outlandishhhr

how much did that run you?

Yonash

well, the kit normally retails for $1329, and being that i am prototyping this kit with him, i did get a discounted price. in my view, it is not my place to go about telling people "oh he will come down to this price" yada yada yada, so i feel it right for me not to disclose the price he gave me. if he doesn't care, then so be it, but i don't feel right about it. it wasn't a HUGE price cut, like getting the Plus-2 kit for the price of a Plus-1 or something, it was still a fair bit over $1000. also note, i did not get any additional upgrades to the kit ie extra charge to powdercoat calipers a different color, or extra for drilled rotors, etc.

esmarkey

Yonash, those look so cooooool!
Great job with the pics so far, and keep em coming. I have considered doing bigger brakes but haven't grabbed my wallet yet as I am not sure how difficult the instal would be. If you can show simple step by step pics of the installation, and any issues with removal of the stock, it may help some of us feel comfortable enough to do it.

Thanks in advance for all your work.

hillsmith

I installed a set of these TCE plus 2 front brakes today on my 07 Panel and it only took 1 hour and 15 minutes. Spend some time adjusting the placement of the lines and double check with the HHR at ride height for clearance. Mine is lowered and may have required a little more attention. The Plus 2 brakes fit inside the stock 17" alloys with clearance to spare.
The brake pedal height at point of brake engagement is a little lower than stock and requires a bit more pressure to engage. In both cases I like the pedal feel better. The best news is these brakes have tons of whoa-power, a major improvement over the stock crap brakes. I have ran them through several heat cycles and plan on pulling the wheels tomorrow and double checking everything for rubbing and re-torque all the fasteners just to be sure.
I like my HHR again!! Thanks TCE

Yonash

okay, i got them on today, and got lots of pictures. and Aaron, i'm real sorry, the only scale at the house is way off and is always over or under by a rather large amount, so i don't have any weights of stuff. i will say this much though, after carrying the parts around and stuff, the new stuff is much lighter, and if it isn't, it's mastered deceit haha. perhaps Todd can weigh the components for us, since he usually has some in the shop that aren't installed on anything, and when i find an accurate scale, i can weigh the stock stuff.

it's been a VERY long day, worked last night, and been up since around 3:30pm yesterday, and on top of my brake install i also helped my brother replace the heater core in his Ram, which requires total removal of the dash...so i'm spent...pictures will be coming tomorrow...right now, it's shower time, then bed. i will probably post a How To thread tomorrow with the "walkthrough" pics and stuff, and in here i will keep it to the overall pics, like comparing components old vs new, and showing the new brakes on the car, and those type of pics.

Yonash

okay, here we go. been a full day for me, with cleaning for my sister's birthday party tomorrow (well, i guess it's today, it's after 2 in the morning lol) and had a b-day party this evening for my friend and coworker. so now, onto pics.

first pic we've got the stock brakes, for anyone who hasn't seen them. not too bad, but there's always room for improvement.


next we've got a comparison of the stock rotor to the new rotor. as you can see, it's actually quite a bit bigger. though the stock rotor is a bit thicker, it is significantly heavier, and not very well vaned for cooling.


next we have two comparison shots of the calipers. those stock calipers are HEAVY. much heavier than they look, that's for damn sure. the stocker also has the mounting bracket stuck to it.




here we have the whole setup bolted on, with two lugs holding the rotor still, but i hadn't gotten the full install done yet. i left the stock caliper hanging and hooked up to the brake line so brake fluid didn't run all over til i was ready to connect the brake line to the new caliper.


here is a comparison between pads. the stocks are thicker, but not by a significant amount. and so far, i've noticed SIGNIFICANTLY less brake dust with these BP10 pads.


and here is the whole setup, totally installed, and behind the wheel.




i can do more of a How To thread in the How To section if anyone is interested. i took a good number of pics, but most of them are just detail stuff for a How To type post, so i haven't resized and uploaded any more than what's here.

Tuanies

Next up is how to upgrade the rear discs using the front rotors/calipers right?

Todd TCE

Definitely....not.

A rear rotor kit is in the brainstorming stage however we'll certainly use the rear caliper for both proper brake balance as well as retention of the integral parking brake.

jeffs396

Todd, what about the wilwood combination parking brake caliper...could that be used in the rear???

Todd TCE

Most certainly. I do a kit for the MINI using it. A good choice.

So...what's the hitch? Cost. Figure this set will run you $1200 for the rear kit.