300z Brake Upgrade: Pros vs. Cons

Post by **Sqwigy X** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I'm really thinking of doing the 300z brake upgrade, but I need more info on the pros & cons of doing the 5 lug conversion. Is it just a waste of time and money? Or is there a large benefit to doing the 5-lug. Am I just as well of getting the 300z brakes drilled to 4 lug? Any knowledgeable opinionswould be very helpful.

Post by **89240sx** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

How much power are you going to put into your car?

Post by **Sqwigy X** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I'm thinking around 300-350. Its going to be a daily driver, but I also want to be able to kick some tail.

Post by **CA18_Dreams** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I perrsonaly like cars with a 5 lug conversion... looks better... jdm style... plus you get the bigger brakes... and your going to need them if you plan on having 350hp... a con is that you will need to get rims... although that is not always to bad... i have seen people just drill the holes for putting them on a 4 lug though...

Post by **Onizuka** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

Big brakes make you faster at the track. 5 lug offers much better wheel selection and obviously one more mounting bolt per wheel (increased strength, safety)

Post by **Sqwigy X** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

So its pretty much preference then? No real serious upsides or downsides, other than it seems like the 300z upgrade will be cheaper.

Post by **89240sx** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I'm staying 4 lug only because I feel its sortof a waste of time for a daily driver.... however if I ever buy a daily driver and garage my 240sx then I will do the conversion.

Post by **Nathan** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

Ugh...not cheap, at least not with the 5 lug conversion and having to get new wheels of some sort...even if it's just 300zx wheels.

Post by **Sqwigy X** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

The price of wheels isn't too big of a deal considering I have stock ones on there now and they're gonna go eventually. What are some other brake upgrades that are relatively cost-efficient but still a big upgrade?

Post by **huckedup16** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

Are there any big break kits out there for the 4 lug?

Post by **SmithSR** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I'll scoot this over to the tire/wheel/susp/brake forum, so chet can calmly explain things, and maybe Dennis will toss in an equation that will melt our simple minds!

Post by **Grant@tirerack** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

Check out the 300zx brake problem thread for all these details and more!

Post by **trpower7** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

You are just as well off getting the brakes re-drilled to 4-lug. I've done it many times, and NEVER had a problem. Putting 5-lugs on an S13 is usually just for the "bling bling" factor. You have to change a lot of suspension components, buy wheels and tires, etc, not to mention the cost of the brake upgrade in the first place.

Post by **cosmo** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

huckedup16 wrote:Are there any big break kits out there for the 4 lug?

yup, Rotora, Fastbreaks, Stillen/AP, and HP Racing(no official word on what models, all they say is Nissan Silvia)

Post by **Sqwigy X** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

Hey trpower7, what kind of brakes did you get drilled to the 4 lug? Or anyone else for that matter, what brakes did you get drilled to the 4 lug, and how did you like it comparatively?

Post by **trpower7** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

You need to search for Z32 brake swap. It's a well explained topic, we even have a FAQ on it. Please read that first.

Post by **SingleCamSam** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I drilled my 300z brakes to 4 lugs. The difference in strength between 4lug and 5lug is insignificant. The only advantage of 5lug is a larger wheel selection. My opinion is stick to 4lug unless you MUST have rims that only come in 5lug.

Post by **Exar-Kun** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

OK, *breathes in deeply*

heres the 411 on the brake things:-for a street car, any brake upgrade is overkill, period. excepting better pads and maybe some nice lines to increase pedal feel and reduce fade during hard street driving.

the reasons are simple:brakes can only stop you at the rate which the tire adheres to the ground(or, simpler explanation: if you can lock the brakes up/skid the tires, you have all the braking force you need.)

now, the benifit of larger brakes(be in Z32, rotora, etc, etc, et al) lie in those larger brakes ability to soak up, and dissipate the heat generated by your braking system converting the vehicles inertia into heat using friction.(thats the fundamental of what a brake system does, for those that didnt know)

thusly, unless you are reppeatedly geretaing heat into the rotor(IE, autocross, road racing) not only is the stock system sufficient, but paying 800- 2500 for a Z32 upgrade kit, or larger braky stsem is more for looks than performance.

check out a post recently by singlecamsam(I believe) about only gaining 1 ft stopping distance from 100 with the Z32 setup.....

case made.

