TCE Perfomance FNSL6 Kit Review

6328 Views 22 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Duece McCracken, Nov 7, 2017

NEATdrives

Discussion Starter · Jun 28, 2017

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alloy wheel Rim

Alloy wheel Tire Wheel Rim Vehicle

Tire Auto part Automotive tire Brake Vehicle brake

So, Friday night, I ordered this kit from Todd at TCE Performance. For those unfamiliar, it offers an easy solid caliper upgrade for those with 13.1" front rotors. The calipers are lighter than the stockers, and due to a change in pad shape, offer a greater Er (effective radius) increasing torque applied to the rotor for a given pad pressure. On top of this, solid calipers can be more easily modulated when threshold braking, dissipate heat better, allow for cheaper and much easier pad replacement, and gosh darnit, they look pretty trick too. So with all of this in mind, I plunked down my hard earned cash on some fancy clampers. My initial verdict? It was totally worth it.

Quality: Holy moly, Todd packs the box tight! With that being said, everything is well packaged, and all parts arrived undamaged and in showroom ready condition. Also, it took 2 days to ship across the country, on a weekend. If that's not service, I have no clue what is.

Installation: Took me 4 hours from cracking the first lug loose to rolling in the garage after bedding the pads. The system is quiet, and pedal feel is linear and 'normal' no more crazy initial bite here! With a good accelerator pedal spacer, heel toe is nice and easy.

Looks: They're sexy. I mean, they're functional first, but now I feel like floating calipers up front just look like poverty. Haha, not really, but the wilwoods sure are fancy.

This weekend I will take it AutoXing, and will report back if I have any issues with knockback or heat, but I doubt these things are going to dissapaoint.

Huge thanks to Todd for putting together such a great kit, and to Wilwood for engineering such a powerful, strong, lightweight caliper at a very reasonable price point!

A+

See less See more

3

Reactions: 4

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

Todd TCE

· #2 · Jun 28, 2017 (Edited)

Thanks!

Yeah that flat rate shipping box stuff is a butt-kicker but..."if it fits it ships"! lol Barely.

Hope it works out well for you. Good luck on the AX.

If you plan much more AX hit up my pad page for some Poly D pads. Great for that and very limited supply of them. I bought all the inventory when Wiwood discontinued them. Won Pikes Peak on them four times so I can say they work.

*if a may; a Facebook page post would be much appreciated!

Reactions: 1

NEATdrives

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 28, 2017 (Edited)

Poly D pads you say? I will place an order as soon as I have the money haha! I'm presently at work, but I'll give a shout out to your FB when I get home.

To match with the poly D's, what pad would you recommend for somebody running 302mm rear rotors with the stock calipers. I presently have EBC redstuff out back, and I'm not sure how well the friction coefficient profiles will match.

Thanks!

Todd TCE

· #4 · Jul 1, 2017

Not selling any oe fitmeent rear pads I can't say what would be the real deal. I'd not put a lot of stock in the value on the rear for any AX use really given you'll likely to carry the inside wheel in corners. I'm not sure you'd see any real improvement. But...if cheap enough worth a try I suppose.

D pads are on the web page: Brake Pads

Headed out of town on Tuesday so it would need to ship on Monday.

Thanks again.

kai

· #5 · Aug 1, 2017

After autoXing how is the performance increase over the stock calipers?

NEATdrives

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 9, 2017

kai said:
After autoXing how is the performance increase over the stock calipers?

Even on faster (3rd gear accessible) autocrosses, absolutely no fade with the BP10's and a consistent brake pedal throughout. However, the real test with be the 26th, when I'm taking the car to Putnam Park. I'll be running Polymatrix B pads with fresh Motul 600 fluid, and plan to modify my dust shields with scoops in front and vents at the 2 o'clock position, which should improve convective heat transfer from the rotor to the moving air between the shield and back rotor face. I'll report back on the performance after the track day, but I have high hopes for a car on stock HP.

Reactions: 1

NEATdrives

Discussion Starter · #7 · Aug 16, 2017

Bump: heh.

So, I'm about to take this setup to the track. Does anybody have a firm torque spec on the the caliper mounting nuts (The ones that screw onto the studs on the mounting bracket) I remember it's something like 25ft-lbs (maybe even 17 ft-lbs) but I want to make sure everything is up to snuff before taking this car on track.

Thanks!

DanM

· #8 · Aug 29, 2017

So this kit essentially is a caliper upgrade for the stock rotors?. Do those Wilwood calipers have dust boots on the pistons?

mitch808

· #9 · Aug 29, 2017

DanM said:
So this kit essentially is a caliper upgrade for the stock rotors?. Do those Wilwood calipers have dust boots on the pistons?

