Do any of you use your ebrake for drifting? Mine doesn't work every well, and I've heard complaints from other Z owners. I had to dealer to adjust it, but I'm still having trouble doing 180s with it.

 

i've had no problems doing spin turns with the parking brake. just make sure you're going fast enough, ie. it's hard to do one at 5mph.. usually top of 1st is ideal. and you have to pull the handle quick. honestly i'd find the lowest grip surface you can, like in the rain and try it there where losing grip shouldn't be an issue. once you get the hang of it, try it on regular ashpalt.

 

I use my handbrake while drifting all the time. At this point, i use it almost once in every turn. I go between full throttle and ebrake, and standard brake pedal all throughout a turn to unsure a good line. Always busy in that thing.

 

Man, what am I doing wrong, when I yank it, it slows down, but hardly enough to throw the rear out.

 

sometimes it takes some added "convicing" with the steering wheel, and tapping the brakes when you try to initiate the slide can sometimes help as well. before i adjusted my ebrake, it really didn't do anything until it was pulled up about 40 degrees... once i adjusted it so i only had to pull it around 20 degrees, night and day difference. you can always go to a grippier rear pad too, like the Nismo R-Tune.

 

Just from your description I can make a good guess as to what is going on, you are not managing the cars weight properly. What you are describing means that there is too much traction on the rear tires, you are either not going hard enough on the brakes, while ebraking, you are trying to accelerate while using the ebrake, or you are just coasting while trying to use the ebrake.

Try this:
1.) Find big empty parking lot type surface
2.) Build up some speed, maybe mid range of rpm band in second gear
3.) Turn sharply while going hard on the brakes, press in clutch, pull up e-brake

You will probably spin out the first couple of times, buts that's ok provided you are in a SAFE enviroment with no other people or property to endanger. This will teach you the importance of shifting your weight. By going on the brakes very strongly you shift the weight of the vehicle forward causing the contact patch of the rear tires to decrease in size dramatically. Imagine it like you just took away half the width of your rear tires, once you do this the rear tires will lock up very easily with the ebrake. Depending on how much of slide you are trying to induce or keep going you will have to modify how LONG you hold the ebrake up to keep the rears locked. Just takes practice.

I'm still on the stock brake setup (non-brembos) and I can lock up the rears using the weak *** ebrake with no problems at all, even on dry grippy surfaces. Go out and try this and let me know how it works. I'm glad to help with technique if your interested.

 

Thanks a bunch ZFastest, I think my problem is exactly what you've described, not using the normal brakes to transfer the weight to the front, I will try it again tonight. Thanks again!

 

Good explanation ZFastest. The important part is that u are in a safe environment. Let me add that using a cone as a reference point would help. u want to approach the cone and do a 180 so that u end up facing the cone.

Also, yeah i notice the 350z EBrake doesn't seem to lock the wheels as well as other cars I have driven. I plan on adding stronger pads, rotors and lines. In the mean time I just use brake drifts, inertia drifts or powersildes.

 

you also need to make sure you turn off vdc because that will stop you from spinning the car around.

 

do u still using stock brake pad???


or aftermarket??

wound you tell me wht u using now?

 

I am still using the stock pads all the way around.

 

The stock E-brake has nothing to do with the rear caliper & pads! It is a drum type brake inside the rear rotor. The E-brake does not self adjust and can only be adjusted two ways.

The first way to do it is the hardest. Jack up the car and pull the rear wheels off. Next, pull out the rubber plug on the rotor and turn the wheel until you can see the adjuster, its at the top. Then, turn the adjuster with a screwdriver. Down is tight and up is loose. I usually make the shoes full tight and then back it off two notches. Put the plug back in and put the wheels back on.

Another way to adjust is in the cabin. First, pull out the change holder. Pull the E-brake until you see the little nut on a long bolt moving around in there. Get a 10mm deep socket on a ratchet with an extension and tighten or loosen to your desire.

I have the latest Hyper-Rev magazine and it shows a pair of brake shoes made by Rigid for the Z33. I'm trying to get ahold of a set of these right now.
My hopes are that they have a better bite and that they don't wear as quickly.

 

If the stock ebrake is set up like my STi, it shouldn't have anything to do with the rear disc brakes, the ebrake uses it's own braking system, which is a drum based system. I know this because I just changed the pads, lines and rotors for the STi over the weekend. I'm changing the rotors on the Z next weekend, I will take some pictures of the rear drums then.

 

Yea, what he said, hehe

 

waiting for your picture