Our Top Recommended Big Brake Upgrade Kits For Your Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5
The Evo 5 is one of the few cars in this series where the rear axle is worth a proper conversation. It is four wheel drive, it puts power down through all four corners, and it gets used hard by people who bought it precisely because of that. On a front drive hatch we usually tell customers the front kit is the whole job. Here it is not automatically true.
Which makes the two Tarox kits on this page unusual. There is a 340mm front kit and a 340mm rear kit, and they are the same price to the penny. Nobody else in this series has a matched pair like that in stock. Everything on this page comes from Tarox in northern Italy and HiSpec Motorsport in Dartford, and the full Evo 5 range is on the site if you want to browse it raw.
- Eight kits in stock, from £1,635.00 to £2,610.00
- A matched Tarox front and rear pair, £2,610.00 each, 18 inch wheels
- The rear kit keeps the standard handbrake working
- Wheel sizes run 17 inch to 19 inch depending on the kit
Two brands, two ways of building a brake kit
Both machine their own calipers from billet aluminium and build every kit for the specific car it is going on. Where they differ is what goes in the box and how it is priced.
Tarox
Built at the factory in northern Italy. Calipers are CNC machined from European billet alloy and hand assembled, discs are heat treated and hand balanced to 0.05mm. Two Evo 5 kits are listed, a 340mm Super Sport for the front and a 340mm rear upgrade, and both arrive complete with vehicle specific braided hoses and Corsa pads already fitted.
HiSpec Motorsport
Machined in Dartford from 6082 T6 billet aluminium, calipers and pistons both. Six Evo 5 kits in stock across the Monster 4, Monster 6 and Mega Monster calipers, from 335mm to 380mm. Made to order in up to 28 working days, calipers in black, red, blue, gold or silver. Pads and braided hoses are priced separately so you pick the compound.
Front and rear, for the same money
Tarox list a 340mm front kit and a 340mm rear kit for the Evo 5, both at £2,610.00, both needing an 18 inch wheel. Buy the pair and the whole car is converted for £5,220.00, which is a serious number and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The question is whether it is the right way to spend it, and on this car it is worth asking properly.
On most of the cars in this series we would say no. Braking throws weight forward, the front axle does the bulk of the work, and money spent on the rear is money not spent on the front. The Evo is the exception people actually have a case for: it is heavier than the hot hatches we usually fit, it is driven hard by owners who use all four corners, and the rear kit is built to keep the standard handbrake working, so it stays a road legal, MOT friendly car afterwards.
Garreth’s honest position: fit the front first. Drive it. If the pedal still goes long at the end of a session and the car feels like it is asking the front axle to do everything, the rear kit is there and it will pair properly with what you already have. What we would not do is sell you both on day one because the pair looks tidy in a basket.
Wheel sizes: real numbers for every kit
Minimum wheel diameter is a property of the kit and not of the car, so a figure published against one car holds for every car that kit is listed against. The Tarox figures below were looked up from their own product pages for these exact kits. The HiSpec numbers come from their published bands. The only check that stays a conversation is depth, because a wheel of the right diameter can still foul a caliper at the spokes.
| Kit | Disc | Smallest wheel |
|---|---|---|
| HiSpec Monster 4 | 335mm | 17 inch |
| HiSpec Monster 6 | 335mm | 17 inch |
| HiSpec Monster 4 | 360mm | 18 inch |
| HiSpec Monster 6 | 360mm | 18 inch |
| HiSpec Mega Monster | 360mm | 18 inch |
| Tarox Super Sport, front | 340mm | 18 inch |
| Tarox rear upgrade | 340mm | 18 inch |
| HiSpec Mega Monster | 380mm | 19 inch |
Tarox 340mm front and rear: the four corner option
The Super Sport front kit is the top of the Tarox road range. The caliper is billet aluminium with sequential piston sizing, which spaces the pistons so pad contact stays even across the face as the pad wears, and it is the thing you feel most in the pedal. The disc is a two piece floating unit, billet steel rotor on an anodised alloy bell, balanced to 0.05mm at the factory.
One honesty note on the listings. Both Tarox kits are titled 10pot on our site. The description underneath the front kit is the accurate one: eight pistons, sequentially sized. Tarox do not publish a piston count for the rear upgrade beyond multi piston, so we are not going to invent one. Both arrive complete with vehicle specific braided hoses and Corsa pads fitted, and both need an 18 inch wheel.
