Infiniti I35 brake upgrades?

[iceturbo]

Hi,

I recently bought an Infiniti I35 with 46 000km on it (a real deal, one owner, an old lady,...). It's an amazing car, but the brakes will need to be changed in the futur. I'm looking at my option to improve the braking power and I've seen a lot of options for the front, but for the rear...

I did a lot of research and I realized that the front is easy to do because the parts are almost the same, but the rear on the fifth gen has the hand brake with the caliper compare to the other cars with the hand brake in the disc.

My question is: there are so many people in this forum, I'm sure some people installed upgraded brake that aren't blehmco Z32 rear big brake or Fastbrake?

Also, I read about the Bias and I was thinking about installing something like the brake system of a G35 (front and rear) that won't mess too much with the Bias, but I would lose the hand brake... Does anyone did something like that?

Is anyone ever tried to installed the Z31 87-89 rear brake? It uses the caliper hand brake, but with a 43mm piston instead of the 34mm and the rotor is vented, thicker and a little bigger!

It could be an easy swap, no?

Thank you very much!

[AZhitman]

No need to change any of the hardware. The I35 stock brakes are great, but need a few modifications.

I'd recommend the following:

Stainless brake lines - (around $100) - Improve pedal feel and makes braking more linear.
Slotted rotors - (around $300 for all four, zinc plated) - Easy to find, steer clear of drilled rotors for your application. I like the SP rotors. OEM weight, great finish and machining.
Pads - ($200 or so) - I prefer the Ferodo 2500 / 3000 series pads, but the Hawk pads are more readily available.
Fluid - ($15-25) - Flush the whole system and replace with ATE Superblue fluid for ultimate protection against boilover.

Once all that is done, you'll find there's no need for larger calipers or rotors. Let me know if you need help ordering any of those items, I have access to some of this stuff at a discount.

Lastly, NO brake improvements will help at all if your tires aren't good. Sticky, wider tires are the BEST upgrade you can make to help with braking.

[MaximA32]

Well, I can see that I wasn't needed here.

[iceturbo]

No need to change any of the hardware. The I35 stock brakes are great, but need a few modifications.

I'd recommend the following:

Stainless brake lines - (around $100) - Improve pedal feel and makes braking more linear.
Slotted rotors - (around $300 for all four, zinc plated) - Easy to find, steer clear of drilled rotors for your application. I like the SP rotors. OEM weight, great finish and machining.
Pads - ($200 or so) - I prefer the Ferodo 2500 / 3000 series pads, but the Hawk pads are more readily available.
Fluid - ($15-25) - Flush the whole system and replace with ATE Superblue fluid for ultimate protection against boilover.

Once all that is done, you'll find there's no need for larger calipers or rotors. Let me know if you need help ordering any of those items, I have access to some of this stuff at a discount.

Lastly, NO brake improvements will help at all if your tires aren't good. Sticky, wider tires are the BEST upgrade you can make to help with braking.

Thank you for your reply!

Your right that quality parts will improve a lot the stock system but I really fell that bigger component is what I need!

Also, do you have a good price on the shipping for your parts (I live in canada)!

Thank you!

[AZhitman]

I really fell that bigger component is what I need!

Based on what evidence? Are you boiling the fluid? Are you experiencing brake fade?

Bigger components will not improve braking performance unless you have already optimized the rest of the system.

What tires are you using?

[iceturbo]

I really fell that bigger component is what I need!

Based on what evidence? Are you boiling the fluid? Are you experiencing brake fade?

Bigger components will not improve braking performance unless you have already optimized the rest of the system.

What tires are you using?

My cousin used to have a maxima 2002 6 speed titanium edition. I can't remember how many times he replaced his front disc put he did it often!

It's not a race car but some time I'm in a hurry! Plus with my 18 month daughter and the other one on the way it does happen that we are really loaded!

So like you can see, your right, I have no personnal evidence that my brakes a too weak but with my cousin experience and a lot of stuff that I read on many forums, that brakes of the A33 are too weak for the weight of the car and it show it you're a little in a rush or if your loaded and have to brake fast.

Like I said I will have to replace the brakes so if I'm to put money in new brakes and realised in a couple month that that are too weak and buy everything again! Or I could put bigger brakes right a way and never know if I would have needed bigger brakes because it's what I have!

About the tires, your right, the best brakes with the worst tire won't brake faster! Now, I have old almost finished V rated tires. My I35 have almost 48000km so they're probably the original tires. Because I'm still considering the Z32 front upgrade, I'm planning on installing the winter tire (now on black wheels) on those wheels and buying another infiniti model mags (G35-Q45-FX-...) or any brand of 18" mags with quality performance tire which will improve handling, braking and will better to put the power to the ground.

So that's the way I see it! What's your opinion on this?

Thanks!

[AZhitman]

Well, I disagree with the web postings that say the Max / I35 brakes are "too weak" for the car's weight. Feel free to link me to those conversations so we can educate some people.

If you can engage ABS in a panic stop, then you have sufficient brake clamping force. Period.

