tut4u2

The ask:
This is a tough one, because I didn’t have a need to get this rear kit. Yes, I cracked rear rotors, but I had just bought a ton from Rockauto so even if I cracked one every other track day I would’ve been good for the whole season (yes, I bought THAT many). I knew that at one point I was going to upgrade the rears; hence while buying my SBG Wilwood kit I opted for the 41mm option. After a few emails back and forth, I realized I didn’t want to deal with my brake bias being thrown off by running the rear calipers. In all honestly though, this was a pure impulse buy.

The solution:
I wanted a bolt on kit that allowed me to keep my parking brake, modifying brackets, or worry about uneven pad wear, or installing them. SBG isn’t the only company that would’ve met those requirements, but I ended up going with them and I do not regret. In addition, let’s get this out of the way: there’s no way around it, the SBG kit is not cheap, especially considering it doesn’t come with calipers.

The kit:

• The package comes with a 2 piece fixed rotor, stainless steel brakes lines, all the brackets, bolts, and nuts to install the kit. All the machining is beautiful and perfect; I didn’t have to hammer, bend, or massage anything into place.
• You do have to file a part of the caliper down to get one the bolt heads to clear but that’s it. You can retain the rear dust shield by simply bending it back and use tin snips to cut a small piece off going from the trailing arm connection to the center of the hub. I installed the kit with Hawk DT30s and there were no clearance issues at all.
• Fitment was not tight and didn’t require any force. If anything, I found the rear rotors to fit better than the front rotors from SBG.`
• The kit bring the bias back to stock if you go with the 41mm Wilwood option in the front.
• Similar to the front kit, I would suggest you re-torque all the rotor bolts; none of mine were off.
• I would recheck your parking brake after the install. Make sure that its not too tight/loose.

Things I didn’t like:

• The installation guide could be better. It took 3 hours to install both sides, but once I got one side installed, the other side took 45 minutes. While the kit comes with everything you need, I think it would’ve been cleaner to group the parts for the driver and passenger side.
• The included e-brake relocation brackets are for the forward and rear e-brake stays. The directions for the forward most stay is flipped: the driver side bracket should actually be the passenger side and vice versa.
• Instructions mention to re-use the RX-8 e-brake spring in one section and then use the S2000 spring in another. I used the RX-8 spring and didn’t have any issues.
• Going in reverse is painful. The brakes make an horrendous screeching noise. I checked my parking brake and looked everything over, but the noise is still there. Its only present after the brakes heat up, so I might have to loosen the ebrake even more but I not sure why I experience the issue ONLY in reverse. Given that I didn’t buy the calipers through SBG, I cannot fault them.
• Pad height doesn’t cover the entire rotor to you get a unused lip on the inner circumference.

Initial Impressions:
Given that I installed the rear calipers with the Wilwood kit, I can’t say how much of a difference the kit made, but there’s a clear difference. I didn’t measure my rotors temps, but my pads didn’t wear as much as they usually did and the wear was even on both sides.

Final Thoughts:

• The rear brakes on our cars aren’t the greatest but they aren’t the worst. Yes, I cracked rotors all the time, but given how cheap you can get them I didn’t really care. Now, I don’t like have to replace my wheel bearings since that’s a bit more time intensive, but you could look at your break even point and see how many rotors and wheel bearings you need to replace before addressing the rear is worth it.
• Cost, you’re essentially paying for brackets, rotors, and R&D. This solution might not be ideal for your application, but for my purposes I’m pleased. Replacement pads and rebuild kits for the caliper are readily available and I kept my parking brake. If the kit came with calipers, it would be perfect, but that would push the price point higher.
• I was surprised at how well everything just fit. All the brackets fit perfectly.
• For reference my STi uses 290x18mm vented rotors in the rear, which is a heavier car and like most of us has gained some weight over the years. Regardless of the option you choose, you will be going bigger.
• Would I buy this kit again? Yes I would.
• Would I buy from SBG again? Yes I would. There was an issue with shipping and Heath ended up going to the FedEx store and shipping the kit express so I would get it in time. He runs a small shop and they are busy so be patient with responses.

Available options:
Unfortunately, solutions for our rear calipers are limited to say the least, but they do exist. All options have their compromises and they are not inexpensive. Do your research and see what fits your budget and needs; in the end you might end up staying with the stock rotors and calling it a day.

