Brand new setup for the remainder of the 2025 season. It became clear over the last couple of events that going from the Evo 10 brakes to the AP Racing setup (350mm to 325mm) was a bit of a downgrade in terms of overall braking force. The pedal was firm and I could stand on the brakes but the car didn’t want to stop the way I wanted it to. I’ve upgraded the brakes from the AP Racing 4-piston 8350s with 325mm rotors to Alcon’s Car97 6-piston calipers with adapters for the 355mm kit. This will be a much more competent setup for both track and autox. While I think the AP Racing set would have been good for track, autox involves much more hard braking at colder temps. The AP Racing kit actually decreased the front braking force by about 6% – not the direction you want to go on a 60/40 car that makes 100-140whp more than factory. I got two sets of pads, the P3 & the P5. Descriptions of Paragon’s pads are here. The P3 pad is a DS2500 equivalent, bit of a do-it-all street, autox, and light track duty pad. I’ve also got the R5 pads for if the car needs to setup to those – but given the performance on the DS2500s, I think I will be ok for now. Unfortunately, it does require the caliper to come off to swap in new pads due to how the retaining clip and mounting tabs are designed, but not too much of a deal – just 2 10mm hex bolts that need to come off. I debated between the 343mm to run 17s and the 355 to commit to 18s, but ultimately for the track, I wanted a bigger, more capable setup that would also be a bigger heatsink.

Obviously a lot of the actual stopping power comes from the tires but already had RE71RS in 255s on the car – so that was upgraded too. Going from 325mm rotors to 355mm rotors meant I needed to return to 18s. I had sold all of my 18s when I switched from the Evo 10 brakes to the APs, so I needed to grab a set. As luck would have it, Rays recently released a new, revised CE28 – the CE28n-plus. The CE28n-plus is a stronger, more rigid wheel than the original. The weight savings holes around the hub area are gone, and most of the wheel is revised, despite keeping the same design. Likely, these are similar to the CE28SLs that I had. Unlike the CE28SLs which only came in Diamond Dark Gunmetal, I was finally able to choose the color I wanted – this time, I went for Diamond Silver. I hate dark/black wheels, and had always planned to powdercoat them silver. My preference is always for a metallic, bright silver, which is exactly what the Diamond Silver color is. If anything, I think it could have been a little more metallic and a little less satin-y, but that’s nitpicking. I checked the old CE28n’s I had in Mercury Silver, and I prefer the DS. I actually kind of miss the holes around the hub, but I’ll take greater strength in the wheel any day of the week. These are also an 18×10 +40 wheel, which meant two modifications – the SSB rear trailing arms for inner clearance in the rear, and extended studs in the front to run a 12mm spacer (bringing the offset to 28). This turned out to be a perfect fit for both front and rear clearance. I could MAYBE fit a 285 if I ran a little less camber in the front and rear, but that’s something to think about in the future. There’s also a massive amount of clearance to the brakes which is a good thing – more airflow around all the bits means more cooling as well.

Finally, I’m running 265/35-18 Vitour P1s. I asked SPS whether I should run the P1s in 265 or RE71Rs in 285, and he actually said the former. I was surprised, but for track days this tire copes very well with the heat – needs it, actually, as evidenced by my Veloster N. I agreed anyway, as I didn’t want to push things too much on trying this setup for the first time. The tires may be a tiny bit stretched on this setup, but barely if at all. I’m going to try to scrub them in or get a heat cycle before the next event, which is going to be a trackday…