Now, a few things can change the assumptions if you:-actively race the car or-run R-compound tires

you may indeed benifit from alrger brakes for a few reasons:better head dissipation, thus shorter stopping distances via lower brake system heat/fade

or

R compound tires gripping the road better than your brakes can grip the rotor of your car (clamping force is less than the grip of the tire)

in some cases, both may occur, since to be in the top class of most racing series(all, actually) you need very sticky R-compounds anyway

make sense?-chet

*note: please excuse spelling errors.... on my way to class, writing in a hurry.*

Post by **SingleCamSam** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

Here's my thread.

http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....35050

Post by **BuudWeizErr** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I just did a full brake/lug/wheel conversion to my car. I really went all out and my bank account has felt it, but if you have ever done a canyon/mountain run in Southern California or wherever like I have, multiple times, and felt the horrible feeling that we know as brake fade and not being able to stop, you will feel very differently about the current situation of your brakes. I hated being able to get to 100mph is just under 15 seconds, but then not being able to stop just as quickly.

I did everything.Front 5 lug conversion hubsRear S14 SE hubsHi Temp 5.1 Brake fluidSpeed BleedersRebuilt Z32 front calipersStainless LinesAll new rotorsMetal PadsZ32 Master CylinderS14 SE wheels

It cost a lot, but I figure it is better to do it once and not do it again. I weighed getting metal pads and stainless lines vs full conversion, and I couldn't justify 400 bucks or so for a marginal increase in stopping power.

Post by **Onizuka** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

or if you ever have to go down hill for more than a half a mile and hate the smell of burn brakes.

Post by **fiznat** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

Yeah I dont understand why people keep saying that if you have x horsepower you're going to need bigger brakes. A stop from 100mph is going to require the same amount breaking power regardless of how much horsepower that car has... it's not like you're trying to accelerate and brake at the same time, are you?

I can understand getting bigger/better brakes if you're worried about fading or wear from heavy, prolonged use in a short amount of time, but to say that you need bigger brakes to stop your street driven car now that you have a turbo on it just doesnt make much sense to me.

Post by **Q45tech** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

The lack of Physics and Mathematics education in US is a real problem. China graduates 10 times the number of engineers we do. Even India is ahead of us.

It's a real challege on these boards to provide remedial education for things that should have been LEARNED in High School.

Post by **Exar-Kun** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

china also has like, many, many more people than we do..I'd like to see the "per capita" numbers... but I agree with this statement:"The lack of Physics and Mathematics education in US is a real problem."

very true, also..theres a serious lack of teaching "logic and rational thinking" in our schools, most emphasis is "read, regurgitate" here...

but this is a whole nother issue, aside from the suspension forums, me thinks.

suffice to say, if people take logic and more physics/math courses, many discussions about various suspension ideas would be closed before they even started.-chet

Post by **trpower7** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

Damn straight.

Post by **fiznat** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

its not a lack of simple math and physics that causes these problems, its a lack of pure logical thinking. when confronted with a subject he doesn't know much about, my experience has been that a person will pretty much beleive whatever people tell them. I cant even count how many times I've read on these boards and elsewhere some things that simply DONT MAKE SENSE, and yet they're accepted as truth simply because they've been around so long.

Oh well.

Post by **Grant@tirerack** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I see no problem with asking for opinions and help with things we don't fully understand. No one person has all the answers. That's the whole point behind having this forum. Nobody is perfect or all-knowing. If it's such ' a real challege' (by the way, I LEARNED in grade school it's spelled challenge) to answer questions on this board perhaps you should save your energy for your own forms

I see no point in putting down the people on this board who are looking for basic information.

Post by **Exar-Kun** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I think the main goal of the forums is to help epople who lack the knowledge they are obviously seeking, and do so in a way that minimises both confusion and incorrect information,

but theres flaws to every system.

Post by **jorge** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

they use too call the z32 brake upgrade on the 240sx or 180sx the holly grale of all mods

Post by **Sqwigy X** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:22 am

I intend on driving my car very hard, so I'm thinking I'm gonna do the Z32 brakes. But I think I'm going to stay with the 4-lug.

300z Brake Upgrade: Pros vs. Cons

300z Brake Upgrade: Pros vs. Cons

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