Cadillac CTS-V 6-Piston Brembo Brakes, Nitto Tires, And Wheel Upgrade - What's The Holdup? - Tech

If you have been following our STi Killer project, you may recall these famous last words from our most recent installment (10-Bolt Basics, August '10): "The next time you see the STi Killer, it will be loaded up with all of it's drivetrain goodies and ready to do battle." Well, we lied. OK, it's not so much that we lied, it's just that we may have gotten carried away over the last few months and decided to go crazy with some really cool brake upgrades. It happened much like it always does, after seeing a couple of other cars with big brakes, we got jealous, decided we had to have them and started scheming. After weeks of research and phone calls, we had a plan and a couple of great options. Of course, here at GMHTP, we try to stay on the cutting edge, which meant if we took on a big brake upgrade, it would have to be something that no one had ever tried before, even if it meant spending a couple of long nights at the shop, stealing parts off other cars in an attempt to make everything fit.

Enter the '09-10 Cadillac CTS-V 6-piston Brembo caliper, a mass of gorgeous aluminum that can make even the most hardened brake enthusiast weak in the knees. Looks and shear size aside, the CTS-V brakes flat out work, stopping the portly 4,200-pound sedan from 60 to 0 in under 110 feet, 11 feet shorter than a stock '02 Camaro, even with the extra weight. Needless to say, we were sold on the idea, but finding all the parts proved much harder than it seemed. After fumbling around with multiple incorrect part numbers, we decided to give the ultimate GM parts gurus at Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center a call, and luckily for us, they were able to correctly locate everything we needed in just a couple of minutes, shipping the parts directly to us without any hassle. If you're following along at home, you will need to order two front calipers (PN 25912477, 2591296), which retail at $446.46 apiece. Be warned however that these calipers do not come with pins, so you will have to do a bit of haggling with your local dealer to get a set. Of course, you will also need a set of rotors, which can be sourced from a variety of places, although we chose to stick with GM parts, opting to run a set of C6 Z06 units (PN 19121787, $101.17 a piece). Interestingly, you can use that part number twice, since the C6 Z06 rotors are not side specific, which saved GM and ultimately us, quite a bit of money.