Once you get past the rubber hoses the biggest problem with the stock S197GT brake system is not really clamping force it's the brake system's ability to absorb heat and then disapate that heat. You also need to install a brake pad material that can still provide a good coeffiecent of friction at higher temps while still working at cooler street temps. So the obvious things to do to improve your brakes is to start by optimizing your stock brakes to overcome these issues.
Look into spindle mounted brake ducts, and under bumper scoop or duct and common brake duct tubing. V8 Power, Agent47 and Quantum all make spindle mounted brake ducts and Agent47 and Quantum offer under bumper scoops that mount in the lower part of the front facia. The brake duct hose is common stuff and you can find it all over the intenet.
Replace your stock rubber brake hoses with Teflon tubes covered with stainless steel and OE compatable fittings and clamps. Flush your brake system once the brakes are installed with Motul RBF which is flat out the best stuff on the street. It's cheap enough that the frequent bleeding you normally need to perform doesn't hurt too much.
The beauty of these mods are they're cheap and effective and still work with a 17" wheel. All of the brake setups after this point require that you research your wheel and caliper choices to ensure that there will be no mechanical interference issues. Many cheap cast wheels are not only heaver but also do not have the necessary clearance even in larger 19"+ sizes. The point is that you have to get the brake clearence templates and check your wheels for clearance before you buy.
An effective low cost way to increase brake torque once you have performed the previously listed upgrades is a front axle Baer 14" Eradispeed 2 Plus kit. If you are not road racing every weekend you might be satified with simply increasing your front rotor diameter which increases your stock calipers mechanical advantage over the stock 12.6" brakes. Also these 2-piece rotors are capable of shedding more heat and combined with your new cooling ducts will probably work perfectly well for the occassional HPDE or autocross event attendee. If you want your rear rotors to match the drill and slot pattern you can buy the matching rear Eradispeed kit but you may prefer the better brake balance of simply installing a pair of matching 1-piece stock diam. rotors that are drilled and sloted to match the front 2-piece rotors. This setup with matching pattern stock diameter 1-piece rear rotors complete with brake ducts will run under $1,600 in parts. If you are a more serious racer this may not be enough.
The best cheap race capable brakes are the GT500's Brembo 4-piston calipers squeezing good 14" rotors with matching rear rotors and a set of stock GT500 front and rear pads until EBC or Hawk releases some better pad materials. Steeda sells a GT500 14"/13" rotor kit but you still need the brake ducts so this setup in parts will run you about $2,100 in parts. The kit Steeda supplied rotors are both one piece parts but they will work just fine and are cheap to replace and if you race on a regular basis you know you will be replacing them all the time. The balance of this setup is also very good.
The best brakes I've driven on are the Baer Extreme Plus 6-piston Baer calipers on their 14" 2-piece rotors with rear 14" Baer Eradispeed kit out back. Geezus! these things are fantastic! The brakes offer extremely sensitive braking and are very consistent once up to temp and you have more than enough clamping force to haul the car down from any speed assumming you can keep them cool enough. You still need the rake ducts for racing but on the street you will have to be careful about bringing up the brakes to temp before using them hard. This system is getting prety pricey and should run about $4,200 for parts only including brake duct parts and Motul RBF fluid.
I have also driven the Stoptech/Steeda 14" brakes but that car was on stock rear rotors and pads. The car stopped well but there was not as good balance and the rear brakes did not really work as hard as they could have. Even at maximum braking with the fronts under control of the ABS system the rear brakes did not activate the ABS. These 14" fronts would probably beneifit from the 13" upgrade that Steeda offers.
Anyway that's what I've found out about brakes for our cars. IMO the best bang for the buck for a serious car is the GT500 setup with upgraded Steeda rotors and ducts. You can't beat this setup for the money and the cost of rotors and pads is downright cheap!
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