I just realized in the video I posted, the first run was probably 4th gear, but the 2nd run was likely 5th gear. Sam only did like 4 or so 5th gear runs so I assumed I probably taped mostly 4th gear runs


Something I forgot to mention is that Sam actually really likes the vortech kit. He says he's had lots of success with getting good results out of them and they're going to start working on certain parts for the kits - which I'll let him announce.

He showed me dynos of the stock engine with a vortech and then the exact same car except a built 8.5:1 CR and their stage 1 heads and the car made 35 more tq across the entire powerband despite the lower compression ratio. He says the stock heads are not that great for flow and that even with stage 1, without really even porting the heads, the car made some significant power on their dyno. Anyway, their stroker kit and stage 4 heads and reving to 7k are what I'm planning on in the future. I'll most likely stick with the S-trim blower so I won't have to worry about trying to get a T-trim to not slip the belt. The stroker kit will lower the boost psi number so instead of 11 psi, it'd probably be more like "9 psi" but gain considerable overall power.

 

I dont know what Hawk pads I end up with . All's I know is they were very low dust . As far as if they stop good enough...lol. Unless you track your car , you arent going to notice much of a diff from one pad to the next . For the guy that runs strickly on the street and no road coarse driving . Big brake kits area waste of money . And are basicly for show .

 

It all depends on the exhaust you are running if you lose or gain psi with a stroker kit...I would think . If you still run the after market cats , your restricting flow enough to make full boost

 

Wow, it looks like it pulls HARD to redline, nice!

 

I disagree partly. If the engine is bigger, more air can go into it.
This has been proven with the 4.2 stroker kit already as well as other cars like vettes and vipers with boost


I agree though that cats are always a restriction though


the HPS pads are known for low dust and less bite


Booger, so far in this and other threads you've told me that tires, brake pads, and brake kits make no difference in traction and stopping ability or brake fade. I'm going to disagree as politely as I can

 

LOL Ive never said tires never made a difference . I said that with your power level , and the 3.9 gears . Tires arent going to make that much of a difference in 2nd gear and losing traction .

As far as brake pads....3 or 4 to redline runs and then hard braking isnt a need to go to big brakes and I couldnt tell a difference . Ive also read several articals that say basicly the same thing . Unless you track the car or show it at car shows , big brake kits are a waste of money .

 

well then I might just go ahead and waste my money, but thanks for your input
I've also read those amature articles talking about what trim Z or G they should buy, but have also read other articles about pro drivers fading their stock or even upgraded brembos with race pads with a 280whp NA setup in a single lap of certain tracks

 

Sentry,

Beautiful powerband.... as if we needed another proof that Sam is THE MAN. He does indeed take incredible care of the car, and is a true perfectionist. Good work, Sam. I myself just got back from Laguna Seca after tracking my car with Sam's tune (Fcon)...and it's just amazing.

 

Amature articals ???? LOL !
Any car that is being tracked be it 280whp or 2080whp is going to wear out a set of brakes . Whats your point with that statement ? Are you tracking your car around the block ? If you think its cool to have a big brake kit , or you think you need it...go for it !

 

it comes down to this,

I have brembos, 2 piece stoptech aero-rotors, stainless steel lines, motul brake fluid (though needs to be changed out), stillen master cylinder brace, and axis ultimate brake pads and I wasn't happy with the braking performance after stopping hard a few times.

I am thrilled you're happy with your car's braking performance, but if I'm not happy with my brakes after 3 hard stops, there's no way in hell I'll be happy with them on a road course

I don't track my car around the block. We were tuning it on the street yesterday trying to make sure the Fcon's tune was good and making adjustments. Doing that involved getting on the throttle hard and braking hard.


...let's drop it, I should never have even mentioned my brakes if it half the thread was going to turn into a discussion about brakes

 

Wow , thats alot of brake mods ! And with just 3 or 4 hard braking stops your brakes faded ? Hmmmm !!!!

I'll keep my stock brakes with cheap a$$ pads and stop just as good for 3 or 4 times in a row with out much change at all in braking performance...thank you !

 

i want some 1/4 mile times!!