Your cousin's car may have had rotors replaced more often than you think is appropriate, but that doesn't mean they are the wrong size - that simply means either poor maintenance, the wrong pads, or lots of hard braking over thousands of miles.

However, you ARE on the right track in some areas, so let's look at a logical way to go about testing this:

Before you do ANYTHING brake-related, your first purchase should be tires. The A33 chassis will accept a significant tire upgrade easily. If you can find someone with a set of G35 Coupe wheels, a set of wider, sticky summer tires will amaze you.

Larger rotors and calipers increase unsprung weight. This increases braking distance. So, while you may think you're improving your braking, you might just be breaking even. 18" wheels ALSO hurt your braking distances (again, more weight). You can believe the crap you read in Super Street, or you can believe people who actually have some track time under their belt.

After that, the upgrades should be simple: Aggressive pads, slotted rotors, and stainless lines.

Z31 87-89 rear brake hardware is NOT an upgrade for your car. It's a step backwards. If you had a '72 Z, then it's an upgrade. Bigger piston does NOT mean more braking force (your master cylinder, booster, and lines still contain the same column of fluid to move the piston). Larger rotors CAN give you more "leverage", but with the same clamping force, you're wasting money.

Also, your rear brakes only handle 20% of your stopping power. They're already well-suited for the job. You don't have to believe that, but it's a fact.

As far as front brakes, if you REALLY think you need larger rotors and calipers, I'd look into the 03-05 G35 Coupe Brembo setup and see if it can be retrofitted onto your car. I don't think it's a bolt-on swap, or there would be more of them running around.

If, after all of this unassailable evidence, you STILL feel the need to put bigger brakes o your family car, and you have money burning through your pocket, here ya go:

http://www.raceinspired.com/p-23218-ksp ... liper.aspx

[maxhopper]

I have to agree with AZhitman on this. I have a 2002 Maxima and the standard brakes are fine.

I personally upgraded to Power Slot slotted rotors, Hawk HPS pads, Goodridge stainless steel brake lines, and Motul 5.1 brake fluid. But I maintained the OEM calipers. I'm also running 245/45/ZR18 tires on Infiniti M35x 18 x 8 wheels.

[iceturbo]

Thank you very much AZhitman for your well developed reply!

I, in the time I have right now, can't find the posts I was talking about... I will try to make a deeper research in the futur.

Your right that if you can lock your wheels, your brakes are more powerfull then your tire can handle! But bigger brakes is more for indurance then power! Z32 discs are a good 6mm thicker then the OE I35 rotors! It won't make you brake faster but it will make you ba able to brake on and on and on with the same power!

My cousin replaced his front rotor 5 times in 2.5 years and 50 000km! It's way too much!!! Yes, he raced his car all the imes but he didn't put cheap auto parts stuff and every thing was in great shape!

Your right about the unsprung weight, it's harder to make it turn so it will hurt performance but it won't hurn the braking that much. The more it weight the harder it is to make it turn, same to stop making it turn but the clamping force of the news caliper will be so much greater that it won't be noticable! Come on, I ain't no rice boy, I'm a tech in mecanical engeenering and a race car mechanic as a hobby so don't think I read an article in a magazine and that it makes me an expert! I'm here because I what opinion of people with knoledge and experience. (just in case, I didn't intend to be mean)

I don't see why Z31 brakes wound'nt be an impovement? A33 rotor are 277.6mm of diameter and 9mm thick solid rotor. Z31 rotor are 282mm of diameter and 20mm thick vented rotors!!! They are a little bit bigger but REALLY thicker!!! Hello stamina (can you use stamina for a car? I'm french-canadian) Plus the caliper have a bigger piston (43mm vs 34) but it's just a bonus! Also, your right that more piston and/or bigger piston will take more oil but it will increase pedal travel but in the end the clamping force will be better if you have more piston surface!

Your a 100% right about the bias, the power is higher in front, 73% front 27% back to be exact. If you put bigger brakes only in the front your bias will move to the front and your braking power won't be optimal! That's why if you put bigger brakes in front your should put bigger brakes in the back to make sure you braking force is optimal. In fact, dealers always put more power on the front wheel so it's easy to controle for normal people so for the A33, maybe 70-30 would be better! That's the reason I originaly was writting about putting all the brakes of an other car, because it I was using the brakes of a G35, which have a better weight distribution, it would bring the bias a little to the back!

Did you check the price of those calipers!!! It's insane!!! If I was about to put that much of money, I wouldn't ask anyone and I would put Wilwood brakes on the 4 corners! Z32 calipers are 200 can$ plus the rebuilt kit! That's a much better price!!!

I was thinking installing:
for the front:

http://www.fastbrakes.com/product_p/lat ... brembo.htm

and for the rear:

http://www.fastbrakes.com/product_p/fb% ... r%2012.htm

Also, some good reading (the post #19 is Matt Blehm from Blehmco)

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generation ... ooong.html

Thank you very much for your reply and I'm looking forward to read your next reply!