SBG Competition Rear Brake System (314x20mm) $1295 LINK

• Kit includes brackets, 2 piece rotors, and SBG branded Techna-fit stainless brake lines
• You will need to source your own calipers and pads. For what it’s worth, I was able to buy a set of calipers on eBay for $50 shipped and Hawk DTC30 rear pads for under $100. I have seen the calipers for cheaper but those generally require a rebuild
• Refurbished RX-8 calipers are available around $100
• Kit comes with instructions to put everything together but they are not the best
• You have to buy ring replacements through SBG. Replacements should be under $100 a piece
• This kit allows you to maintain your parking brake, swap in pads without having to to do anything funny, or modify your brake brackets

Urge Rear Rotors (282x16mm) $780 LINK

• Pricing includes modified bracket. You save $80 by modifying the bracket yourself
• 2 piece floating rotor
• Ring and hat replacements are affordable at $175 a piece
• Does not include stainless steel lines
• Retains use of OEM caliper, pad sizing, and e-brake
• I like the simplicity of this solution but I don’t like that I have to manage my brake pads to make it work and I don’t like that I have to pay extra to have them modify my caliper bracket

Racing Brake Rear BBK (328x17mm) $1245 LINK

• Kit comes with 2 piece rotors and modified bracket. Does not include brake lines
• Requires use a thinner pad in order to clear the rotor. You can order through RB, you can grind your pads down, mix and match new with worn pads, or have someone make you a custom pad every time
• Uses OEM caliper and retains parking brake
• Rotor is significantly larger than OEM and Urge but you still have to mix/match pads unless you want to buy them directly from R

Stoptech Rear BBK (322x22mm) $2026 LINK

• Kit comes with with rotors and lines. You will need to buy pads on your own
• 2 piece rotors that can be installed as either fixed or floating
• This kit removes your parking brake; don’t park on any hills or keep a wheel chock in the trunk. (Oh...of course, given this is the R&C sub, no one drives their S2K on the street here)
• The only fixed caliper in this list of options
• Losing the e-brake is a deal breaker for me, because my wife will drive the car once in a blue moon, I drive the car every now and then on the street, and I find the price on the high side. Yes you can find the kit cheaper if you shop around, but it still won’t be cheaper than SBG, Urge, or R

Wilwood Combination Parking Brake Caliper Rear Brake Kit (328x20mm) $1409 LINK

• Kit comes with 2 piece rotors and pads. Lines are extra
• As the name suggests, the kit allows you to retain the parking
• In general I couldn’t find much info out there about this kit

NSX Rear Calipers/Rotors (303x23mm) $Varies

• You will need to source calipers, brackets, and rotors from the 97+ NSX
• In order for the rotors to fit you need to run a hub ring
• The NSX calipers are hard to source and pricey when you find a decent set

OEM Rotors (282x12mm solid) $Varies

• Blank OEM replacements are dirt cheap; you can get them for $9
• Pricing goes up if you get 2 piece, drilled, slotted, etc, but you still have the same fundamental issue: the rotor is not vented
• Rotors tend to overheat, crack, burn through pads, and lead to worn wheel bearings

tut4u2

What's included in the kit
Bag including all the brackets and bolts. It would be nice, if these grouped together in some manner to make the install easier.
Brackets include some nice touches
Rotor width compare
Side by side compare. SBG rotor are directional and if you're confused which side to install them on, there's an arrow
Brake pad compare. Yes, there's a difference in pad surface area
Before
After
And we're done. That's all folks
Photo place holder

ckowalc

You can crack the solid rear rotors?

King Tut

That's impressive. I have cracked Stoptech rotor rings and still never cracked a solid rear rotor.

gptoyz

+1

Holy crap!!

Please tell us what kind of rotor you were using

Tougefactory

^^With the rest of them, that's impressive to crack the rears.

tut4u2

Running DTC70 pads and I usually bought the cheapest rotor I could find.

s2kfinesse

tut4u2

It might have to do with installing the bracket on the e-brake adjuster. I used an impact to take off the nut so maybe that caused some damage internally to the caliper, so now when you release the e-brake, the piston is not fully retracting but I'm not sure.