I believe the "upgraded," 14+ rotors are needed, and then the wilwood caliper brings to the table better pad choices, better piston contact, better/rigid caliper design, and better thermal properties (i.e. no dust boots, aluminum body, etc)

Dust boots are over rated. Really they are. One track day with a poor driver and they are toast.

NEATdrives

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 29, 2017

Update:

Track day was successful. Kinda. The Poly B pads are monstrous, no real fade whatsoever, there was some vibration, but nothing too severe (and it went away when I switched back to the BP-10's) I may try a more aggressive bedding procedure next time. However, I don't think I flushed out all of the old fluid, as I boiled it during my 4th session of the day. Luckily, I had time to pump the brakes to build pressure back up after the pedal went straight to the floor, but it was kinda scary. So my question is twofold:

Do I need to flush all of the fluid out, or will a solid bleed get me back?

If I do need to flush all of the fluid out, what is the volume of fluid required to clear out each of the lines/calipers? (Drivers Front, Passanger Front, Driver Rear, Passanger, Rear ?) I assume the rears take more fluid to clear out completely due to the additional hard line length.

I'm planning on going back on the 16th, this hasn't dissuaded me!

I'm also going to mount air scoops and feed them into NACA ducts underneath the car to increase air flow to the caliper/rotor interface and hopefully keep fluid temps a little lower next time.

See less See more

mitch808

· #11 · Aug 29, 2017

I've never successfully been able to swap fluid completely. Sometimes an axle just doens't flow the same (My right rear as an example), I never cycle ABS, etc... So there is always some old mixed with new.

I can either do a maintenance bleed, where when the fluid stops for that corner, I am done. Or I can do a more generous bleed, where I may do each corner a couple or a few times. In both cases, I've never really had an issue. One just felt more satisfying that I did it, the other was functional and got the job done.
*I really miss ATE Blue

RJRich

· #12 · Oct 25, 2017

I have the same set up but my caliper on the drivers side has a high pitch squeal when at low speeds almost to a stop. Anyone encounter this? Any fix? I hate that these Wilwoods look so great and perform great but they sound so bad. Sux I need/have to fix this. Any help out there?

mitch808

· #13 · Oct 25, 2017

RJRich said:
I have the same set up but my caliper on the drivers side has a high pitch squeal when at low speeds almost to a stop. Anyone encounter this? Any fix? I hate that these Wilwoods look so great and perform great but they sound so bad. Sux I need/have to fix this. Any help out there?

As in brake squeal? That is not a brake kit/caliper issue, but pads. Try applying some pad grease, some of the thick paste stuff, not gel to the backside. Also perform a bedding procedure. Thats quick, and cheap. Otherwise look for a more streetable pad

RJRich

· #14 · Oct 27, 2017

Yes as in break squeal only at low speed(coming to a stop). Brand new pads, bedded in the proper way and brake paste applied. Any advice or fixes anyone? Driving me crazy. Brakes work great though

Duece McCracken

· #15 · Oct 27, 2017

RJRich said:
Yes as in break squeal only at low speed(coming to a stop). Brand new pads, bedded in the proper way and brake paste applied. Any advice or fixes anyone? Driving me crazy. Brakes work great though

Nope.

They squeal. They are budget racing brakes, so they make some noise.

I have ran both BNSL6 and FNSL6 on my ST and both have that low speed squeal. I even went from BP-10 to BP-20 pads.

Ran with, and without spring clips. Ran volvo rotors, now on 2- piece Wilwood 14". Still get that little squeal.

Tis' the nature of the beast, I'm afraid.

mitch808

· #16 · Oct 27, 2017

Have you tried a non wilwood pad?

Duece McCracken

· #17 · Oct 27, 2017

mitch808 said:
Have you tried a non wilwood pad?

I don't really mind it anymore, I like the characteristics of the Wilwood brand pads. Besides that tiny squeal, which only really seems to happen after extensive break in.

Maybe that will help the other guy.

Todd TCE

· #18 · Oct 28, 2017

This has been talked about before a couple times. For some reason it seems to be related to the use of the stock rotor possibly with the cross hatch pattern on it being the root reason? It is not a common complaint on full size kits be them on a FoST or others using that same caliper/pad combo. Wish I could ID it more but can't...

DanM

· #19 · Oct 29, 2017

I have seen where it could be an issue with the design of the pad as well. The way the chamfered edges are designed, whether or not there are shims, and how the shims are designed. just a thought. Pad material, there are so many factors.

If your getting a "racing" brake setup then expect it to make noise.

NJFocusST

· #20 · Oct 29, 2017

Squeak at low speeds/minimal brakes applied yields a slight squeak...this was only after install of s80 rotors. Trying to feel with it but at least initially, it's bugging me a bit.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.