Yep,

It is very easy job if you have the brackets made.

I don't think I need bigger brakes at the rear unless I go for the 4x4 conversion one day....

So I got my GTA 330mm calipers finally.
Cheaply, from a scrapped 156 GTA 2004 in UK so a bit mucky and dirty but otherwise in very good shape. Will repaint them and of course rebrand them to FIAT.





I'm in touch with a few different specialist for a fitting split disc. After today I have some hopes..

And - now I realize why they reportedly takes a lot more beating..
Not only is the disc 330x32mm instead of 305x28mm, look at the difference in pad area..?!

Are the alfas much better than the brembos then??
as I am sick to death of these poor excuse for brakes! Lol
my daily driver is jst a 320 ci and the brakes in that are sooooo much better than the brembos, if only they were half as good! Lol..

iv toyed with the idea of a full tarox upgrade but I jst cnt justify paying near what I paid for the car on a set of brakes! Lol

oh also do the alfas fit over the standard 20vt??

Cheers..Clive

What pads do you use mr_cheese?

Clive - I'm pretty sure you have a fault/trapped air somewhere. My std Brembo brakes are amazing in everyday driving. Initial bite, feel etc. second to none.
Try changing the fluid, with the correct beeding order. If that doesn't help, change pads.


These calipers are Brembo aswell, as the Fiats. Just beefed up!
They will fit the std mounts. I hope! I'll need bigger trackday rims and new R-tires though..

Hi trappy.. per..

well normally I go with pagid discs with ds5000 pads and yet the brakes jst dont inspire confidence! And im running 360bhp so thats essential! Lol..
this is my 4th coupe now and the brakes have been prity much the same in all of them, CRAP!! Lol..
am I just expecting to much you think?

I just find it hard to belive a standard 320 ci (2002) can have sooo much sharper, confidence inspiring brakes compaired to the coupe..
had them checked over at motormech who say their ok but if these are OK id hate to drive their version of "bad"!! Lol..

wil try and bleed them when shes back frm paintshop, hopefull they improve!!

Absolutley, if anything the Fiat brakes should feel better? It's italian after all.

Check for the (important!) correct bleeding order at the bottom of this page:

http://www.polak.ch/coupemanual/Brakes.htm

I must admit that my brakes used to inspire more confidence than they do now but that's because the calipers are tired and need a refurb - I hope! How many miles had each of your Coupés covered?

I also have no idea how good DS5000s are... did you mean DS2500s as I've never heard of the 5000s...

Mine's done close to 270000km's.
3rd owner.
Calipers refurbished once but seals all cracked again thanks to track use..

Well my 1st coupe was 120,000
2nd 106,000
3rd 100,000
and my current one is on 86,000 but barbz rebuilt engine in 09 befor he sold it and iv only done few though since so only jst broke her in realy! Lol
but if he rebuilt the brakes at same time is doubtful but saying that he did put on all new brake lines, disc, pads ect so might have done as she was standing a few yrs befor that, hence low miles!
Oh and low owners! Im the 3rd! Whop whop! Lol

oh yea I did mean ds2500 lol..

think its time to do full brembo refurb then by the sounds of it as thats one thing I never did on any of my coupes jst thinking that's how coupes were but if per says his are second to none(and iv seen his track vids!lol) then somethings wrong!! Can't belive iv had coupes 10 plus yrs now and jst put up with crappy brakes! And I do mean crappy! Lol

wil keep you all posted how I get on. All best...clive

Brembo calipers from Alfa 166/ Lancia Kappa 20vt use the same pads as 2004 GTA but with smaller disc 310x28mm

The thing is, the 166 calipers still need 17" wheels so you might aswell go for 330mm.

As far as I know 166's calipers can be fitted with 310 mm disks into 16" wheels.

Now - with my 330mm Alfa calipers, do I need to change the main cylinder?

(are the piston diameters different?)

I have GTA calipers with 330 discs and the 20vt brake master cylinder works fine.

Great, cheers!

Few Alfa 166 used bigger piston on it's master cylinder.....24mm or 26mm from my memory......
166's is heavier and uses bigger servo as well.....
But IMO Coupe setup will handle these calipers......but the driver must have in mind that braking feel and braking performance are different things.......

No worries mate, I'll be ok.

I'm doing the exact same project, could someone help me with the brackets? Does anyone know this user is he could get me the dimensions of the brackets?

Is this really possible? Can anyone confirm please.

Some pictures from the alfa 145 forum:

Thanks for that, it would be good to be sure they also fit in the Coupe before buying some!! Especially to be sure they don't need spacers or anything.

Almost an year ago I bought a pair of Alfa 166 Brembo calipers just for 40£. I finally managed to rebuild and install them on my 16vt. My current setup is PFC 1001.11 brake pads + 20VT MTEC Brake discs.

My previous brake setup was the same as injekciona's -> Brembo calipers + 305mm discs. I don't know if it would be advantage or disadvatage but I decided to go for my newest brake setup

Alfa 166/Lancia Kappa 20vt Brembo Calipers + 330mm discs :

So my first impressions with the 330mm ->

- braking is stronger, more feel to the pedal and even better bite ! Fade...What was that?

Now the bad news -> With this 330mm in front and stock 240mm at the rear I think the braking bias is very different and ABS is not calibrated properly and it kicks in very very early.

When I brake a little harder for the first time, I almost crashed into the car in front of me because the ABS was kicking like mad but the car was not decelerating properly

I am little confused because I am not sure why the ABS is triggered so early :

1) The new bigger discs make so much braking force in front so that the rear end rises and rear tyres lose grip -> ABS kicks in

or

2) When I brake, the front tyres loose grip because of too much front bias -> ABS kicks in

Opinions?

Not sure on this
It can't be the extra braking, because you would be braking to the point of lock up to bring in the abs and lock up will be approximately same as before (assuming wheels and tyres are the same) as its when the tyre loses grip that that the abs kicks in which is related to braking force

Not sure if the rear would go lite when braking hard as that again would assume there is enough braking force to lift the rear of the car before the tyres loose grip! Are you braking on a bumpy road where it's possible to loose traction on one wheel
I assume you have the correct sensors that work correctly and that your wheels are the same diameter (rolling circumference)?

I run 330mm on the front (and 300mm) on the rear and I never had any ABS issue when tracking the car around Spa. I'd say you have other problems elsewhere that is causing the ABS to kick in.

This has been a most informative thread. I can't decide if a 20vt brembo or a 166 brembo is the way to go. Both are similarly priced in the 2nd hand used market it seems.

In my opinion, the 166 Brembo is the right choice, the brake pads are quite bigger then the 20VT ones and you can fit more aftermarket wheels without spacers. The 166 brake pads are the same as the EVO 5/6/7/8/9/, STI, Megane RS, so there is a wider range for fast road/track pads. In berlinasportivo forum you can find drawings of brackets for the 16VT/155Q4 hub carrier that will be needed to install 166 Brembo with 20VT brake discs.

Hi all, someone has a CAD file of brakets required for brembo 330 upgrade on T20???

thanks