Best "Bang-for-Buck" option is used Brembo from a GT or Track for about $1500 in perfect condition. I like it better than the g37/370z kit because it's Brembo.

The 370z/g37 sport brakes is my 2nd favorite because for $500 more everything is brand new.

Stoptech is is lovely combo because it's different than the 2 above stock brake options but you're looking at $3500 new.

If you're into Project Mu or Endless it's roughly $2400-$3000 for just the the front. A full PMU or Endless kit is $6k-$7k and it's really only for bling. Stock 03-08 brembos are perfectly adequate. I've had OEM Brembos, Stoptechs, and now PMU and they all feel perfectly as good as the other.

 

you must drive like a grandma. i definitely put brakes to the test regularly and performance matters to me. i've driven cars with wilwood, baer, brembo and stoptech kits. wilwood or baer would be my preference but they're so damn expensive. brembo brakes haven't been good for years. they sell strictly on brand recognition. they no longer cater to the aftermarket like they used too cause of all the manufacturer contracts they have with companies like mitsubishi and nissan and the "sport" upgrades each company offers. imo they're just mass-produced garbage now. the new 370z/g37 sport kits are pretty nice, but they're just a fancy street package and in the end they're still made by akaebono, although they do provide superior stopping power to the sport brembo calipers on the 350z/g35 sport as they're a little bit longer and spread out piston design.
you can get a 13" stoptech front kit for $2200 and a 14" for $2700, and rear rotors to match for like 100 a piece.

 

haha I follow traffic laws and I don't track my car so I definitely don't feel the difference between any of them. They all stop on a dime for street conditions. Tracking, I'm sure the Stoptechs will be better than STOCK Brembos and the PMU and Endless will show their strengths for other brakes. You do get what you pay for!

 

well your no help then >.>

 

thank you

 

i have wilwoods on my integra and brembos on the evo. i prefer the brembos. doesn't matter which set up you're going with if you don't have good pads anyways, but then again who looks at brake pads? bling bling everytime i come around your city, bling bling.

 

Question is...What are you going to doing with the car to NEED a BBK?

You have the new body kit and paint, lowered well beyond what you probably need to be ( especially for Puyallup, but that's cool tho ), making plans for Turbo....

Now I understand that bigger brakes are needed with bumps in HP, but what are you planning to be doing?

Always driving fast so you need the big brakes?
Gonna take it to the track and run some laps?
Just wanna look good?

In my opinion if your gonna be doing some heavy serious tracking...invest as much as you can in the best system you can find.
If it's just for looks and mostly within the law type of driving ( of course with some spells of spirited driving )..Keep the cost down and find the prettiest set of brakes to look at.

But that's just me.
these puny little stock brakes are awesome compared to most of the crap I've driven in the last 30 years or so.

So my question is....What kind of brakes do you NEED?


EDIT: Just noticed I pretty much said the same thing as Drew did earlier. With him I totally agree.
...Do you just want to hear the kids say " Holy Sh|t, Look at the size of them Fookin' brakes"
or are you trying to get up to 200MPH in the back stretch and want to brake late on turn 13?

Be honest and don't lie to yourself...what is the "main" purpose for them.

 

As are you - you are asking for opinions without letting us know what you need it for - DUH!

 

sss

 

fair amount of tracking lots of spirited driving and a little look at the size of the focking brakes

 

If you have a pre-'06 then the absolute cheapest option is getting the brakes off of a '06+ Z. Looks like guys are selling all 4 corners for about $300-$400.

Good race pads and some RBF will go a long way in extending the point of brake fade and is really affordable. But unlike big brakes, the race pads will require more pedal force when cold stopping. If you run more raked than stock due to tire size (rear tire OD > 1" of front tire OD) then you'll probably need more front brake, the reverse holds true if you run square (front OD = rear OD) to the point where the stock brakes really don't need to be upgraded for most performance applications, but you take a significant braking performance hit (ie: Ice Mode).

 

FWIW, I had a 332mm StopTech kit up front for a year or so. They're fantabulous, but if you're going to be doing ANY tracking, you need to replace the rear calipers as well. I was burning through a set of rear pads about every 3k. I've since replaced the rears with a stoptech set and things are much more balanced. I'm 15k or so into my front pads and STILL don't need to replace them.

I think the EBFD brake system simply puts too much pressure on the rear stock calipers if you've replaced the front ones...

Just my .02 based on what I observed on my own car. I didn't think I'd need to do all 4 wheels, so I just did the front to start.

 

Best deal for a front BBK is the wilwood BBK from arizonaZcar. I have them and its great build..

 

Yeah but dont you lose the rear e-brake?

 

Nope. ebrakes on the z (and most cars) work by pushing a shoe type pad against the inside of the rotor housing. Since all replacement rotors have to fit over that, they will all work. Ebrakes don't use the caliper in any way shape or form, so replacing the caliper doesn't affect it.

 

Hey Rahtok, do you do most of your events at Pacific Raceways, right? If so I've noticed something in regards to brake temps. I've had the Z at PR, Bremerton and Pacific Grand Prix and I've noticed that each track produces different results as far as front-to-rear brake temp ratios. At one event at PR I would get what you described; rear brakes were higher than the front temps (F/R: ~400/~500 after cool down lap). At BMP I've noticed it being pretty even (F/R: ~400/~400 after cool down lap). At PGP I noticed the reverse of PR (F/R: 600+/ ~500 after cool down lap). As far as average track speeds from fastest to slowest: PR, BMP, PGP respectively

It seems the rears tend to get hotter as a result of hard braking from higher speeds (PR: coming into Turn 2, 5B & 8). I wonder if this is a result of the rear brakes having to do the added work of slowing down the transmission while in higher gears? At PR I'd use 5th, at BMP I pretty much only need 4th (depending on setup) and at PGP, I can use 3rd for a brief second but have usually opted to only use 2nd for the most part.

As for autoX I can't ever seem to get them above 450 even in the summer time even when measuring them after coming right off the course (possibly because I've been using a square setup for tires this past summer).

Your thoughts?

 

This is my understanding too but a local member with the wilwood kit from ArizonaZcar lost his e-brake after he installed the kit - I can verify this as I was over his place right after he finished installing it.

 

O.o

Well, the StopTechs managed to do it right!

I can't vouch for the others at all. However, stoptech warns you that as the rear rotor hats are aluminum, you shouldn't use them for power braking / sliding / drifting as they'll warp. I think you need cast iron hats for that sort of silliness.

 

Yeah... most of my stuff is at PR. After getting the front StopTechs on, I found I could brake later and harder (duh!) and so I started to be more aggressive on that front. I haven't really taken temps, I have just been noting wear -- and I was eating through rears REALLY fast. I replaced them twice last year and I still had over half of my Axxis Ceramics up front (was using Hawk HPS on the rear). I put the rear stoptechs on this summer, but really haven't had much opportunity to abuse them too much yet.

I do 5th on the straightaway, down to 4th at the top of the hill out of 2, then do a quick 4-3-2 going into the S... practicing my leet heel-toe skills. (rolls eyes... let's just say I'm over 60% for getting it these days -- Hey, I'm workin on it!) The big run off at the bottom of the hill gives me some degree of confidence that if I miss a shift or screw up the braking I have somewhere to go that still leaves the Z shiny side up.

With the tire and suspension setup I have, I can carry around 45 mph through the S and pick up from there. But that chews up the tires quite a bit -- but they're disposable right?

 

Wait -- I lied. 5th to 4th just as I enter turn 2. then 4-3-2 about half way down the hill. Yeah, that's right. ;D