Hi guys, bit of a newbie here as i still run my Z32, just curious if the stock 350Z brakes would be a worthwhile upgrade for the older Z32 as regards fitment(straight swap ?) and stopping power ? are the 350's bigger in disc and caliper size ??
thanks
smithy

 

I'm guessing, but I think the non-Brembos are the same size or smaller than the Z32 brakes. I think a better upgrade for the Z32 is to use the Twin Turbo brakes.

Cheers,

PeteH

 

Thanks for the reply mate, my car is twin turbo model and am hoping that basically nissan went bigger and better on brakes after over 13 years on the same model, i know 350z definately ain't smaller, so cross fingers someone knows wether or not the new Z has bigger brakes than the old Z.
cheers
smithy

 

the 350z brakes aren't as pretty as the TT brakes, but they are 11.65" front discs and 11.5" rear. The brembos are 12.75" front and 12.67" rear.

Good luck! I love to see projects like this

 

Thanks mate, one last question, i assume the calipers on 350z are 4 pots ?
just that ideally as there is GB going on and if the 350z calipers are 4 pots, then the GB on 6 pots would fit my car.
cheers
smithy

 

no, the stock calipers are only 2 pots. the brembos are 4. If you can put the stock ones on, the 6 pots should still fit also though.

 

NA and TT Z32's more or less use the brake system, the differences are in the calipers throughout the various years of that car's production. 1990 NA Z32's used aluminum calipers that ONLY used the thinner 26mm rotors. From 91-92, the NA's switched to the same calipers that the 90-92 TT Z32's were using: 4-piston aluminum with 30mm rotors. IMO, these are the best performing calipers avail.

However, from 93+ the NA and TT both switched over to CAST IRON 4-piston calipers which also used the same 30mm rotors.. it just happens to be the calipers were the change, from alum to cast iron. Some feel that this change makes the brakes more reliable and durable, but at the cost of weight. Personally, I've the aluminum calipers and have had no problems with them. Note, this is on an S13 240SX thats MUCH much lighter than a Z.

As for the Z32 and S13, they should be able to use ANY Z33 brake product with little to no customization. The track model Z33 uses R33/R34 golden brembos, which all should fit any of these nissan vehicles.

good luck,
- mike

 

What about using the Skyline brakes on the Z32, I am not extremely familiar with them but I have seen it as an option to big brake upgrades for the Z32.

The stock TT brakes on my 90 are not great, I am going to try a different pad to see if helps.

 

Thanks guys, yep yer right the Skyline brakes are often used as an upgrade on my z32, however they sometimes command high money for this, i was thinking as you guys are doing a GB on uprated brakes, there would be quite a few surplus sets floating around and up for sale, if they would be considered as upgrade, i could have been quids in. Mike does the track car 350z use brembo's for both the calipers and discs from the gtr33, if so any of these going spare if someone upgrades would be a good buy for the likes of me.
cheers
smithy

 

The track model Brembo's come up every now and then not too often as not many track models out there and then not many upgrading. I found a front set myself and owuld like a rear set.

I thought the skyline mod for the Z32 was a cheaper mod than big brake kits out there, like around 2K for all 4 wheels, granted they are not Brembos but those new would be around 6k.

 

hey smithy how do you like it over there at the isle of man? I hear they have no speed limits once you get outta the main streets and into the mountains...... you lucky guy......

 

Gees in all the years i've been on US forums (tt.net) your the first person who knows where the i.o.m is, lol
Great here mate and in TT week is even better, racing all the motorbikes especially on Mad sunday. You've heard of the T races yeah ? it's why people know the i.o.m and for no speed limits.
cheers
smithy

 

Not sure about the size difference between the two, but having owned both a Z32 and now a Z33 Track...I can definitely say that it'd be a worthwhile upgrade. I was never impressed with the Z32 brakes at all. I imagine on a lighter car (like the 240SX) it be a marked improvement, but the Z32 is a heavy car.

If you can find 'em, I'd go with the Track Brembos. Again, not sure of the size differences, but from my experience, even the non-Brembo Z33 brakes would seem to be an improvement for a Z32 daily driver. I read something online a while back where they were testing Brembo vs. non-Brembo Z33s and said that the stopping distances were nearly identical between the two before track-like braking maneuvers were introduced. At which point, the non-Brembos started to fade quite a bit due to the heat. Of course non-Brembo Z33 brakes wouldn't look as nice as the stock Z32 brakes (if that matters to you) and changing pads would be *slightly* more involved. If you track your car, though, I would go with the Brembos.