http://www.caranddriver.com/features...ng_lap-feature

 

saw this somewhere else....

go figure.....

 

ur like 2 months 2 late

 

We ran with a stock NISMO 370Z at Laguna a few months back (https://my350z.com/forum/northern-ca...with-ncrc.html)



The owner, who admittedly is a track hound, overheated the brakes within 3 hard laps. Granted, Laguna Seca is hard on brakes, but he came in shaking his head and noting that the stock brakes were not up to snuff. Aftermarket pads weren't available 3 months ago when we went, but now there are some, so we'll see how it does at the next event.

 

Also, wasn't it brought up again recently in this thread....

https://my350z.com/forum/370z-brakes...track-use.html

 

IBTL?

 

Thanks for the link, didn't see it in the other post and couldn't find it on the car and driver site direct.

 

Apologies if this was a repost, Dave. Please direct or delete as needed.

 

Actually this is new info, they investigated why the brakes failed. Basically the pads are crap, the fluid is a little low temp, and the brakes don't get the cooling they need so they will eventually overheat and boil off the fluid leaving you with 0 braking.

 

Just read this article at the tire store tonight. You'd think for the kind of coin you have to shell out for the Nismo, Nissan would put the upgraded pads on as standard fair, not an upgrade ($580)

 

actully i read about this back when i was on vacation in jauary in car and driver so yea

 

The problem is that it doesn't even really fix the problem. Scary if you ask me.

 

Sigh... Yeah, the brake failure during the lightning lap was back in January. Did you even read the current article? It's a diagnosis and testing of why things failed back then.

 

I wish C&D supplied more data points for comparision against the 350z.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/Testing_Brakes.htm#Philosophy

 

That is a fantastic review - I added a new bookmark!

I'm curious if the two stock 350Zs used *new* OEM pads, or if there were wear differences between them. I can only assume they were the stock pads, but a pad at 20% compared to the *new* pads they used in the ST kit could produce misleading results.

I'm also curious if a comparable study was done with their ST22 rear kit since the 355mm kit was deemed too big for proper bias. It would have been nice for the 4-wheel kit to have been tested on one of the original stock cars as well, but such is data. Of interesting note is that the rear Brembo kit has 322mm x 22mm rotors, while the upgraded ST22 rear kit, which uses Brembo-sized pads, is 328mm x 28mm. Not all that much difference in diameter (~2%), but a relatively large 27% increase in rotor thickness (presumably for the vanes of their aero rotor).

I believe they sell a 355mm REAR kit for the 370, I wonder if there is a similar test report for its development.

 

The scariest part is this: even with upgraded race pads and fluid, the Nismo 34's brakes still overheated prematurely. The article speculates that Nissan did not direct enough airflow to the wells to cool the brakes (this sounds reasonable).

While this problem admittedly will not affect 99% of drivers, it's unacceptable that for the "track ready" car, the Nismo 34 is not at all track ready.

 

"Born on the racetrack and breed for the street" Its ironic, as I sit hear reading a brouchure where various suggestions are made about how the car is a track proven tool, but when there is a problem with the brakes they retreat from the marketing statements.

I guess we will see if Nissan at least corrects the future models, and whether they move back to Brembo in future trims.

 

I was thinking about trading in my 350z roadster for the 370z roadster. I'm not interested in the NISMO.
Does anyone know if this brake failure is only a problem with the NISMO?!

 

No, the sport coupes have reported problems with pad failure as well. I think C&D hit it on the mark in this test, it needs better cooling. There's no way this can be down to the current hardware completely.

 

Sad!
So to make me feel better and to get myself straight. This danger and problem is with both the coupe and roadster 370Z?!

Is this really a concern for everyday driving? Or for the track?
I'm just a chick that's driving it around town and to work. I'm not about to take it to the track. But If that means I couldn't take it on backroads around Mt. Rainer, etc. without crashing, then I'll have to say goodbye to my dream car.

Too sad...