getting BBKs for the SE is purely cosmetic if your driving on the street. I might consider it down the road since I just got a set of 16 inch wheels with all season tires.
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Will you be driving on the all season tires year-round or are they just for winter? Do you feel a difference in grip compared to your OEM summer tires?
 
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