Drag racing brakes can be considered both a safety and performance feature. They bring your vehicle to a stop, but they can also be optimized for a high level of performance at the track.

The last time we talked about our Project True SStreet Camaro, it was getting another round of upgrades. One of the areas that was addressed were the brakes, but we really only scratched the surface on the parts we used and why. So, we’re going to take a deeper dive into why we moved to a more race-oriented set of Strange Engineering brakes on the Camaro.

Why You Should Upgrade To Race Brakes

All brakes are the same, right? Absolutely not, there are some big differences between OEM-style brakes and race brakes. From the design to the materials, these two types of braking systems are vastly different.

The biggest difference between each of the brake types will be the rotors. A street brake is typically going to use a thicker, cast iron vented rotor. These rotors are going to be heavy, but very durable, and that’s what makes them great for the stop-and-go driving you do on the street to better dissipate heat. In a racing application, that weight isn’t ideal or needed. The thermal shock that the cast iron can go through when it’s used in a racing application only compounds the issue. The material expands too rapidly when the heat rises quickly, and causes the rotor to crack.

Drag racing brake rotors have a unique design. They aren’t as thick as OEM units, and are made of high grade materials like stainless steel or carbon fiber, depending on the application. A drag racing brake rotor, like the ones Strange Engineering makes, will also use a two-piece design with a separate hat and rotor.

Drag racing brakes use a rotor that’s designed to deal with thermal abuse.

JC Cascio from Strange best summed up the difference in the rotor design between a drag racing brake and a street car brake.

“A drag racing brake rotor like ours is going to have slots in the rotor itself. As the rotor heats up, the slots actually collapse down, so it allows the rotor to expand without distorting the rotor itself. In a two-piece design like ours, the rotor hat is made of aluminum. So, the rotor disc actually floats on the hat, so as the rotor expands, it can expand without binding anything up. It makes everything spin a lot freer, which, of course, in the drag application is ideal.”

Another advantage drag race brakes have are the brake pad choices. Drag racing brake pads are available in different compounds, with some being more aggressive than others. We’ll dive into what different brake pad compounds bring to the table a little later.

One of the biggest reasons to move to a set of drag racing brakes is going to be the overall weight of the brakes. The more weight you can remove from a vehicle, the quicker it will go, and there’s plenty of unsprung weight hidden within a set of OEM brakes.

“A drag racing brake package – including the brackets, rotors, calipers, pads, and everything else – will only weigh upwards of 28 pounds total, depending on the hub design. That’s going to weigh at a minimum of half as much as an entire set of OEM brakes. So now, you’re not only increasing the stopping power, you’re removing a lot of weight off the vehicle,” Cascio says.

Picking The Right Brakes

There are numerous drag racing brake options available, depending on your application. That being said, there are a few things you need to keep in mind when shopping for drag racing brakes.

“When we’re working with a customer, the first thing we’re going to do is talk about their specific application. That’s going to set the table to let us know where we need to start. From there, we’re going to look at how much the vehicle weighs and how fast they plan on going. We’ll be able to determine if they need stainless steel rotors, carbon rotors, the type of pads, and so on with that information,” Cascio states.

The style of racing, weight of the vehicle, and how fast it goes all need to be considered when picking out drag racing brakes.

The weight of the vehicle is going to dictate a lot, including the brake calipers you’ll need. Strange recommends two piston calipers for the front brakes of vehicles that weigh up to 2,500 pounds. Anything over 2,500 pounds, and Strange recommends four-piston calipers. The rear brakes will always use a set of four piston calipers no matter how much the vehicle weighs.

We briefly mentioned brake pads earlier. Cascio has some additional information about brake pad compounds you’ll want to keep in mind when looking at drag racing brakes.

“Our least aggressive pad compound is the DTC-30. This is a pad that you’d run on the front because you never want the front brakes to be too aggressive, and we would run that on the rear, and cars going 150 mph or less in the quarter mile. It gives a great feel when you’re staging a car, too. The DRM 40 pads are more aggressive and still hold great at the line. Since it’s a more aggressive compound, it will help stop the car better at the top end. Our DRM 35 pad is the most aggressive when it comes to stopping power. This is the pad we recommend when you’re going over 150 mph and up into the 200 mph range in the quarter mile before you need to move to carbon brakes.”

