Jim Stephens

Nice buy. I was asking because I have 19” rims, but am thinking of buying some basic 17’s for track use. Curious how it would look. Thanks.

Spike100

You confirm my point. Overall diameter is short of stock for rear tires. Apparently you want better acceleration for the track. That justifies your size choice. The majority of readers here should know that your size choice is not appropriate for street use.

KBoltz

Not much of a difference.




So, street driving would show a minimal difference. Plus, you do get the added width front and rear. Not as much as if you go with aftermarket wheels, but I got my set of 17's for 100 bucks. Repaint them white (with leftover wheel paint) and add in a set of TPMS sensors and then the Federal 595 tires, I am all in for under 500 bucks. Racing on the cheap.

Copy that travlee. Jim, if you need to hit people up for autocross or HPDE advice, my kid brother is an Instructor for Driver's Edge (so is his wife) and another best friend lives in Houston as well. Both have tons of experience and are more than willing to help. PM me and I will give you my email and telephone number.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

cool story, now quit hijacking his thread

jhc

I can tell you this -
When I went from 8 X 17 FR,RR 225/45 and 245/45 to 265/35/18 FR and 295/35/18 (Enkei RPF1) my acceleration and braking were noticeably worse. The 17s will provide much less rotating mass and be more nimble.

Jim Stephens

Hi All, back after a while of travel. So, I apparently am only happy if there is another project in front of me. I just placed the order for Bilstein B6 shocks and they will arrive next Wednesday. I resisted the idea of lowering the car because frankly, I am pretty sure I know less than Nissan and others about what I am doing and I have 19" wheels. I was going to buy a new stereo receiver with ApplePlay and a backup camera for my birthday, but then I got some quotes to get it installed. Ouch. My current Pioneer can do a backup camera, so I am going to go the cheap route and buy a 30 dollar camera and install it myself. The reason for that story, is I have now saved 1k that can be spent on brakes. See how that rationalization thing works? LOL. So, wow, the brakes topic we visited once above in my thread, but I am back looking seriously. I see that I can buy rebuilt Brembo brake calipers for just a bit over 120 bucks a piece and buy them for an 06 plus 350z which I believe came with slightly bigger rotors. Here is the simple question I hope. If I go that route to upgrade my 2005 model, I would get the Brembo Brakes, Brackets(saw on a video needed to fit on the 05, and then larger rotors. I am not clear on what size rotor? This might not be the best route, so just looking. The problem with brakes is there are TOO many options. I guess my parameters are to spend not much more than 1k all in, would like them to be painted(fine doing that myself) and I do need new rotors as the current ones are somewhat grooved. So, maybe $250 to $300 per wheel. I should also say, I am not hung up on brand names so open to anything, but I must confess I do want them to look a little "cool" which means painted at least. LOL.

If I can get my son out of bed this morning, we are also headed to hopefully get some helmets as required and I am going to get signed up with SCCA. Hey, I am pretty sure Michael and I will be sharing the car, so I will need to change the numbers on the car quickly while we are out at the track. Is magnetic the best way to go? Any recommendation on who to buy from?

Also, I keep getting this annoying Brower Localstorage full message on this forum? I have cleared cache, but still getting it??

Heel Til I Die

iTrader: (2)

Nice choice! You will not be disappointed.

When I added a rear view camera a while back, I got one off fleabay and it has performed great since then. It snaps into the license plate light and is very discreet. Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-CCD-Bac...MAAOSw0Gxd8wmM

I don't believe you need brackets to upgrade to Brembo calipers, but I'm sure others will correct me if I'm mistaken. You'll just need the rear caliper bolts and, of course, the Brembo-sized rotors and Brembo-sized pads. Now would be a good time to upgrade to stainless lines for better pedal feel. Make sure you get the ones for the Brembos and not the others. I would also suggest getting a power bleeder (i.e. Motive) to assist with bleeding, but it would be a fun father-son activity doing the pedal-tighten method as well! Here's a good write-up for you: https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...bo-brakes.html

EDIT: Z1 sells a package kit that has everything you'll need (other than the calipers and the rear bolts): https://www.z1motorsports.com/brakes...ge-p-2241.html

KBoltz

Brakes are a good upgrade. My rotors are brand new as are the pads, but they are stock replacements. I went with the Powerstop Z26 pads and stainless lines. I will only be autocrossing the Roadster, open track I would need to cage it and would lose most of the weekend usability.

You could go with the Stop Tech upgrade from KNS Brakes. Powder coated calipers, pads and rotors for 625 bucks all four corners. Comes with stainless steel lines as well.

Would keep you under your 1K limit. Improved braking and some of the cool look that you are wanting.

Brembos are nice, I have the CCB setup on my daily driver. The damn rotors are $1600 EACH. That's one of the reasons I bought Stitch. A LOT cheaper to race and repair myself.

I'll message you my info and forward your info to my kid brother.

I picked up the stock 17s for 100 bucks. Federal 595 SS tires for 290 bucks. Paint the 17x8s to match.

I don't expect to run TTD, just the wife and I are interested in having fun. Same as you and your son. Hell, your wife would have a blast too.

Jim Stephens

Pretty funny on the comment about the wife enjoying the driving. Actually, she may. She used to have a Miata and then when I first met her on the West Coast she owned a BMW 325i with a manual. She got in the 350z the first time and launched it perfectly. LOL. She is actually interested in cars, so I have thought about having her come to the track, but first I want to get started with my son. Hey, I looked at that KNS brakes website, but the brakes I saw for $625 did not included the calipers? Had me going there for awhile as the price was to good to be true! Will check out the other suggestions from what other posted tomorrow. Like I said, way too many options. I think any of them will be an improvement over the current situation.

