2017+ Continental brakes on 2013 MKZ

[BlownGP]

I seem to always do brake swaps on my cars. Can never have enough stopping power.

 

After lots of research I found out the Continental has 13.5" Rotors with dual piston calipers vs the stock 12.5" with single piston calipers

Also found out later these bigger brakes come on the TT MKZ, MKX and Edge sport.

 

So these are direct bolt on since they all share the same platform.

Got the calipers off a Continental with less than 1000 miles because it was used in a crash test. 

 

So you need

Continental Calipers, pads, rotors and if you want the splash guards.

 

It defiantly bites a lot harder, really responsive brake pedal. I love it and they look great behind the 20s.

 

Now to pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Izzy3906]

Your MKZ looks good with those 20's.

How does the ride feel with them compare with the OEM's.

[jmcgliss]

Congrats and thanks for researching this. I've upgraded brakes on other cars - before ABS and other electronics became the norm.

 

 Is the master cylinder the same? Would there be a calibration issue with the ABS sensors?

[FunktasticLucky]

Hmmm... so this would probably fit my 2018 MKZ then right?  This might be a worthwhile upgrade as I believe the rotors and brake pads are too small for the car.  Just don't look right with the 19 inch wheels.  A dual piston Caliper and 13.5 inch rotor upgrade would be nice.  What about the rears?  Do those bolt directly on as well or do they have the same exact rear brakes?  I'm going to check this out when I go to the dealership today to look at some stuff.

[DeviLSh]

WOW - great find, I was able to find the tech sheets on the Conti, Vs the '17 MKZ. Where did you get access to crash car parts?

 

Conti:

 

https://media.lincoln.com/content/dam/lincolnmedia/lna/us/product/2017/continental/17CON_TechSpecs_R04.pdf

 

'17 MKZ:

 

https://media.lincoln.com/content/dam/lincolnmedia/lna/us/product/2016/17MKZ-TechSpecs.pdf

 

 

According to these docs (and a few other sites I have cross-referenced parts on), the fronts are 13.8", not 13.5" and the '17 3.0tt MKZ, and the Conti do not share the same sizing brakes as you have mentioned. Maybe they went larger for 2018? The 3.0TT seems to match the 12.4", like on my 3.7 and the fusion sports (2.7tt).

 

The move to dual piston and bump up in rotor size is nice,I wonder what the overall sweep area increase is. For anyone looking to keep the balance, if the rears also swap over, you could have some serious stopping power on the MKZ. If only they had a nice fixed brembo caliper, something more visually appealing. Such as THIS

 

Regardless of the sizing details, and look - this is a great oem+ upgrade.

 

Did you reuse the MKZ's caliper bolts hardware?

 

Thanks again!

Edited May 11, 2018 by DeviLSh

[FunktasticLucky]

This is what I'm most curious about. Are the caliper brackets simplu bolt on and go? Also, what about the brake line banjo bolt? Do I need to swap out the caliper line to the continental's one or are they the same. I guess I could look that up by part number but I'm on mobile at work atm so. Just thought I would ask and hope someone replies for once.

[BlownGP]

Sorry guys. Don't get on here much since I did the wheels, brakes and exhaust. Not much else to do and the car has been great.

It is my wifes car

 

I Just got a Mustang so I'm playing with Forscan so this forum brought me back here. lol

 

 

Your MKZ looks good with those 20's.

How does the ride feel with them compare with the OEM's.

 

Thanks

Really not bad. I went with 245/40/20s which is a little taller than the 245/40/19s because I didn't want to ride on 35 series tires.

It rubs the inner front fender just a little on hard turns but nothing serious. 

 

 

Congrats and thanks for researching this. I've upgraded brakes on other cars - before ABS and other electronics became the norm.

 

 Is the master cylinder the same? Would there be a calibration issue with the ABS sensors?

 

As far as I know the master cylinders are the same. I've had no issues with the ABS and I've done a few hard stops. It really slows the car down.

 

 

Hmmm... so this would probably fit my 2018 MKZ then right?  This might be a worthwhile upgrade as I believe the rotors and brake pads are too small for the car.  Just don't look right with the 19 inch wheels.  A dual piston Caliper and 13.5 inch rotor upgrade would be nice.  What about the rears?  Do those bolt directly on as well or do they have the same exact rear brakes?  I'm going to check this out when I go to the dealership today to look at some stuff.

 

If you have the ecoboost then yes it will be a upgrade. That's why I did was because after I got the wheels, the brakes looked really small. Of course the wide open wheels don't help.

 

I researched about the back too. I think there all the same size except the hybrid uses smaller rotors. It's been a while since I looked it up, so going by just memory. 

