Brembo Brakes - Please read!
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Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Santa Cruz, CA
Originally posted by Jason Bourne
Sharp, it's purely a temperature thing. The pads that you got with the car are designed to provide safe, effective stopping in everyday, street conditions. The Nissan engineers felt that it was more important for the guy in New Hampshire to be able to stop at the end of his steep driveway when he heads out to work on a February morning than for people to be able to do track miles on their Zs. Since no-one had figured out how to make a pad that works well on a cold stop in 0 degree weather as well as working properly at 700 degrees on a racetrack, you're stuck with making compromises. OEM pads are always designed for street usage, even if the car is considered a "sport" or "track" model. Imagine the lawsuits if Nissan installed pads that don't start really working until they reach 300 degrees (like a lot of track pads). THey would be sued out of existence.
But just buy some higher temp pads and you'll be fine. The rest of the brake system (brembo calipers and rotors) is perfectly up to the task of track driving. Btw, John is not using stock pads on the track, either.
Sharp, it's purely a temperature thing. The pads that you got with the car are designed to provide safe, effective stopping in everyday, street conditions. The Nissan engineers felt that it was more important for the guy in New Hampshire to be able to stop at the end of his steep driveway when he heads out to work on a February morning than for people to be able to do track miles on their Zs. Since no-one had figured out how to make a pad that works well on a cold stop in 0 degree weather as well as working properly at 700 degrees on a racetrack, you're stuck with making compromises. OEM pads are always designed for street usage, even if the car is considered a "sport" or "track" model. Imagine the lawsuits if Nissan installed pads that don't start really working until they reach 300 degrees (like a lot of track pads). THey would be sued out of existence.
But just buy some higher temp pads and you'll be fine. The rest of the brake system (brembo calipers and rotors) is perfectly up to the task of track driving. Btw, John is not using stock pads on the track, either.
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Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Canada
Originally posted by Zcool
Then, if you put racing pads on your car is it unsafe to drive around town?
Then, if you put racing pads on your car is it unsafe to drive around town?
Noise and rotor wear are other factors to consider. Until track brakes, especialy ones that use ceramic compound on steel rotors, are bloddy noisy until they get warm. By noisy I mean squeal. Head to any club race weekend and for the first two laps you'll easily hear brake squwak and squeal till they are sufficiently warm. Track pads usualy create more friction to = better stopping power which = harsher rotor wear. Now usualy you need to be in temp rage to notice it most but in general track pads are more abrasive and would likely cause premature wear to rotors in everyday conditions.
Relatively new to the market are street/track pads. "Performance pads" have been around for some time but recently new compounds have allowed brake pad manufacturers to make a street/track pad that is actually pretty good a both roles. It's still a compromise and still isn't as good at being a street or track pad but for those on a budget that don't want to replace pads every 3000miles it might be an option. Hell, whatever you decide just remember anything is better then the brake dust the stock pads throw off!
Last edited by digerydingo; Jun 1, 2004 at 12:45 PM.
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