Domestic performance cars have gone through an evolution during their decades of production, and the newest versions of these cars are more refined and provide better performance. The bigger brakes on modern performance cars are great for stopping but they also add weight, so Strange Engineering developed brakes to help remove that increased mass for drag racing applications.

Your typical performance car that Chevrolet, Dodge, and Ford build will all have larger brakes from the factory that are designed to help stop the car and also fill out the large diameter wheels that come standard on the vehicle. While these brakes are an improvement compared to what old-school performance cars had, they add weight, and that’s something you just don’t want at the dragstrip. The best solution is to go to a smaller brake package that will also allow for smaller wheels to be used on the car for improved drag racing performance.

Strange Engineering has developed its own brake conversion for modern performance cars. Strange’s J.C. Cascio explains how the company got involved with creating these lightweight brake packages.

“We supply the brake systems for the COPO and Cobra Jet cars, so in working with Ford and GM we developed the kits that would work with the factory front spindles. From there we worked with those who were converting street cars to more of a race application.”

So, will your average racer see any improvement in performance by going to these smaller brakes? According to Cascio, the answer is yes, due to the many advantages these brake conversions provide.

“The biggest advantage would be the weight savings. The one-piece or two-piece race rotors we have are much lighter than the factory cast rotors. The hats have windows cut in them to help reduce weight. The rotors themselves are slotted which has multiple functions: they reduce the mass of the rotor so there’s less rotating weight, and they also collapse down as the rotor heats up to help to prevent distortion in the rotor. The other benefit is our brake kits allow racers to use a 15-inch wheel instead of a 17-inch or larger wheel, which gives them more tire options for drag racing with the 15-inch wheel,” Cascio says.

Each brake conversion kit has different features that help provide plenty of braking performance. The calipers for each kit are directional so pad wear is reduced, there’s less pad taper, and the brakes have better feel. Strange also offers different brake pad compounds that you can choose from to better fit your vehicle.

“We have a few different brake compounds that vary in how aggressive they are. Our soft pads would be used on the front brakes all of the time. The rear brakes can use the soft pad or hard metallic pad. The hard metallic pad is more aggressive, so they will bite harder and stop the car quicker,” Cascio explains.

If you want to remove some weight and improve braking performance with your modern performance car, check out the different brake conversions offered by Strange Engineering right here.