Fast350zCA

All,

I am new to the forum, but not new to the scene.

I'm not trying to bad mouth Brembo here, just trying to make everyone as what to expect when buying a GT kit from them. This is just an informative posting so you know what you might expect when buying a kit like this.

Back in 2007, I purchased a Grand Turismo kit from Brembo for about $3,000.00 or so. I barely drive my 350z, and its garaged most of the time. I only put on maybe 7000 miles a year. I put on ~ 20k in the last 3 years or so and my mechanic inspected my brake pads last weekend and found not only the rotors were shot (see photos, also see the "waving" in the rotors that happened at around 15k). The rotors were under minimum thickness (came in at 31.00mm). Keep in mind, this car is NEVER taken to the track and is just a daily driver. The stock pads and rotors easily could go 30k (spoke to dealer) and are about $60 each from various online sources. The Brembos are about $400 each replacement rotor, and $80 for a "hardware kit". so I'm looking at about $1000 + pads ($300 if you buy the original Brembo pads). I took pictures of the old pads and the new pads so you could see the difference.

While I'm not at all saying Brembo is a bad braking system, I am just letting you guys know as a team, not to expect a whole lot of life out of these pads/rotors. I guess my expectations were set too high, but I would have thought they'de last a bit better than stock for the price.

Anyway, would be great to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

Thanks for your time!

mcarther101

iTrader: (8)

It could simply have been the brake pads that were chosen (or that it came with). Some pads are extremeley aggressive and meant for race only applications and higher temperatures which if used on the streets will eat through a set of rotors quickly.

IMO 15,000 miles isn't bad for a BBK so long as they do the job (of reducing brake fade).

sweettalker

iTrader: (24)

Yeah brembo gran tourismo kit is a nice kit but the replacement costs are thru the roof. Very good info for those who are thinking about this kit.

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

While I can appreciate you not liking the replacement part cost, I'm not sure who or what lead you to believe these were a longevity type mod. A BBK is a performance oriented mod, designed to improve the ability of the brakes to deal with repeated stops over and over without inducing fade - something a stock kit simply cannot do with the same level or consistency. Brembo doesn't market these as lasting longer that stock (or giving any insight into how long they may last). That is highly driver dependant. Stock pads can vary widely in terms of how long they can last.

That being said, any BBK will have backend costs. Some vary more than others. Part of selecting a BBK should involve the buyer researching the replacement part costs. Some kits have next to 0 pad support, and when the time comes to replace them, you are stuck. Others have loads of pads offered, from the original maker as well as many aftermarket firms. For your specific kit,there are many options for those calipers, so you certainly don't need to feel pigeonholed into only buying Brembo. The disks are Brembo replacements, and the hardware must be replaced at the same time, just like any kit using 2 piece rotors. Their disk prices are comparable to those of comparable BBK's. I know on my kit (not Brembo), I knew in advance what the replacement rotor costs were, and I know what my pad options are, both from the kit manufacturer as well as the aftermarket, so I am prepared for it in advance. Thankfully though, I haven't had to touch them, as I have tons of disk and pad life left (first set).

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Agree. Welcome. 20,000 miles is not acceptable for brake rotors. These are aggressive pads suitable for track use but not street.

Fast350zCA

Glad you found this helpful, thanks. The point of my post wasn't to knock Brembo, but rather just let everyone know that if they spend the $3000.00+ for the kit, to also consider that more than likely, they'll be spending at least $850 in rotors, $300 in pads, in probably 20k of miles. I don't ever track my car, so I'm thinking to myself if I ever tracked it, what would I get...10k, 15k? That's a lot of money...$850 for rotors, and then $300 for pads for so little mileage...

Especially in this economy, I don't have $1000+ to throw around in rotors and pads..Oh, and then plus installation.

When I read this, taken from their site, it makes me think I'm getting something that'll last longer than stock, maybe I could just be interpreting this wrong?

"The Brembo Gran Turismo High Performance Braking System offers significant advantages over the OE manufacturer's system — advantages far beyond what's simply known as "big brakes". As the braking system's primary function is to dissipate heat, larger, more sophisticated discs are used in order to increase the fade resistance of the system. These discs are directionally vented for enhanced cooling, as well as drilled or slotted for improved consistency, continuously cleaning and refreshing the pad surface."

Jarred@Z1

iTrader: (4)

it does for heat resistance and fade not normal life. if u used them on the track they would not give u spongy feel where stock brakes would.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

Yup and they work great on the track, not really worth owning unless you track your car.

JETPILOT

iTrader: (51)

Racing parts were never cheap. Brembo being one the most expensive. One reason I chose Stoptech.

