Plague

I want to get something out in the open first, this is not for an HHR, it's for a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. A couple of years ago I made a revelation about my car, it shared the wheel lug pattern with a few other Chevy models including the HHR. In fact when I eventually got around to picking out a set of aftermarket wheels I decided to go with HHR SS wheels. It gives a factory look while still being aftermarket for my car's platform.

Now on to the topic at hand. Knowing the HHR and Malibu shared the same 5x110 lug pattern I all of a sudden became curious. I looked up the HHR SS brakes on RockAuto and cross referenced the parts with my car's brake parts. It turns out the non Brembo SS brakes are the exact same as the standard 7th gen Chevy Malibu brakes. Like the front and rear rotor part numbers are the same, the front and rear calipers, and pads. Who would've guessed?!? Anyway with this revelation I began to wonder if there's a brake upgrade for the HHR SS and I began to wonder if the Brembo front calipers and rotors were a direct swap on the HHR. I've done a bit of searching and I've found only one thread of someone doing this swap, they didn't really mention any special modifications so i'm thinking it is a direct swap. The only thing I read that seemed noteworthy was that the swap would require new brake lines that are about .5" longer than the OEM non Brembo brake lines.

I figure if the Brembo calipers are a direct swap with just the brake lines needing to be replaced on the HHR SS then the same should be possible on my Malibu since it uses the same front calipers and rotors as the SS. What do y'all think? Any opinions? Tips? Recommendations? I'm definitely open to all advise and opinions y'all may have on this matter.

donbrew

You will need 18 inch wheels.

Oldblue

And those hubspacers, apparently some 17 inches wheels will fit.

https://zzperformance.com/products/1...rembo-calipers

Plague

Uh yeah, I think you may have missed where I said I was already riding on HHR SS wheels which are 18x7.5". So I already have the 18" wheels covered, and even if I wasn't my car is an LTZ and came with 18s from the factory.


That's actually a pretty good price on the parts. Are the hub spacers still required if I already have 18s? Not trying to argue what you're saying since I may get this exact kit, I just want to understand WHY the spacers may be required.

BTW, anyone in the DFW area interested, I have a set of 18x7 Malibu LTZ wheels i'm looking to get rid of, 5x110 lug pattern of course.

donbrew

No you didn't say you had 18 inch wheels, not ALL SS have them.

And since you have some foreign car I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention.

Spacers may be required so there is enough space for the comparatively huge calipers and who knows what the offset of your hubs is or where the bottom of your strut springs is.

We know what the wheel offset is for the HHR, don't know about Malibu.

Plague

Point taken. I was under the assumption all SS models came with the same wheels. When I bought the SS wheels I have on my car I never saw a second wheel design that was said to be for the HHR SS.

When I bought these wheels I believe the offset was just a 2mm difference from my OEM wheels to the SS wheels I have now and being so minimal I didn't really give it a second thought. As for the clearance to the strut, that's something that hadn't even crossed my mind. That's why I went ahead and made a post, I may try to think things through but I clearly don't take everything into account.

Oldblue

Yes the Brembo’s require the spacers you move the hub out to accommodate the larger calipers to centre them over the 12.5 rotors. The spacers are not available separately from GM and ZZP does not sell them separately
if your interested, you they say go big or go home...

https://zzperformance.com/products/z...ront-brake-kit

Blue_SS

I never heard this before. I learned long ago that you always know the things of which you speak, but is this true? What else was available? My SS was non-Brembo, and it had them in 08.

OP, your Malibu doesn't need anything close to those brakes, but whatever... I think it should be quite easy to do.

Plague

LMFAO!

This is a family sedan, not a performance car. Where I do tend to subscribe to the philosophy of "Go big or Go Home" too I usually apply that to my truck and not my car since it's my DD. So I think the 14.5" big brake kit may be a bit overkill, but it's good to know it's there.

That said, one of the few places I've always felt this car could use some help was in the brake department. Maybe i'm spoiled by my truck but this car just doesn't stop anywhere near as well as i'm used to and i'd like to try to bring it up to spec...... or what I think is spec. I've also been looking for something for the back and a possible way to do braided brake lines. So far i've read something about the Sabb 9-3 rear brakes being a bit bigger than the HHR SS rears and able to be adapted to SS. But I have no idea what years to look at for donor brakes.

Plus after looking at the calipers, rotors, and other parts individually on RockAuto the 12.25" kit on ZZP does appear to be the best value.

Oldblue

That’s why I posted the links . My 1970 Plymouth Fury was a family sedan , 440 big block , 11 X 3 “ drum brakes all around , dual shocks all four corners.
it was good for 125 mph and hauling down to a stop like tossing out an anchor. It all depends on what you want to build, but still begs the question, why?
my answer was always, because I can .