- £2,610.00 inc VAT each, front or rear
- Both fit behind 18 inch wheels
- Corsa pads and braided hoses included and fitted
- Two piece floating discs, balanced to 0.05mm
- The rear kit keeps the standard handbrake
HiSpec 360mm Monster 4: the value of the page
The cheapest kit listed for the Evo 5 at £1,635.00, and it is also the second largest disc on the page. That is not a typo and it is not a mistake in our favour: the 335mm Monster 4 sitting next to it is £1,650.00, fifteen pounds more for 25mm less disc. Both prices were checked against our live pricing on 22 August 2026.
So if your wheels clear an 18 inch fitment, this is the one to look at first. Four piston billet caliper, 360mm disc, and the money you did not spend goes into pads, fluid and braided hoses, which on a car that sees track days will do more for you than another caliper piston.
- £1,635.00 inc VAT, the cheapest kit for the car
- Fits behind 18 inch wheels
- 360mm disc, four piston Monster 4 caliper
- Cheaper than the 335mm Monster 4 above it
- Pads and braided hoses priced separately
The two 17 inch HiSpec kits
If the car is on 17s and staying on 17s, these two are your entire choice. Both use a 335mm disc. The Monster 4 is £1,650.00 and puts four pistons on it. The Monster 6 is £1,773.00 and puts six, which spreads clamping force across a longer pad and gives a firmer, more progressive pedal at the same disc diameter.
A hundred and twenty three pounds separates them and the six piston caliper is the better brake. If the Evo is a road car that goes out occasionally, either is fine and the Monster 4 is the sensible buy. If it is doing repeated sessions on 17 inch wheels, spend the difference and have the Monster 6.
- Monster 6 at £1,773.00, Monster 4 at £1,650.00, both inc VAT
- Both fit behind 17 inch wheels
- 335mm disc on both, four or six pistons
- The only two kits on the page that clear a 17
- Pads and braided hoses priced separately
HiSpec 360mm Monster 6: the track pick
Six pistons on a 360mm disc for £1,863.00, on an 18 inch wheel. This is where Garreth would spend on an Evo that does real track days and is not going to see a rear kit any time soon: it is the most brake you can sensibly ask of the front axle before the numbers start running away.
Against the 360mm Monster 4 it is £228.00 more for two extra pistons per caliper. That buys you pad contact across a longer face and a pedal that holds its shape when everything is hot, which is exactly the failure people are trying to fix when they ring us about an Evo.
- £1,863.00 inc VAT
- Fits behind 18 inch wheels
- 360mm disc, six piston Monster 6 caliper
- The front axle pick for repeated track sessions
- Pads and braided hoses priced separately
HiSpec Mega Monster: 360mm and 380mm
The top of the HiSpec range, and the second place the ladder runs backwards. The 380mm kit is £2,159.69 and the 360mm kit is £2,196.85, so the bigger disc is £37.16 cheaper. Both figures were checked against our live pricing on 22 August 2026 and we are stating them plainly instead of quietly pointing you at the dearer one.
The catch is the wheel. The 380mm needs a 19 inch fitment and the 360mm will go behind an 18, so for most Evos the 360mm is the one that physically works even though it costs more. If you are already on 19s, take the 380mm and save the money.
- 380mm at £2,159.69, 360mm at £2,196.85, both inc VAT
- 380mm needs a 19 inch wheel, 360mm clears an 18
- Mega Monster caliper, the largest HiSpec build for the car
- The bigger disc is the cheaper of the two
- Pads and braided hoses priced separately
What is actually in each box
The headline gap between HiSpec and Tarox closes once both are specced to the same level. HiSpec price their kits without pads or braided hoses, so you add those separately and choose the compound. Tarox include both, with the pads already fitted. Compare the finished builds, not the entry prices.
