R33 brakes on S13

[JMPitt820]

Will R33 brakes fit on an S13 that has a 5 lug conversion and the S14 SE wheels?If anyone knows, please help.

[Anand]

yes, they will fit.

they are basically 30mm Z32 brakes...IIRC

[Onizuka]

Depends on what R33 brakes your talking about. R33 GTR brakes are larger and have a different 4 piston caliper design. R33 GTS brakes are also different than the Z32 units but about the same size. Either way both bolt on (line fittings may be different on the GTR brakes).

Pretty much all skyline brakes are interchangeble. Which are interchangeble with the 300zx. Which are interchangeble with the 240sx.

Ah I love 90's nissan parts sharing.

[jgauspohl]

to the moderator...question...aren't he r33 4 piston fronts slightly larger than the z32 30's or is that just the rotor. I currently have 26's on the front and I'm wondering would buying the r33's be comparable to the 30's or better and if the rotor is slightly larger where would I find a replacement/aftmkt should I need to do so in the future..

[penpen-commander]

the z32 came in 26 (n/a) and 30 (turbo).

[jgauspohl]

this is the 2nd time a person has not read what I've written...and makes a comment that I already have full understanding and knowledge of. Thanks for that info man I would've never guessed that n/a z32's were 26 and turbo's were 30mm *sarcasm*

[AmoebAssassin]

Definitely yes. Someone around where I live has R33 brakes on his S13 Coupe
Modified by AmoebAssassin at 3:52 PM 6/18/2006

[cdlong]

if you are going to the GTS brakes, i wouldn't waste your time and money. i doubt you'll notice much difference.

if you are going to the GTR brakes, have at it, let us know how they turn out.

[AmoebAssassin]

if you are going to the GTS brakes, i wouldn't waste your time and money. i doubt you'll notice much difference.

if you are going to the GTR brakes, have at it, let us know how they turn out.

Uhhh...non GTR brakes are the same thing as Z32 30mm Aluminum brakes (i know this because i have R32 GTS brakes on my car)...are you saying there's no difference between stock S14 brakes and Z32 brakes?

GTR brakes are bolt on swaps. You will need GTR rotors as well. There may be some interchangablility with Z33/V35 rotors, but you have to cross-reference the part numbers yourself because I dont know them offhand

[cdlong]

Uhhh...non GTR brakes are the same thing as Z32 30mm Aluminum brakes (i know this because i have R32 GTS brakes on my car)...are you saying there's no difference between stock S14 brakes and Z32 brakes?

i was replying to jgauspohl, who already has z32 26mm brakes. sorry, should have made that more clear.

[AmoebAssassin]

i was replying to jgauspohl, who already has z32 26mm brakes. sorry, should have made that more clear.

Ah, sorry, my mistake as well.

[jgauspohl]

well the R33 GTS-t's are bigger than the R32's..I'm definitely buying some...but here's the kicker...they use 32mmx296mm rotors versus the 30mm thickness rotors on the R32's and the Z32TT's. I've heard of people using the 30mm rotor with the bigger R33 GTS-t brakes but I'm wondering if that 2mm in thickness will allow the piston too much room and therefore damage the piston seals ...or not allow enough clamping force had the rotor been the right thickness. I love my 26's all the way around....girls like them too....not that I speed or anything but they're definitely the best upgrade I've ever invested in ...Even my 50 yr old mother loves them. Anyway I've emailed Mckinney asking them this same technical question. Hopefully I'll get an answer and also a stateside distributor for 32mmx296 rotors ..then I won't have to worry about this...or I guess I could just order custom blanks from brembo...that way I could even order 32mmx (however big for Mckinney's supra rotor conversion). I'll let you guys know what I find out.

[Vkoslak]

http://www.courtesyparts.com/

the r32 gtr caliper/rotors are the same as the r33 gts calipers.

I have a set on my 300zx.I noticed a big difference. I don't wonder if its going to stop now.I'll probably get another set for my 240sx.

