Currently I am in the process of planning an upgrade for my non-brembo 04 Z. My initial thought to maximize ROI, so to speak, would be to simply upgrade to 06-08 non-brembos, non-oem pads (probably HPS or Stoptech), and SS lines. I am not tracking this car, so improving brake fade is not a major factor for me. This is leading me away from the OEM Brembo setup (am I in the wrong here?).

I am only using this car for street driving, 10-15 minute spirited trips to and from work usually, so I want something that will have good initial bite. The brake setup I am looking into purchasing is a full 06-08 kit with rotors that I can resurface. The pads need replacing anyways and I don't care about brake dust with my matte black wheels.

One thing I am unsure of is which rotors to go with though. Would it be better to simply resurface or to go with slotted/cd-slotted rotors to maximize bite. I know rotors have an influence on heat dissipation, but how much influence do they have over braking power?

 

Take a look at www.racingbrake.com they have a kit to move your factory calipers out to accept a 13 inch rotor the whole kit is about 600 bucks it's well worth it would be a much better upgrade then just switching to 06 brake you get the mechanical advantage of a big brake kit for not that much money

 

06 and newer brakes have much larger pads, and are 2 piston up front. They will be better than the racing brake junk any day of the week.

 

Go with the 06 two piston. I found mine at a junkyard for 80 bucks for the pair. rebuild kit was maybe 10 bucks.

If your just street driving any rotor will be fine. Mine are just cheap solids and work great for autocross and time trials.

If you want good initial bit, go with a pad like duralast gold ( i think thats it). Even hps pads need a little heat to work at there best. The duralast pads are cheap so if you dont like them you can always upgrade.

 

Ok great thanks for the replies. My immediate hesitations for going with the racingbrake relo kit was the smaller pad/single piston front calipers. Thanks for confirming!

 

You realize the rears are the same size so you only need the front 06's?

 

Actually the rears are bigger, well just the rotor is. To do the swap out back all you need is the rotor and the caliper bracket, the caliper is the same. The bigger rotor does help with heat management.

 

Yeah the guy was selling everything as a full kit so I basically got an extra pair of rear calipers. This way I can go ahead and properly prep/paint the all four calipers off the car, let them cure for a few days/week, and be in no time crunch to install.

 

True, I think the rotor is 16mm larger in diameter. So there is some change. For his street driving I dont think you would ever notice the difference.

 

Nice,---enjoy them

 

You will like big brakes on the street, and wonder how you ever got by with OEM brakes. There are items that I would buy used. Brakes are not one of them.

 

Ah yes. Brakes.

I went overboard and would do it again in a minute.

Can't have enough bite.

 

Before picture:



After is soon to come. Did a 3hr drive down the Blue Ridge Pkwy this weekend and now I am really craving some upgraded brakes. These 03-05's are about to drive me insane.

Recommendation for SS brake lines? From what I have read Stoptech and Goodrich are the ones I am seeing most referred to. Posts are pretty old though, so need some more current opinions.

Definitely going with Hawk HPS pads based on reviews and prior positive experience.

 

Literally just did this upgrade today.
I LOVE how they look in my wheels, much more impressive. I like the overall braking capability (it has increased somewhat) but I am having some issues with how far I have to push the pedal before it brakes. The travel distance is much longer than my old 04 brakes with SS lines. I have no idea why.

If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them.

The brakes were power bled and there is no air in the system, SS lines from goodridge. and everything seems to have been put together correctly, its gonna drive me nuts with this much pedal travel

 

Have you fixed the pedal travel yet?