By the way, I just realized that my above post sounded like a sales pitch for Stoptech.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Stoptech or know any of their employees. I have just read their online materials and gotten the impression that they are the type of business that I would trust to build my brakes. I therefore plan to purchase (at normal price) their 13" brake upgrade when I get my 350z and recommend their products to others.

Jason

 

I did two consecutive days at sears point (infineon), about 550 miles total. I did not notice a difference in the way the car stopped from the morning of the first day to the end of the second. I have about 8500 miles on my Track model now. This also includes many many spirited mountain drives and 5 autocross events. I haven't checked the rears, but the fronts both have about 3mm left before they hit the wear indicators. Another guy that was there the second day, in a performance model, with race tires, went through his rear pads, right in front of me. He was getting faster times than me, so I slowed down and let him pass (he was about half a lap behind me) Right after he passed me, he took the next turn WAY wide, which kind of confused me, because I wanted to follow him to see what kind of line he was taking. I talked to him later, and he hit the brakes for that turn, and the pedal went to the floor and the rears were making a lot of noise.

 

I have the AP Racing kit right now, very happy with theperformance but I cracked the first set of rotors on my 2nd track event and replaced them afer the 3rd. I hope this second set last longer.

If/When I get my Z and decide the Brembos are not good enough I will definately be getting the Stoptech kit.

 

LOL, I see... Steve is from our area, Mid-Atlantic; we obviously go to Summit often. Not that I know him well, but the quote sounded just like him
Hmm, I will take your word for it, but I am still having hard time understanding or convincing myself that the brake balance won't be screwed if one upgrades the fronts only to 13.25" or 14" rotors with 4 or 6 pot calipers. But as I said earlier, I do not understand brakes that much, and I'll go with you on it. I should call StopTech and ask them and get more information from them. I trust them as well, they seem to be doing their work professionally, and I am seeing increasing GT or GTS cars with their brakes. Although PF is really good too, but I think they are harder to deal with.

 

cheap plug, but if youre thinking of upgrading your stock (non-brembro brakes) look here!

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=23948

 

FT, check out the Stoptech website for more detailed info. They have an extensive set of technical white papers that help explain the physics behind the braking system. It's a pretty interesting read (if you are into that sort of thing).

To paraphrase, it basically comes down to this: Even though you increase the size of the rotor, you can modify the piston area (which changes the force exerted by the brake pads), the friction coefficient of the pads, and the effective pad radius to maintain a similar torque on the wheel as the stock brakes (or, if the stocks aren't balanced very well, you can also improve the balance that way). It sounds to me (from reports like the one I liked earlier) that the Stoptech folks play around with the piston sizes in order to optimize the force applied to the pads and therefore the brake balance.

Anyhow, I don't remember all the details, but it sounded like it just takes the proper engineering to get it done right.



I'll definitely provide an update on my pads after this weekend.

-D'oh!

 

Yes, I will be reading some of their papers and test results this weekend as there are not track stuff scheduled, something to do

Thanks all for the information, it's been valueable.

 

Has anyone here considered brake cooling mods for the car?

On the S2000, we get substantially smaller rotors than the Track Z's setup (only 11.8 vented fr/11.1 solid rr). With proper pads, fluid and some cooling ducts on the front (still waiting for rear apps) the cars will run all day long without fade under even the heaviest abuse (Streets of Willow is a nasty track on brakes).

Given that the Track Z, while heavier than an S2K, gets bigger, better brakes, I think you guys could probably get off cheap by developing some brake cooling apps. Many S2000 guys just do homemade kits, and one company, C&T Engineering in Long Beach, has developed a bolt-on CF kit that avoids any cutting of bodywork (http://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthrea...hreadid=102928)

BTW, I really like Cobalt's products. I use their IT Spec C on the rear of my S2000 and the Ferodo DS3000 on the front. Track only pads, but I've got 4 events on them with plenty of pad left (review here: http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-ar...ticle_id=71741)

SC

 

I checked my front pads this weekend, and have 4mm total pad left (two mm usable pad).

That means I've burned through 7mm so far. I'm guessing these pads will last maybe one more day at the track (cutting it close).

It may finally be time to look into the Stoptechs or some aftermarket pads.

Also, I went to the local dump and had my car weighed. The scale has a resolution of 20lbs, and is accurate to within 40.

With me and approximately 12 gallons of gas, the car was weighing between 3380 and 3400 lbs.

I weigh 168 (just weighed myself this morning at work), which puts the car at about 3230 lbs (including gas), so I'd say that Nissan's published weights for the Performance are pretty close.

-D'oh!

 

After doing my first track event this weeken at Sebring I would have to say it is all dependent on the track and driver how long your pads will last. The track effects depend on the anount of turns and the straightaways, at Sebring there are 17 turns but the track is 3.7 miles with two straightaways which you can get up to around 125 one one and 115 onthe other and a third almost straight that you can get up to around 90 before a hairpin so without knowing other tracks I would say this would be up there on being hard on brakes.

Than the driver effects depend on how aggressive you go at it. In our group there was one Z owner that had Hawks + up front and Carbotechs in back, he went through both sets by the end of the second day and his rotors were pretty beat up, it was surprising how the pads got destroyed, they were warped like (, he got a time of 2:47, then there was me, I had Axis Ultimates up front and stock with 6K on the back, the fronts lasted fine but bythe time I pull in the driveway I was down to metal on the back, she is sitting in the garage waiting on pads to arrive from the dealer (2 days) and I got a time of 2:56. Then tehre was another Z owner that had stock pads all around with around 4K I believe, and he lasted both days, I don;t the condition of them after he got home and he had a time of 2:59.

My routine will be to get track only pads and maybe rotors installed for the track days and replace stock before driving home, cheap way out. That way you will be confident with yor equipment and go for it, and still be able to drive it home. Then I will see if a brake upgrade is needed, but many people say not to bother, just to get pads and rotors they are a wear item.

 

That's exactly the point I made earlier in this thread. It's simply a myth that Hawk Blues or other high-carbon racing pads are hard on the rotors. They are only hard on rotors when cold: once they heat up to their proper operating temp, they're perfectly gentle on the rotors.

People use quality street pads (like the Hawk HP+) on the track because they are afraid of rotor wear. But when you overheat street-oriented pads, you can kiss your rotors goodbye. In fact, you can even seize your calipers when your pads start to fall apart like that on track. The closer you get to the backing plates, the more heat is being transferred to the calipers and brake lines (that's one reason why track pads resist fade...they help keep your brake fluid from boiling).

That's absolutely the right thing to do. People buy "high performance street pads" thinking that it will save them the expense of having two sets of pads. Wrong. Use proper high-temp race pads on the track and they will last a lot longer than you might think. I can get a whole season of driving out of just two sets of Hawk Blues, whereas I used to change my street pads after every weekend! And, of course, your street pads and rotors will last forever when you stop beating them to death on the track!

So, not only do you save money, but you don't compromise with those b.s. "street & track" pads. On the street you can enjoy the great cold stopping, low dusting, and low noise of quality street pads (like the Hawk HPS or EBC GreenStuffs). On the track you can get the amazing bite, fade-resistance, and reliability of proper race compounds.

Emre