Ok, first of let me say I've got over 14K miles on the car. I've done 1 autox and 3 track events on the stock (touring) tires and brakes. But I would have expected to go thru the fronts before the rears?

I'm speculating that since I drive "aggressivly" that the VDC and TCS are causing excessive wear on the rear rotors. I like playing around and launching and turning sharp at the end of my cul-de-sac and of course the track.

I'm just wondering if I should get in the habit of turning of TCS when I get the tires warmed up.

 

How do you know the rear rotors are gone? Did you measure them yourself or is a shop telling you this? How was the rear tire wear?

 

my rear rotors are wearing out more than front also... there is a ring on the rotor, I can feel it with my finger... Not sure what caused it, but I have since replaced both rotors and pads at the same time...

 

do you ever do power break burn outs? that might be the culprit... just spin the tires and get on the breaks, the fronts stop you and you can just grind away on the rears. might be one possibility. if you dont do that, then I donno, I dont know why TCS or anything would cause it.

 

The shop I went to said I went metal to metal on the rear rotor and that grinding them smooth would reduce the size below the specified minimums. I can also feel the small groves caused by the wear.

The front and rear tires are wearing evenly, with maybe a slight hint of tire feathering.

I don't do power brake burnouts, just fast launches that cause the Slip light to come on and the TCS system to engage and apply brakes to the rear wheels to stop the spin.

Also, on the track and accelerating out of the corners the VDC would kick in and apply brakes to the rear wheel (the inside one I think) to prevent the back end from sliding out.

 

Right hand turns Key to start the Z... left hand presses the VDC off button. Thats my ritual. VDC sux.

 

TCS too.

Start car, turn off nanny, put on seatbelt.

 

The Z eats through rear pads very quickly. It has been noticed by a significant number of people, even many who disable VDC when tracking. You can try a search in the racing section since much of the discussion occurred 6 months ago or so.

I personally wore through my rear pads after 2 days at Laguna Seca (this was with under 10K miles on the car) and my original fronts are still going strong (now with 28K miles but no additional track days). I did not use VDC at the track, so I know that it is not the only cause of the problem.

Since you went to more track days than I did, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you just drove a little too long on the rear pads, which ate a bit into the rotors.

That's poopy. Maybe you can get those DBA brake rotors (or whatever they are called - the Aussie dudes) and get some better venting vs the stock ones.

Good luck!

-D'oh!

 

I usually go through a set of pads (f+r) in a weekend. Very normal unfortunately. Brake kit on the way.

 

Don't feel bad. A lot of us have gone through more rear pads/rotors than we expected. It is just the design of the car. It seem to be a little more rear bias becuase of the awesome weight distribution. So, don't complain. I guess the RX8 has the same "problem" too. I did four track events and had to replace pads all the way around. The OEM rear pads lasted one day!!! That is when I switched to Hawk HP+

You got that one right!!! My ritual too...

You bastard!!! I want to run Laguna Seca...

 

The reason we (non-Brembo) guys go through rear brakes frequently is that Nissan cheeped out and put Altima brakes on the rear of the Z.

Near Corvette horsepower, near Corvette weight, and crappy family sedan brakes.

At 7300 miles I put the third set of brakes on mine. I put on Porterfield high performance street pads. They work fine as long as you don't need to late brake every turn of every lap at the track.

 

2 days at Michigan International with VDC left on in error.

 

The owners manual says that the brakes have a squeak indicators for when the brakes get low. Did anyone hear that?

 

I did, and I know it's not the front since I just replaced them... I think the rear them..

 

Hey, mine have looked like THAT twice now!!!

VDC always off...


ADMAN