Heel Til I Die

iTrader: (2)

I realized I didn't answer your question about the rotor size. If you go with the Brembo calipers and you decide to piece everything together, the Brembo rotor sizes for 03-08 are:
Front: 324mm x 30mm
Rear: 322mm x 22mm

Your current rotors (that came on 03-05) are:
Front: 296mm x 24mm
Rear: 293mm x 16mm

06+ non-Brembo brakes were upgraded and I think the front calipers are different as well:
Front: 320mm x 28mm
Rear: 308mm x 16mm

Happy hunting!

Jim Stephens

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! Lot's of options as I said. Of course, I might screw up if I try and piece it together, but also might find a good deal doing it that way, OR I just go with one of the known names Stop Tech, Z1, etc. and just buy a package where I KNOW it all fits. LOL. Seems though, even if you are buying a package with non-Brembo you should go ahead and buy the 06 and up to get the larger rotors. I read somewhere you just have to buy the brackets for the 06 for it to mount correctly. The mount holes are the same otherwise. So much misinformation on the web, you have to triple check it.

Heel Til I Die

iTrader: (2)

If you buy the 06+ rotors, you'll need the 06+ calipers since the larger rotors aren't compatible with 03-05. The 06+ rotors are close to the size of the Brembo-sized rotors, but slightly different (as you can tell by the dimensions).

I don't think you need any brackets if you go with the Brembos or the 06+ calipers. The only time I needed brackets for the calipers was when I upgraded to the Akebono BBK. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure you just need the caliper bolts for the rears if you go with the Brembos. But, I have seen where others say they re-use the same caliper bolts.

I agree, there's a lot of misinformation out there. The guys at Z1 know their stuff. You could always give them a call just to quadruple check

KBoltz

Power Stop has the upgrade kit with new calipers.

KBoltz

Double post - sorry

rustyschopshop

If you are going to upgrade your brakes would consider directional rotors, they run much cooler. Power stop is ok but would recommend stop tech for better quality. Have used both and stoptech is much better. Deciding on pads for street find something that works well cold and hot which would be a performance street pad. Track pads like to be hot to work the best. Be careful with the cheapest brake packages due to being low carbon. You will want high carbon rotors. If you don't plan on running the track much cryo rotors may be over kill but something to consider. Cryo will add 25-30$ per rotor on most of their packages. Buybrakes.com has some decent prices on stoptech. Z1 also has some decent prices on their upgrades. Any specific questions send me a msg and will point you in a direction. Personally awaiting finance to finish deciding which direction am going.

Jim Stephens

Here is one idea that is kinda a Frankenstein set up. He is right about it being almost impossible to find rear Brembo's at a decent price.
1. Brembo's in the front with Brembo Rotors
- Cost: Brembo Calipers (rebuilt) $202.00 (core charge and turn in, Advanced Auto Parts), 2 Brembo Rotors $250 (Estimated), 1521 Carbon Tech Pads $165, Brembo Decal and paint $20
- Video:
2. 06-08 Std Brakes in Back (Larger Rotors, slightly better heat dissipation an braking, 5% to 10%), You use the same calipers that are on the car already.
- Cost: Bracket for 06-08 Rotors $60.00 Ebay(for larger rotor size), 06-08 Rotors $250 (Estimated), 1521 Carbon Tech Pads $142.50, Decal and Paint $20
- Video:
Here are some interesting points made in these videos, which are a little hard to follow, but if you do some reading with his links below the video it make some sense.
1. The calipers are the same from 03 - 09. That is is difficult to believe, but well, he did do it and it worked fine.
2. The 06-09 rotors are bigger, but what Nissan did is just put a bigger bracket on to move the caliper up, but used the same calipers. You can see it in the video.
3. The Brembo's require a core charge, but no one has had a problem turning in the OEM brakes for the core charge.
4. Some doubt about whether the Brembo's are the real deal. They are however 4 piston brakes.

You end up with an unusual set up for sure. Try explaining that one to the buyer of your car somewhere down the road. Also, the cost is kinda high because you can't benefit from buying a "package deal" as the front and rear rotors are different sizes etc.

Jim Stephens

I spent quite a bit of time looking at options yesterday. With all of them I priced in SS lines, Pads, Rotors, Brace. Basically, They all come in around $700 - $900. I looked at the Powerstop which are less expensive, but have decided on StopTech products so far. There is a another maker named EBC which I know nothing about, but seems to be good quality??

The big brakes kit is going to be about $1200 - $1500. The best deal I have seen so far is Z1 with rebuilt Akebono's at $1295. After you add the SS lines and Brace you are about close to $1500. I may want to try out 17" wheels on the track somewhere down the road, so the big brake solution is less appealing to me, well and the price too. LOL.

The websites I have checked out are Buybrakes.com, Z1, CarID, KNSbrakes.com, ebay, and a few others...

Heel Til I Die

iTrader: (2)

The powerstop package previously posted may be marginally better than your stock brakes since they still use the single piston setup in the front and rear. At that point, you'd be better off just upgrading to the 06+ stock brakes since they have dual pistons up front.

I have some calipers and rotors from my 06 G35 just sitting in a box in my garage. It's too bad you're not closer. I'd just let you have them. Shipping would probably make it cost-prohibitive based on the weight.

EBC is quality stuff. I have their rotors paired up with my Brembo calipers. They make good pads as well.

Jim Stephens

Learn something new with each post. I did not know the 06+ brakes were dual pistons! The video posted stated they were the same calipers from 02-09. Maybe the same size uh, but different piston count?

rustyschopshop

Houston shows calipers For the brembo caliper upgrade should be able to find them fairly close to you