GenII Brake Upgrade w/o breaking the bank?

Just think of the $$$ return if u designed some brackets

 

you could keep the stock calipers, and replace the rotors with some drilled and slotted or dimpled and slotted + some EBC green stuff or yellow stuff pads.

 

Auto Parts Warehouse | Car Parts & Accessories, Truck Parts, Discount Auto Body Parts Online has EBC pads at reasonable prices. Unless you are looking specifically for larger calipers that you can swap... not sure which ones to get...

 

I just don't see the ROI on this??? The Prius only uses the brakes from 7-0 mph (in typical braking).

 

Have you thought about the effect this will have on vehicle stability control, it will probably put you into a spin instead of getting you out of one.

 

Since you mentioned beforehand that this will be bit more "show" than "go", your plan does look good on paper and it is a start. However, as with all natural-born gearheads like us, this will just be the start of more numerous upgrades to squeeze out precious seconds out of the runs as it can get addictive.. =P

I agree with Britprius. With your current suspension setup with lowering springs/stock shocks, etc, the car would still dive considerably on hard braking transferring all the weight up front making the rear end lift, lose traction, lock or activate ABS prematurely. Soon you'll end up wanting to change to racing coilovers, bigger front sway bars, upgraded bushings, camber kits, upgraded rear brakes, brake bias controller, bigger engine(!), etc. Also, since you're probably one of the first to do this, it would be interesting to know how the car handles the transfer of braking duties from the MGs to the bigger brakes. I'm hoping it's not too abrupt that would make the car a tricky to handle in a AutoX course.

It sure is a fun way of modding and experimenting with a Prius. I'd definitely do the same if I had the money. But I'd choose to go for brake pads and suspension tweaks first before going all out on big brakes since you won't be able to accelerate that fast on a stock engine and go far in a short AutoX course to justify significantly more braking power. Bigger brakes are only needed to counteract bigger HP gains when you modify the engine. What you'll need to shave a lot of time is how you approach the corner and how the car will go fast around a corner, not how fast the car will stop before a corner.

Do keep us posted on your project, nonetheless! : )

 

enter the corner slow, exit the corner fast =
enter the corner fast, exit the corner slow =

 

On this note, why not just do some painting in the wheel well... paint the calipers, the rotor hats, maybe even put a sticker on the caliper. Mod done, and no impact to safety.

I hate to disappoint you, but all you're going to get here is "wow it feels great!" I've yet to see a single dyno sheet, lap time, skidpad test, any hard number for that matter, anywhere on this site. And prepare for the flames if you dare ask for any more evidence.

I'd think the ICE cutting out just before a turn would make the car tricky to handle on any course.

"Need" isn't the driver here. "Want" is. These cars get groceries, I'm dubious that anyone has so much as turned a single lap in them...