 

 

WOW - great find, I was able to find the tech sheets on the Conti, Vs the '17 MKZ. Where did you get access to crash car parts?

 

Conti:

 

https://media.lincoln.com/content/dam/lincolnmedia/lna/us/product/2017/continental/17CON_TechSpecs_R04.pdf

 

'17 MKZ:

 

https://media.lincoln.com/content/dam/lincolnmedia/lna/us/product/2016/17MKZ-TechSpecs.pdf

 

 

According to these docs (and a few other sites I have cross-referenced parts on), the fronts are 13.8", not 13.5" and the '17 3.0tt MKZ, and the Conti do not share the same sizing brakes as you have mentioned. Maybe they went larger for 2018? The 3.0TT seems to match the 12.4", like on my 3.7 and the fusion sports (2.7tt).

 

The move to dual piston and bump up in rotor size is nice,I wonder what the overall sweep area increase is. For anyone looking to keep the balance, if the rears also swap over, you could have some serious stopping power on the MKZ. If only they had a nice fixed brembo caliper, something more visually appealing. Such as THIS

 

Regardless of the sizing details, and look - this is a great oem+ upgrade.

 

Did you reuse the MKZ's caliper bolts hardware?

 

Thanks again!

 

hahha.

I found that same spec sheet when researching. It's not right.

 

If you ever want to look up brake rotor sizes, calipers, pads etc. 

Use this

https://centricparts.centriccatalog.com/EcatMain.aspx?id=ANR&uid=ANR&sid=0

It's a god send. lol

 

According to that site. Some model Conti do have 345MM rotors which euals 13.5" rotors. 

The calipers I have came off a 2017 Continental. Maybe not every trim level has the 345mm rotors I guess.

 

I know the TT MKZ has them because I went to the dealer and saw them. Also seen them on the Fusion Sport

Like I said to Funktastic. The rears look to be all the same size. No upgrade there unfortunately. 

 

I wish there was a cheap Brembo kit, but anythings possible with some custom brackets.

I plan on doing something like that on my truck.

 

 

This is what I'm most curious about. Are the caliper brackets simplu bolt on and go? Also, what about the brake line banjo bolt? Do I need to swap out the caliper line to the continental's one or are they the same. I guess I could look that up by part number but I'm on mobile at work atm so. Just thought I would ask and hope someone replies for once.

Yes, everything bolts ons.

Brackets, banjo bolt thread is the same. Use your stock lines.

 

The only thing extra I got was the MKZ TT break shield, which you really don't need but it was cheap so I bought them. 

 

 

anymore questions. Let me know.

PM/Email me if I don't respond for a while. lol

 

 

 

 

[FunktasticLucky]

So I got on rock auto last night.  Turns out that if you have a 3.0T MKZ the brakes are already to the Continental brakes.  13.5 Inch rotors and dual piston calipers.  The part numbers are exactly the same.  So just a heads up to anyone with a 3.0T MKZ.  The continental brakes are NOT an upgrade.  It's the same exact brake setup. The drivers package gets the painted calipers though.  So now i'm on a quest to find 14 inch 4 piston calipers that we can fit on.  I wonder what it would take to get Wilwood to fit a 6 piston 14 inch set up on our cars.

[CDW6212R]

That's good stuff to know, I'm just beginning to browse details about the 17+ MKZ's.

I like to see the 13.5" rotor size, that means almost any 17" wheel can fit. Up to the .75" size that is, so if you go to a 14" something, you can go to 14.75" and still fit an 18" wheel. Some people do Winter wheels a lot, and using a smaller wheel can save money and difficulty finding wheels/tires.

I'm in that boat with my mail trucks, I have custom 12.75" rotors on one truck, so a 16" OEM Limited wheel is great for my snow tires.

To hunt bigger calipers, try very hard to stick with all street applications, for a kit caliper etc. Those and OEM calipers all have street piston seals. Race calipers will only have race piston seals, which don't have the outer second seal to keep out more dust etc. I'm got a pair of them on my mail truck, and the Wilwood GN III's I;m going to soon also have race seals. Those have to be more carefully cared for, cleaned more often, keep the seam of the pistons clean and not corroding etc. So far I've done well with the one set, since 2005 with them. Servicing the pads takes longer, an extra 20-30 minutes per caliper to clean them and behind the SS plates which the pads ride against. It's all worth it to me, but many people will not want to deal with such race caliper servicing, so try to stick with street type calipers.

Here's one of the 6-pot calipers I have to adapt. These are made for a 1.375" rotor, and have about 5.5sqin or piston area. The .80" thick #7520 pads were what I was after, for longer pad life.