Found this pic over in that Road & Track review, a nice pic I've never seen before of the Brembo brake package that is
supposedly coming soon to an HHR SS near you...



I sent a message to the powers-that-be at GM hoping they'd clue us in
on when they might be releasing this option
and i hope to be sharing any news with you guys if they let me know.

However, in the R&T review they list some of the options "...and front Brembo brake package (a bargain at only $495)."
Hmmmm. FRONT Brembo brake package, I never knew that its only the front brakes that are Brembo...
What about the rears?
This is the first Ive heard that its only a front wheel brake package.

 

thats where most of the stopping power is needed...although it would look a bit awkward.

 

Take a look at the Corvette, especially the Z06, even that mighty car doesn't have particularly large brakes on the back, no 6 pot calipers or much of anything special. Even the back rotor is small compared to the front, because the lions share of the work is done up front, even more so on a front wheel drive car. Not enough weight on the back to load the tires, especially considering the weight shift to the front when braking.

 

Better yet, look at a Shelby GT500, 4 pistons brembos up front, stock Single piston mustang brakes outback w/ a different pad compound

 

well when i originally heard there was gonna be a Brembo brake option, i never stopped to think it would only be the fronts. guess my ignorance on teh subject is showing. it only makes sense i guess, and keeps the cost down too

 

Great comparison, IMO, LT1GMC....

also if I may add more thought to your Corvette comparison...... the weight distribution is almost 50-50 front to rear. Which would make one THINK that more braking surface would be necessary in the rear.

 

when you stop all of the momentum goes forward.. hence the big brakes in the front, it has more to do with that than weight distribution, although im sure that does have to factor in somewhere.

Thats also why your front brakes wear faster than your rear.

 

Doesn't the Brembo option ALSO include a Limited Slip Differential? LSD + Brembo for $495 = good deal.

 

I have been checking and Brembo hasn't released an aftermarket package like this yet, but I am watching !!!

 

I ordered my HHR SS about 2 weeks ago. I had read in all of the reviews about the LSD + Brembo package for $495. My dealer hadn't heard of either option, and said he couldn't order it without knowing the code for it. So I called a toll-free number listed on Chevrolet's web site. They had the code for the LSD, which was G85 I think, which allowed the dealer to put the option on the factory order. The gal on the phone couldn't find any mention of Brembo brakes anywhere. Since the MSRP of the LSD package she mentioned was $495, matching the combined package in the reviews, I was hoping that G85 would include the Brembos... But it seems that the Brembo option still isn't released yet (as of 2 weeks ago), so mine will come with the LSD but sounds like it won't have those big Brembos. Not that I'd ever come close to using them enough to feel the difference from the stock SS brakes, but they look so freakin' cool peaking out through those big 18" spokes...