DavidM

Hi guys, I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how the original equiplment Brembos and pads go on the Zed when you take them to the track. I'm wondering if the people who track the car are happy with the OEM setup (which would surprise me), or whether they put in better/stronger pads at least?

I'm also wondering if anyone has taken the OEM pads+brakes to the track and had some problems? Anyone 'crumbled' (ie. fried) the pads, got fade, or just 'glazzed' the rotors?

Audito350Z

iTrader: (1)

I'm happy with the OEM Brembos at the track.... BUT... I use Carbotech XP pads and Motul 600 fluid and Goodridge stainless lines.

The OEM pads are good for a while, but will fade eventually. If you are running in the faster run groups and use R-compound tires, you will need to upgrade fluid and pads.

As for the non-Brembo brakes... I would not even consider doing hot laps at a track with those, even with improved pads and fluid.


Hope that helps.

PeteH

archman350z

Yup, you have to drive pretty hard to get the pads to fade on the stock Brembos. The stock tires start getting greasy at about the time the pads give up...so they're a good match. Glazing just never seemed to be an issue.

I had no problems at the first track meet with the OEM pads, but I was also learning to drive this car on the track too (I've come from a FWD racing background). I found the car had more brake than I was using most of the time. For the second event at a much bigger track, I swapped the front pads for Hawk HP+'s. They worked great all day until I started boiling the stock fluid.

peptidbond

iTrader: (2)

Have them and love them. Great calipers. However, I use Ferodo track pads and not stock. If I were Nissan, I would also upgrade the rotors and brake lines. My stock rotors are slightly warped from my last track event. Also, I am putting on stainless steel lines because the Brembos still come with rubber lines. However, I still highly recommend the setup.

DavidM

Thanks guys, I will be using R-spec tyres so looks like the concesus is to swap the pads for something better/stronger as well as the fluid.

Do you guys swap both the front and rear pads, or just the fronts?

My stock rotors are slightly warped from my last track event

Any idea how/why the rotors got warped? I'm wondering if it had something to do with the pad material or lack of cooling down (or something else)? Also were you useing R-spec tyres?

I'm trying to get as much information as possible in order to avoid warping the rotors.

commasense

You definitely want to avoid warping the rotors because, if you haven't already found out, the dealer cost for the OEM rotors for the track Z is $400 each!!! The retail price is $600.

I too have tracked the Track, and am very happy with the stock brakes. But the very first thing I did was put in ATE Super Blue brake fluid. (Boiling the fluid once in my 944 Turbo was enough to convince me of the importance of that upgrade. You haven't lived until you approach a turn, hit the brake, and have it go right to the floor. Gets your attention!) If you do nothing else, put in high-temp brake fluid before putting one tire on the track. This applies to all cars, IMHO.

I ran several events with the stock pads, then switched to Ferodo DS2500s, a combination street-track pad that is not too hard on the rotors. (I didn't go for a track-only pad, because I don't always want to bother switching pads at the track. I leave these pads in all the time.) The DS2500 is not remarkably superior to the stock pad, but the stock pad is pretty good. I've heard that Ferodo may actually make the stock pad.

I'm thinking about SS lines, and next year I may try a slightly more aggressive pad.

I'll offer one piece of information I learned the hard way: check your pads every time you get off the track. I knew I was coming to the end of the set, but thought I could get through one more day. But at the end of the day, three of the four front pads had at least 1/16th left, but one had worn to the metal and scored the rotor. I had it turned, but I should have been more observant.

Jewelz350

Like the stock Brembos. Upgrade your fluid as mentioned above. I ran with the stock pads but have a set of HP+ for next season. Going to add the SS lines as well.

I also warped the rotors. I'll blame it on the x-boyfriend who didn't properly cool them down after his last run. I replaced the OEM rotors with Brembo slotted rotors from TireRack for just under $400 PER SET!

Audito350Z

iTrader: (1)

I use Carbotech XP front and rear for the track events. I also removed the dust shields from the rear rotors... they seemed to hold in too much heat.

As for the warped rotors... I doubt they are really warped. What typically happens is pad material will deposit onto the rotor unevenly. When you apply the brakes, the higher deposit of pad material on the rotor makes it feel warped. A quick machining will even them up nicely and save you $800 for new rotors. Even scrubbing them with steel wool will even them out.

I've done 3600 track miles this year on my OEM Brembos and have had no brake issues at all. As I mentioned in an earlier post, and has been restated here a few times... better fluid is a must and so are better pads.

Cheers,

PeteH

commasense

Audito350Z:

3600 miles on the track!?! How many days, where did you run, with what groups?

I thought I was doing pretty well with 18 days and 1800 miles.

You da man!