 

it wasn't like crazy amounts of out of control fade, we could just tell it wasn't quite 100% as good feeling as the first time we stomped the brakes, which is somewhat expected but if you multiply that by 20 minutes and braking hard several times each lap, it seemed like it was something I should keep an eye on.

I probably will try tracking my brembos first to see how severe the fade actually becomes when you're in the thick of everything after several laps. It might end up being kinda ok, but could use some improvement to get the maximum out of the brakes


believe me, I've long believed the stock brembos are up to the task of good braking at least up to a point. I have several past posts saying my opinion about that in comparison to aftermarket BBK's, but I think everyone knows the bigger brake kits actually are a little better. They're just not worth it for most people who already have brembos, and especially people who don't track their car


could there be a possibility that if I got in your car and did some hard braking that I might not be happy with your braking performance? Maybe even think it's worse than mine? Anyway just saying maybe you would drive my car and think the brakes are completely fine, but to me and Sam they're probably the weakest link on my car's overall performance at this point in time. For the street or curvy mountain roads, I think the brembos are more than fine


I'll probably do a 1/4 mile run sometime in the next month or so. I bought a new helmet so I'm ready to go, but I want to get to know my car a little better first

 

I never read any where you mention of tracking the car other than a 1/4 mile . That seems to have been your whole goal in all your mods . At least thats the impression I got from your posts .
And your original post on the brakes sounded like there was a huge fading problem . If a small amount of fade worries you for a street car that has just been braked hard a few times . Then it is a legitimate worry for you then . Just over kill for me though .
Yes a time slip from a 1/4 mile run will tell if its all worth it to you .And to see if the mods you have pays off .

 

whoa, I've never been all about the 1/4 mile, sorry for that misunderstanding - I've always been more interested in a more well rounded car for autox, drifting and roadcourses, with the occasional 1/4 mile. My Z has never even been to the drag strip yet. I'm interested to see what time I'd make, but it's more of a benchmark thing than something I'd want to do all the time

if I was all about the 1/4 mile I would be running a nitrous and a TT with a TH400 tranny like Audible Mayhem's previous setup


Even in my massive vortech thread in the opening posts on the first page I think I was saying my goals were for a well rounded car and that was one of the reasons I chose the vortech

 

could there be a possibility that if I got in your car and did some hard braking that I might not be happy with your braking performance? Maybe even think it's worse than mine? Anyway just saying maybe you would drive my car and think the brakes are completely fine, but to me and Sam they're probably the weakest link on my car's overall performance at this point in time



Im sure the Brembo's are better brakes than stock El cheapo brakes . Thats not in question..was it ? The question was ..is it worth the money and time to install a big brake kit to do some hard braking on the street and be worth it . Like I said....track or show ...yes ! Street car...is over kill ! IMPO !

 

thats hot!!!

 

LOL ok ! It just seems every time you do a mod to your car . You talk about what it will do to help you off the line or in your trap speeds ....my bad ! lol

 

well I just like to explain what I'm doing and the reasons I'm doing it. Some people think I'm on crack for using some of the parts I'm using, but I don't think I'd change them after experiencing the difference they made. I can't say every part I've bought was worth the price tag, but if I wasn't happy with it or thought something else was worth the extra money for what I'm trying to set my car up to do, I'd switch it

it's easier to talk about trap speeds etc because if you talk about whatever autox or road course that people may or may not have driven on, not many people can relate or even care. I'm interested in all aspects of driving (track and street) and the 1/4 mile is one of them where you launch the car from a stop


yeah a long time ago I came to the realization that my Z is primarily driven on the street much more often than I track it and so I decided the brembos - or upgraded brembos would serve me fine - even help my accelleration because the rotors are smaller than aftermarket BBK's. Whether or not I change them out for aftermarket I'll have to wait and see. I'm still recovering from the money I spent at GTM so I won't be doing anything major for awhile.

For the street, the brembos are beyond fine. When you brake hard in my car, it's pretty severe as it is. I never noticed anything remotely lacking until yesterday after repeated hard stopping that Sam and I thought I should keep an eye on the brakes if I was going to track it

 

nice numbers...i miss my supercharger sometimes

ps: you have more patience than me