[felske]

Looking to upgrade the brakes on my 9-5 EST, I had a look at this forum and found that quite a few folks apparently were not too happy with the performance of the upgrades they had done. Either there was some noise coming from the brakes, or the disks started to warp, or performance when cold became almost nonexistent.

My local Saab mechanic just recommends installing braided hoses and leaving everything else as is. This would certainly save me some money over a complete kit, and may actually do the trick for me, as I don't intend to go on tracks. But I should also state that my conviction that the small standard disks simply don't look the part, especially behind larger rims.

Could anybody give me some advice on what do? What works and what doesn't for a 9-5 on fast roads?

Any help is highly appreciated.

 

[Aerohead]

My comments apply to a 9k Aero:

upgrading to s/s lines, Brembo discs and Ferrodo DS2500 pads massively improved braking performance for a moderate cost. I have driven this arrangement for 4k miles now including laps at NurnbergRing, and the brakes are not a limiting factor any more. Only downside is sometimes at slow speed the back right squeels, keep meaning to try something but then it does not do it all the time.

Budget improvement to looks involved using a Black&Decker drill w/ a wire brush, remove rust (wear breathing and eye protection!!) and paint with 1500 dergree F paint. Then drive it hard to bake the finish on. Improves the appearance, costs almost nothing but your time. Unknown how long it will last. I know of guys that have had good luck with using clear coat paint on new discs, reduced rust, but I did not try this.

Unless you really plan to push the envelope the biggest advantage of upgraded calipers is the cool appearance (I know I will get some stick for saying this). Will you push the car that hard in Singapore?

 

[felske]

Thanks for the advice, Aerohead. If your setup is good for the Nürburgring, it's got to be good enough for what I'm planning.

Will you push the car that hard in Singapore?[/b]

Most likely not. Speed limit is 90 km/h around here, but then there's always the wide open roads in Malaysia beckoning...

Are your Brembos regular size, or are they larger in diameter and use a bracket for the calipers? And would you have a part no.?

 

[Aerohead]

Brembos are regular size, Ferrodos are slightly larger. Part numbers:

Front discs (pair): Brembo 09.5221.10
Rear discs (pair): Brembo 08.5037.10

Ferodo DS2500 pads:

Front: (axle Ferodo FCP256H set)
Rear: Ferodo FCP296H (axle set)

The front pads may require a small amount of grinding (about 1mm or so) at the top and bottom edges of the backplate to make them fit the 9000 calipers.

 

[mark e]

Aerohead, it's for a 9-5, not a 9k

The part numbers are different. I don't know them myself, but I'm pretty certain that the DS2500s are available for the 9-5.

 

[GeoffD]

the part number for 9-5 DS2500 front pads - FDS 1068 (Ferodo's own part number) but they do not list a rear pad to suit.
Pagid "fast road" or Mintex 1144 pads are popular alternatives and are also available for the rear on 9-5's

Brembo HC 9-5 front discs: 09.6997.20
Brembo std 9-5 rears: either
08.8305.10
or
08.7015.20
dependant on model year

 

[jigjjml]

This again applies to a 9000 using the brembo and ferodo DS set up,but the manufacturers do brakes for the 95.In my personal oppinion this set up is a major inprovement on a poor standard set up,but there is squeal and lots of it at light braking if this is an issue.The ferodo pads and the brembo group N discs are racing brakes after all.If you do a lot of motorway driving and you use a firmer braking method this is fine,but town driving with light application sqeals like a piglet you pays your money......

 

[billj]

Originally posted by jig:
[qb]The ferodo pads and the brembo group N discs are racing brakes after all[/qb][/b]

The Brembo discs are not racing discs but are the standard replacements sold by Brembo. They're just good quality and perform very well. Trent Saab (now TSL) do sell these (at a rather inflated price) as part of their "Group N" kit. I believe TSL used to groove them, which would have justified the higher price. However, when they switched the pads to DS2500 they stopped grooving the discs as those pads are non-gassing and work better with no grooves (and hence more disc surface area). When you buy them from TSL, you get exactly the same discs you can get for around half the price from German and Swedish.

I agree about the squeal, although I found it quite minimal but never managed to eliminate it. If you think the DS2500s are bad, you should hear the DS3000s!

 

[felske]

Thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences.

Bill J: When you say that things are cheaper in Germany, are you referring to the Brembo disks, the DS2500 pads or both? Would you be able to recommend a source?

Reason for my asking is that I am German, and if I can save some money by waiting for the next home leave, I often will.

