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The Lotus AP Brake Upgrade Kit
Getting the stopping power that you need in this car.
The Lotus AP Brake Upgrade Kit. |
| Give me some confidence Remember that, first and foremost, the Esprit is a driver's car. You feel everything. It is slightly disconcerting when the car does not feel as if it slows as quickly as it speeds up. I suppose it is a control issue. Well, after asking around, I opted for a set of Porterfield R4s pads as my first step toward braking nirvana. While the Porterfield pads DID give a slight improvement in "bite", the only real davantage I found with them was that they did not fling brake dust all over my wheels like the OEM pads do. The Lotus Kit The Lotus brake upgrade kit (part number A082J4489S) was made available to Esprit owners after the AP brakes where installed on the special Sport 350 edition V8. The kit includes two piece front and rear brake discs with a larger diameter (more surface="better bite") that are cross-drilled. The kit that I was able to get had the special blue calipers that matched the Azure paint really well. As far as I am able to determine, the blue calipers are not being made any more. Beginning with the 2000 model year, the AP brakes came standard on all V8's, so if you are looking for an upgrade to your 2000 or better model year, good luck to you. Off with the old, on with the new The new calipers and discs went on the front and the new discs on the back. The kit uses the same Brembo calipers on the back and just changes the mounting plate so that the pads can better address the discs.  The wheels go on I didn't want to get rid of the AWI wheels (they where only available for the 1997/1998 model years in the U.S. and are rare), so I was a little concerned about the fit of the fronts wheels. No problem, however. There is about 1/8 of an inch to spare between the caliper and the wall of the wheel. I guess I will just have to be careful and not warp the wheels   Now, that's what I'm talkin' about The APs and the Brembos are like night and day. Next to the high torque ECU upgrade, this upgrade is probably the best investment as far as being able to control the car in stop and go traffic. It adds a level of confidence to your driving that you don't have with the Brembos. The price of entry is not cheap, however. The kit itself is about $1500-$1700 U.S. dollars and it is even more if you don't do it yourself. I recommend having a mechanic install the upgrade unless you really know what you are doing. The stopping power and control that you get with the upgrade, is, however, worth the price. |
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