DavesZ#3

iTrader: (26)

OP, in case you haven't noticed, you can safely replace the term "brake" in your original statement with just about any other part on the car and it still holds true. Everything on the Z is expensive, especially OEM and name-brand parts. That's one of the reasons a sector of the aftermarket industry exists - to provide cheap replacements.

For example, you can by aftermarket rotors for the OEM brembos for about $100 each, as opposed to the dealer price of $350 or more.

You are also correct in observing that people problably don't consider the maintenance and replacement costs of a lot of the stuff they add onto their cars. Hell, there are posts here by people who only after buying the car found out how much insurance costs, premium gas, and of course, brake pads and tires all cost.

drivessidewayz

iTrader: (4)

You noted that you're not new to the scene. Do you know how to change/service your own brake system? It's saved me probably $700 in the past year alone.

Fast350zCA

Agreed.

It's not so much the price of the replacement parts, it's the fact that STOCK oem parts are about $200 versus $1300 for Brembos and the stock stuff lasts longer. Any high performance part I've bought in the past, say my K&N air filter, it was more expensive for the part, but can be cleaned, and lasts a million miles. Great investment. Or, tires, the stock ones lasted about 15-18k, I bought some high performance Bridgestones and they are warranted to 50k, more expensive up front, but in the long run, save me money.

rolling60

Eek!

Those rotors looks as if theyde been thru a washing machine! I am sorry folks ; id be pretty upset too if this happened to me in that short of use.

Brembo should be literally ashamed of themselves. Not all people who buy Brembo stuff are track guys, either. Their high prices for EVERYTHING arent justified at all. Stoptech is the way to go!

Driven1

iTrader: (2)

Nothing really new and you probably shouldn't have Brembo GT's on your car unless you track it or drive it hard when you do drive it honestly.

High performance brake kit's are meant for track use typically and street driving actually reduces the useful life of them b/c they are not heated how they are meant to be under extreme braking and track conditions.

BBK's are meant to improve braking under more extreme conditions and heat NOT to make you stop faster or "better" on the street.

This can be caused by a couple different things.

The most likely culprit for you from the pics.

1) Pad compound. What compound are you using? Most kits come with an "in between" pad that they say "can" be used on the street (but it still requires some harder braking to properly get the surface of the pad on the rotor). Honestly....there is no such thing as an "all around brake pad". If the compound is too hard and you aren't producing enough heat it creates concentrated heat spots thus unevenly distributing the heat to the rotor. Ideally for the street a "low heat" compound should be used.

I've seen a couple Wilwood set-ups have very simialar issues to this. And believe it or not.....they were ALL on "show" cars.

2)Break-in. Break in on some set-ups can be tedious and is designed to tranfer an even layer over the rotor and pad surfaces. You have to make sure you follow the manufacturers instructions per the pad you're using. For a typical "street pad" it's 10 hard applications of the brake from 60mph-5mph. Don't stop completely as this increases the chance of pad imprinting and leaving and uneven surface with non uniform pad transfer. Once that is done they need to cool to ambient temperature. A "race pad" break in the speeds typically increase to 80-5 and 100-5.

HERE is where most people fail when it comes to BBK's on their street cars. IF the pads are NOT used or heated to proper operating temps on a fairly regular basis the even layer of "film" that you created during break in to optimize your "adherent friction" and proper heat cycling wears away and thus creates and uneven wear layer causing "warped rotors" and premature wearing of the materials.

Contrary to popular belief brake pads are NOT typically "abrasive friction" but actually "adherent friction". Look them up and it'll help you understand more about how brakes actually work and whats appropriate for your car.

StopTechErik

I'd like to go on record to confirm that this is not a StopTech employee, nor was their post requested.

As a mod, you should know that we pay a premium to be able to post freely.

Thanks.

Zazz93

iTrader: (2)

Sorry to hear. I would imagine long term street usage was thought in to the design of the kit. It is obvious they took street use into consideration because they included street features such as low noise and dust seals. Pads-wise I would expect the life to be this short but not the rotors (possibly twice what you got from them). What is most surprising Brembo is no slouch when it come to street systems that perform on the track, is it possible they weren't bedded in correctly?

Additionally, I considered the same kit because I was getting a pretty good deal on them, but passed when the deal's price went up a little and I saw the replacement rotor costs.

Zazz93

iTrader: (2)

Also to verify the working of the BBK check some Ferrari boards and see if some F50's had the same occurrance. This may be tough due to the nature of those cars but I would imagine if this is normal the wear should be similar (same caliper and similar rotors and pads).

plumpzz

iTrader: (10)

The reason why I bought wilwood bbk is the cheap initial investment, nearly similar manufacturing method and much much cheaper (and easily available) replacement parts. Stoptech is another good brand.

Out of curiousity, did you bed your pads/rotors? That affects the life of the system.