 

[aeropilot]

Originally posted by sling:
[qb]Bill J: When you say that things are cheaper in Germany, are you referring to the Brembo disks, the DS2500 pads or both? Would you be able to recommend a source?

Reason for my asking is that I am German, and if I can save some money by waiting for the next home leave, I often will. [/qb][/b]

Err.....not quite. BillJ's reference to German and Swedish is to a UK spares company called 'German and Swedish' that specializes in supplying parts for German and Swedish made cars....

 

[felske]

Oops... but I should have known this: Nothing's ever cheap Germany. I'll just shop around then, thanks.

 

[sgould]

Tyres are cheaper in Germany, but not as much as they used to be.

 

[andy law]

Sling, if you can wait a while i'll let you know what happens with my 2.0lpt 9-5. I'm fitting braided hoses in the near future. I will then give it a couple of weeks and i'll be putting on Brembo discs with EBC standard pads. Will report back my findings whether good/bad or indifferent.

 

[felske]

Thanks for the offer, Kermit. I'd be really interested to hear how it went. Especially since my local mechanic has advised me to just change to braided hoses and that's it! But that would not be doing anything about the puny looking standard disks.

In the meantime, I've come across some good reviews here from people that have installed brake components from Godspeed. Checking their website and talking to Ian at Goodspeed a bit yesterday, I got real interested in their Brembo 4-pot kit. It's almost a thousand, but considerably less than the APs.

Does anyone out there have any experience with the Brembo kit offered by Godspeed, especially when installed on a 9-5? Ian has assured me that the calipers will fit behind a 17" standard Aero wheel, but I'd be a lot more at ease having that confirmed independently.

 

[felske]

Shock! The Brembos will NOT fit behind the standard Aero wheel after all, I was just informed. The clearance between the spokes of the rim (17x7", Saab Alu 39) and the outside of the disk is only 3.8 cm, and the Brembos need 5.5 cm.

Does anyone have an idea what the clearance would be on an 18x8" rim, like BBS Challenge or the likes?

Kermit, more than ever I'd be interested to hear how much of a difference your braided hoses will make.

 

[sj]

They may not be the ultimate brakes, but Aero discs and caliper mountings will bolt straight on, fit inside standard Aero wheels and seem pretty good on my Aero.

I've had Godspeed discs and pads on previous Saabs and I thought their performance was fantastic, but with my current car I just don't feel the need to uprate the brakes (yet )

Cosmetically, the Aero discs look a bit less dinky than standard inside 17" rims, and if you wanted more flash, then how about the grooved Viggen discs of the same size?

There's an interesting post somewhere here, about ABS/big brake conversion in-compatability.

 

[Mark B]

Kermit's 9-5,

Quite a few people, including myself, have wasted a great deal of money trying EBC pads (usually Green Stuff) on 9000s. They may get good reviews in magazines on other cars, but on the 9000 they are awful. I'm currently using Mintex 1144, but will probably use DS2500 next time. Why not stick with what other people have tried and tested?

Sling,

Whilst putting on Aeroquip type hoses will improve the pedal feel, it will not improve the basic functioning of the brakes. So do not expect too much of an improvement.

 

[mark e]

I concur with Mark B about Greenstuff. They seem to be OK on lighter cars, but are very poor on heavier models. We've seen nothing but bad reports of them on here, whilst the Ferodos and Mintex and been consistently praised.

You can fit the Brembos (or indeed APs) behind 17" wheels, just not the deep dish style of the Saab Aeros.

I surveyed the market and chose APs for my 9000. It's very high quality product that has stood up to a lot of abuse. 40k miles down the line, I'm still very happy with them. There's been varying reports on Godspeed and I'm glad I didn't chose that route.

 

[jeremyfrost]

Godspeed are a pain in the neck to deal with, though their prices are good and the owner is a pretty decent chap. I have just waited two months for them to sort out problems with mine as they sent the wrong hoses and messed up the brackets - even though they had Ylee's measurements and his car is identical to mine. Very annoying & I know that having looked at other sites, I am not alone in my frustration. He also failed to deliver the brakes for Angelsey (not that it would have mattered as they didn't fit!) and to add insult to injury, he actually posted not just my brakes to my home address, but also Ylee's!!

The guy is a one man band and totally disorganised - although don't worry about not receiving goods from him as I know he eventually sorts everyone out.

If you are looking to save money and are patient, you will not find a better deal. He should now also have the correct measurements for a 95 model Aero as he had my hub assembly. The same will not be true of the 9-5.

 

[ylee coyote]

The godspeed conversion is good (when you get it )
but the man is a pita to deal with
he claims a week turnround but factor in about 8-10 weeks and you should be ok...