| In the box | HiSpec | Tarox |
|---|---|---|
| Calipers | Monster 4, Monster 6 or Mega Monster, 6082 T6 billet aluminium | Eight sequential pistons on the front Super Sport, multi piston on the rear |
| Discs | Sized to the kit, 335mm to 380mm | Two piece floating, balanced to 0.05mm |
| Brackets and hardware | Included | Included |
| Braided hoses | Priced separately | Included |
| Pads | Priced separately, your choice of compound | Corsa pads, fitted |
| Caliper finish | Black, red, blue, gold or silver | Black, red, blue, green or gold anodised |
| Built in | Dartford, UK, up to 28 working days | Northern Italy |
Every kit on this page compared
| Kit | Axle | Disc | Smallest wheel | Pads and hoses | Price inc VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HiSpec Monster 4 | Front | 360mm | 18in | Extra | £1,635.00 |
| HiSpec Monster 4 | Front | 335mm | 17in | Extra | £1,650.00 |
| HiSpec Monster 6 | Front | 335mm | 17in | Extra | £1,773.00 |
| HiSpec Monster 6 | Front | 360mm | 18in | Extra | £1,863.00 |
| HiSpec Mega Monster | Front | 380mm | 19in | Extra | £2,159.69 |
| HiSpec Mega Monster | Front | 360mm | 18in | Extra | £2,196.85 |
| Tarox Super Sport | Front | 340mm, 2P | 18in | Included | £2,610.00 |
| Tarox rear upgrade | Rear | 340mm, 2P | 18in | Included | £2,610.00 |
Prices include VAT and were correct on 22 August 2026. Tarox minimum wheel sizes were looked up from their own product pages per kit. The table is sorted by price, which is what puts the 360mm Monster 4 above the 335mm and the 380mm Mega Monster above the 360mm.
Common questions
Do I actually need the rear kit on a four wheel drive car?
Not to start with, no. Braking still throws weight onto the front axle whatever drives the wheels, so the front conversion is where the gain is and it is where we would spend first. The reason the rear kit is worth talking about on an Evo, and not on most cars, is that these get used hard by owners who are already at the limit of what the front can do on its own. Fit the front, drive it, and if the car is still asking the front axle for everything, come back for the rear.
Why is the 360mm Monster 4 cheaper than the 335mm?
We do not have a tidy answer, and we would sooner show you the prices than hide them. Both were checked against our live pricing on 22 August 2026. Where the bigger kit is cheaper and your wheels will clear it, buy the bigger kit. The 335mm exists for cars on 17 inch wheels, and that is the only reason to choose it.
Why do the Tarox listings say 10pot when the description says 8 piston?
The title is wrong and the description is right. The Tarox front Super Sport caliper uses eight sequentially sized pistons, which is what the kit contents on the product page state. We have flagged the titles internally. Tarox describe the rear caliper only as multi piston and do not publish a count, so we are not quoting one. If the exact piston count matters for what you are building, ring us and we will get it from Tarox directly.
Will the rear kit affect the MOT or the handbrake?
Tarox build the rear upgrade to work with the standard handbrake, which is the whole reason it is a sensible option on a road registered car. It is a disc and caliper upgrade, not a race conversion that leaves you without a parking brake. As with any brake work, have it fitted properly and bedded in before it goes anywhere near a test.
Why are pads and hoses extra on the HiSpec kits?
HiSpec price the hardware bare so you choose the compound to match how the car is used: a softer road pad for a daily driver, something more aggressive for track evenings. Both pads and braided hoses can be added at the same time. We will quote the finished build level so you can compare it properly against the Tarox kits, which include both as standard.
How long before it arrives?
HiSpec kits are made to order in Dartford, so allow up to 28 working days. Tarox kits are built for the specific car at the factory in Italy and lead times vary through the year, so ask when you place the order and we will give you the current picture. Neither brand keeps finished Evo 5 kits on a shelf.
What we would actually fit
On an Evo 5 on 18 inch wheels, the 360mm Monster 4 at £1,635.00 if you want the value of the page, or the 360mm Monster 6 at £1,863.00 if the car does repeated track sessions. That pair is where most Evo owners should be looking and the £228.00 between them is well spent on a car that gets driven properly. On 17s, the 335mm Monster 6 at £1,773.00.
The Tarox 340mm front kit at £2,610.00 is the complete answer if you want one box with pads and hoses already in it. The matching rear at the same money is genuinely worth knowing about on this car, but fit the front first and see where you are. Ring us on 0115 9893488 with your wheel size and what the car does at weekends. Working out what clears and what fouls is Cameron’s corner of the business, so have the wheel make and model handy and you will get a straight answer.
What is the best big brake kit for a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution?
Most Evo 5 owners should be looking at the HiSpec 360mm pair, the Monster 4 for value and the Monster 6 if the car sees track use. Both need 18 inch wheels. The Tarox 340mm Super Sport is worth a look too if you want pads and hoses already fitted, and there’s a matching rear kit that keeps the standard handbrake for road use.