One thing you need to remember is that some planning needs to go into converting your vehicle over to a full drag race brake setup. This will help you avoid some common problems Cascio sees customers encounter.

For instance, if you’re converting a brake system from a power brake setup to a manual brake setup, the leverage ratio of the brake pedal will need to be adjusted to give you the correct leverage. This might require a change to the pivot point of the brake pedal assembly, or an entirely new assembly to provide you with enough room to adjust the pivot point.

“Another problem we see people have when converting to drag racing brakes is they don’t really check anything over. They just bolt the brakes on, hook up the lines, and want them to function. You have to check the brake pressure to make sure it’s adequate. The new brakes might use more fluid volume, so they will need to upgrade to a larger master cylinder and don’t know it,” Cascio explains.

The Brakes We Used On True SStreet

Project True SStreet needed a set of brakes that would not only fit inside our new double beadlock WELD Wheels, but also be able to slow the car down after we turned it up. The car was outfitted with a full set of Strange’s Evolution Dynamic Drive Mount brakes.

For the front, we were able to reuse the OEM hubs with the Evolution S Rotors. The kit uses a set of four-piston calipers and the DTC-30 semi-metallic brake pads. In the rear, we used a set of Evolution Dynamic Drive Mount rotors with four-piston calipers and DRM-35 metallic pads that fit our 9-inch solid axle rearend.

The Evolution S Dynamic Drive Mount (DDM) Stainless Steel Rotors are engineered for high performance and durability. They mount to a Billet Aluminum DDM Hat, significantly reducing rotating weight. The DDM system is designed to secure the rotor while allowing for thermal expansion, which greatly reduces the risk of warping, coning, and cracking—issues commonly associated with traditional bolt retention systems. Instead of using heavy bolts and hardware, the DDM system employs an internal Spirlox retainer, further decreasing weight and simplifying assembly.

Constructed from fully machined and ground stainless steel, these rotors offer exceptional strength and resilience, with 48% greater yield strength at 1,000°F compared to carbon steel. This ensures structural integrity under extreme conditions. Additionally, the stainless steel composition provides excellent resistance to both heat and corrosion. The rotor design includes unique Aero Slots, which not only aid in reducing weight but also promote even heat dissipation, outperforming standard round-drilled alternatives. A scalloped profile further contributes to weight reduction, making the Evolution S rotors a lightweight, high-strength solution for drag racing applications.

“This DDM rotor is just a progression of what Strange has been doing for many years. As vehicles keep getting faster and heavier, we needed a rotor that could take a lot of punishment. With this rotor design, we were able to reduce weight without reducing strength or braking power,” Cascio says.

The four piston calipers that come with the kits are engineered for optimal braking performance and efficiency. Featuring stainless steel pistons, these calipers effectively reduce heat transfer to the brake fluid, maintaining system reliability under high temperatures. The pistons incorporate a reverse dish pressure vessel design that enhances stiffness, while a high-retraction piston and O-ring system eliminate drag during acceleration. Developed using computer-based finite element analysis (FEA) and validated through rigorous field testing, the Evolution 4 design significantly improves piston retraction, pedal feel, and overall caliper stiffness. This results in better pad wear characteristics and superior braking performance. All four pistons have a diameter of 1.750 inches, providing increased clamping force for maximum braking effectiveness.

“With the caliper design on these kits, we changed to a different O-ring style that actually retracts the pistons further. So, it pulls the pistons further back into the caliper, which then releases the pads off the rotor face. This makes the brakes more efficient and reduces drag,” Cascio says

Moving to a set of drag racing brakes can provide some great performance and safety benefits. It will just take a little bit of research from the start to make sure you get the right set of brakes for your application. A good set of drag racing brakes will not only make your vehicle safer, it will also remove some of that pesky weight to help it perform better as well.