Brake issues?

[jabber87]

I was talking to another Z driver this past weekend about braking issues with our Z's. He said he was at MSR cresson and his brakes boiled. Background on the car: 2003 touring edition with standard brakes at the time and has since upgraded to stoptechs. After talking to this guy, is this a common issue with the Z's standard brakes? If I was thinking about tracking the car lightly, is there something I can do to avoid this? I have a 2003 Z touring with standard brakes. Also, what manufacturer/compounds do you recommend for DE events?

[jabber87]

18 views and no one else on this board has anything to say?

[C-Kwik]

The 03 standard brakes are a bit on the small side. An aftermarket pad can help during a track event, but may still be limited by rotor size depending on the track. If you try to track with the stock brake system, I would at least try and hook up some sort of brake cooling ducts.

If you're willing to spend the money, AP Racing brakes will provide amazing results. Brembos are not quite as good, but with larger rotors, can prevent fade. Stoptechs are just cheap copies of Brembo calipers. They are ok, but if you're going to spend that kind of money in the first place, buy the better system.

A cheaper option if you can locate parts is to get a hold of the 06+ 350Z standard brakes or the 05+ G35 brakes. They are slightly smaller than the OE Brembos (Much larger than yours) so they should handle the track much better.

[jabber87]

The 03 standard brakes are a bit on the small side. An aftermarket pad can help during a track event, but may still be limited by rotor size depending on the track. If you try to track with the stock brake system, I would at least try and hook up some sort of brake cooling ducts.

If you're willing to spend the money, AP Racing brakes will provide amazing results. Brembos are not quite as good, but with larger rotors, can prevent fade. Stoptechs are just cheap copies of Brembo calipers. They are ok, but if you're going to spend that kind of money in the first place, buy the better system.

A cheaper option if you can locate parts is to get a hold of the 06+ 350Z standard brakes or the 05+ G35 brakes. They are slightly smaller than the OE Brembos (Much larger than yours) so they should handle the track much better.

Thanks, I will look into it. I also heard that if you have all the parts the Brembo track brakes are a direct bolt on... can anyone verify this? Whats your opinion of buying them used?
Modified by jabber87 at 4:26 PM 7/31/2007

[C-Kwik]

They are not a bad choice, and should perform decently. Much better than the brakes you have now as the rotors are decently sized for tracking. Tracks that are abusive on the brakes might still cause fade though.

Consider how much they are selling for compared to the cost of a good aftermarket big brake kit. I've heard the OE brembos aren't of as good quality as the retail brembos. Can't confirm that though, so take it with a grain of salt...

[evildky]

I've had good luck with hawk HP+, on my datsun, and the stock brembo package is only marginally better than the base brake setup, not familar with the aftermarket kits but I was disappointed to see the stock brembo specs

[jabber87]

I've had good luck with hawk HP+, on my datsun, and the stock brembo package is only marginally better than the base brake setup, not familar with the aftermarket kits but I was disappointed to see the stock brembo specs

interesting brake faqs guys. I would be going to Texas World Speedway, which is high speed and hard braking... but I don't know how well the brakes get air. Isn't the 350 significantly heavier than the datsuns? (curb weight somewhere around 3400lbs?)