hey all looking to upgrade my brakes. and i have them narrowed down to the oem brembos and the akebono brake kit. I have the 35th ani wheels on the car so hopefully they will fit these. i know i need to get stainless steel brake lines i just want to know pros and cons of each and what kind of brake pads should i be expecting before i make my decision. the car will be daily driven and eventually boosted.

 

There's a thread on here somewhere that discusses the Akebonos and what OEM wheels they fit. It's fairly recent. I think the consensus stated that they fit the Aniversary wheels and Track 1s but NOT the Track 2/Grand Touring wheels (go figure....). Not certain but I think this is correct.

Hint: download the brake fit template from CZP and use this on your 35th wheels to see if they'll clear, at least as accurate as a cardboard template can be. Heh heh...

Pros and cons.... well, I don't think there are any real "cons", vis-a-vis stock non-Brembo brakes other than fit. S'far as replacement pad availability (something often overlooked by BBK shoppers), well, NO ISSUE with either. Any pad from factory stock to racing compounds are made for BOTH caliper/rotor combination. Likely a few more to select from for Brembo than the Aks, just based on how long the Track Brembos have been around, comparatively. (Plus, the same Brembo caliper is available on other platforms besides Nissan).

I have all three generations of brakes from "Standard non-Brembos" on my '03, Brembo on my '08 Niz, Akebono on our '12 Niz.

Which ones are better?

Wellllllll, the standard brakes do NOT compare to either of the sport set ups for obvious reasons.... lack of swept area, insufficient clamping force, etc., even with my grippy new Carbotech 1521 pads. Pretty much what one expects when comparing the three.

The braking of both the Brembos and the Akebonos are simply superior. Better feel and easier to modulate - especially important during heel/toe, trail brake maneuvers - but if I had to give one of them the edge on raw stopping power, I'd give it to the Brembos on my '08. Both our Nismos are equipped with standard street pads but or some reason the '08 just seems to do their job a tad better.

However, I can't really give you empirical data to support this but from butt dyno and my own internal decelerometer , this is my "conclusion". Different/new pads for both (PMu coming soon on the '08, and eventually a set of the new "OEM" Nismo pads for our Z34N/Akebono...actually made by Ferodo) could change this dynamic, however. Again, a very small sample upon which to base a conclusion.

You can't go wrong with either, however. Me personally, I'd get the Akebono kit (from Z1 or CZP or ???) simply because they're NEW. Paying $1000 for a used (and therefore "unknown") Brembo setup versus buying the Akebono setup for $600 more makes more long term sense to me as I'm more inclined to spend more for peace of mind and NOT have to worry about premature re-builds due to bad/dry seals, sticky pistons, stripped feed holes, etc. (Especially if they haven't been wet for a while, off the car waiting to be sold...)

My devalued $0.02....

Cheers,

Mic

And just happen to have illustrative sample to accent this post...

Heh heh....

 

that is a beautiful looking set up. thanks for the information though just price wise ( since i can be a cheap ***) its looking like brembo so far.

 

if you have an 06+.. the factory brembos aren't that much better than the oem

 

not to be THAT guy, but i believe stoptech did a comparison on their kit vs oem brembo vs normal brakes. the difference between oem brembo and normal brakes was (i believe) 2 ft stopping distance at 100mph. their biggest problem was the brake fade they experience.

to me, and i have always believe this, brembos and bbk kits in general are just "bling" on the streets. most of use dont do enough constant hard brake to require the bbk advantage. and stopping power difference between a bbk and a normal brake is minimal.

once the brake bits, its the tires that does the stopping. from my understanding the "better stopping power" we feel, is more of brake bias than actual braking efficiency. sure its better for trail braking and heel tow and its a bit more responsive, but it isnt that much better in terms of braking power.

but of course they look amazing with the right kit and wheels

edit: here is the link incase anyone was interested in reading the oem vs oem brembo vs stoptech brake results.

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

 

My vote is for the Brembo setup. Smaller, lighter, better looking, more choices for pads and wheels, and they're a direct bolt-on. i prefer StopTech slotted rotors and lines, with EBC Redstuff pads. Great performance, low wear, and virtually no dust.

 

Did the Brembo swap couple weeks back and drove about 1k miles so far. Hawk Pads, Stoptech slotted Rotors, stainless steel lines, feels much better than my 07 stock setup, much better.

 

This is why I went with the Akebono.

I can't compare the 2, but I can say that I am in love with my Akebono kit.

Also, the prices are comparable. A new Akebono kit is slightly more money than a used Brembo set, however If I got the Brembo kit I would rebuild them, basically making them cost the same as the Akebono.

Also, as mentioned, the anniversary wheels clear.

 

put good pad on, call it a day for now... if you still want them later on, then get them

 

i saw that z1 had them but with bluid and what not it got up there in price. i saw a set of oem brembo for just over a grand. maybe i got too many options added lol?

 

Don't buy with them. When I built a kit they wanted $2500 lol how you going yo charge me $250 extra for a different color caliper when they are the same thing!? Smh

 

that was a great read. kinda shocked that the cooler brembos didnt really stop much sooner than the single piston performance.

 

good point where else can i find these?

 

Nice setup. Looks stunning

 

Nissan

 

will lead ya to water.... should be simple after the link

http://www.courtesyparts.com/kb_sear....php?keywords=[41001]+\\(z34&cPath=8714_8724_8808_8809

 

i do love courtesy parts...i was ordering parts there religiously.

 

would you hate me if i told you that i work 5 min from there... used to run at lunch and pick up stuff.

 

corrected link

http://www.courtesyparts.com/41001-c...724_8808_8809&

 

so wait is there a difference between the 350 and 370 brembos?