[cdlong]

I've heard of people using the 30mm rotor with the bigger R33 GTS-t brakes but I'm wondering if that 2mm in thickness will allow the piston too much room and therefore damage the piston seals ...or not allow enough clamping force had the rotor been the right thickness.

the only thing you have to worry about is the pistons popping out when they extend all the way out. the seals are designed to move more than the piston is and the clamping force won't change as the piston extends. judging by the min thickness of every other nissan rotor i've seen, the min on the 32mm rotors should be 30mm. if you start with 30mm and you don't let the pads wear completely out you'll be fine. if the rotors wear some and you run the pads down to the backing plate the pistons might pop out and bind up and cause all sorts of problems (like you crashing into things). but like i said as long as you keep pads with at least 1/4 of the original thickness, you should be fine.

just so you know, there is some extra leeway built into the piston travel. i helped a guy fix his brakes after he let the pads wear so far down that all the pad material was gone and the rotor was worn so much that the backing plate slipped out of the caliper bracket and jammed itself between the bracket and the rotor. the calipers were fine but everything else was shot.

[jgauspohl]

I'd rather have everything as it should be....it's just my thing...I drive really really hard...and brake hard...I have a heavy foot lmfao...so I'd rather be "safe" than sorry.

[180fan]

you can have the biggest brakes in the world and a million pistons. if you've got crappy tires, it won't make a world of difference.

[AmoebAssassin]

you can have the biggest brakes in the world and a million pistons. if you've got crappy tires, it won't make a world of difference.

Larger rotors increase your fade resistance, which is a good things to have, even if your stop distances dont decrease.

[rpd240]

Someone is offering to sell me R32 GTS calipers, but I'm confused as to what rotor they would need. It seems most of this thread only covers R33 brakes, so should I pass on the R32?

[AmoebAssassin]

R32 GTS calipers are the same thing as Z32 30mm Aluminum calipers. You can use the 30mm Z32 rotors with R32 calipers. In fact, thats the exact same setup i have on my car, as my calipers were originally R32 GTS-T calipers.

[180fan]

Larger rotors increase your fade resistance, which is a good things to have, even if your stop distances dont decrease.

like I said before, what good is resistance to fade if you lock up the brakes and have the tires slip. You'll still end up hitting a wall or the car in front of you. get better tires before deciding you "need" bigger brakes.

[AmoebAssassin]

like I said before, what good is resistance to fade if you lock up the brakes and have the tires slip. You'll still end up hitting a wall or the car in front of you. get better tires before deciding you "need" bigger brakes.

Threshold braking, genius. Anybody with half a brain can do it, no matter how crappy the tires they run are. Hence my argument still stands. Larger rotors = fade resistance = more threshold braked decellerations without fade, even on crap tires. You think it's proper track technique to just mash the brake pedal to lock and slide to the turn in point of every corner? In a track environment, yes, stopping distances are important because they let you delay your braking point farther into the corner approach. However, repeatability and reliability of braking actions are just as important, if not more, unless you plan on doing 2 laps at a time, stopping, cooling your brakes down, and then doing 2 more laps, and so on and so forth.

[180fan]

Difference, I wasn't talking about track braking, I'm talking emergency braking on the street where the car will most likely see most of it's time. On the street is far less predictable than on the track. Most folks have a tendency to mash on the brake pedal. With that said on larger calipers with greater clamping force, that'll lock up your brakes. The tires will slip and slide at this point. Going through even remedial physics a person can see the difference between static and kinetic friction. If the tires can keep grip, you'll have better braking distance usually.

The guy also already has z32 brakes. I've yet to hear of fade be that much of an issue on those brakes on the s13. With that also said, why bother going with larger heavier brakes that add to the unsprung weight on the suspension for those track days?

[AmoebAssassin]

Difference, I wasn't talking about track braking, I'm talking emergency braking on the street where the car will most likely see most of it's time. On the street is far less predictable than on the track. Most folks have a tendency to mash on the brake pedal. With that said on larger calipers with greater clamping force, that'll lock up your brakes. The tires will slip and slide at this point. Going through even remedial physics a person can see the difference between static and kinetic friction. If the tires can keep grip, you'll have better braking distance usually.

The guy also already has z32 brakes. I've yet to hear of fade be that much of an issue on those brakes on the s13. With that also said, why bother going with larger heavier brakes that add to the unsprung weight on the suspension for those track days?

If the reaction is to stomp on the gas pedal at full force, then stock brakes will lock the tires as well. Every stock braking system i have seen has been able to lock tire. If your tires are going to lock with the stock brake system in an emergency stop, then what's the harm in upgrading to Z32s? If anything, you'll have more pedal feel with the larger brakes and proper master cylinder, making pedal modulation more intuitive and thereby giving you more control of the brakes in a panic situation.

I was speaking with regards of an upgrade to Z32/R32 or R33 brakes from stock S14 equip, sorry for not making that clear. The difference between Z32 aluminum and Z32 iron calipers are about 8lbs. Since the R33 calipers have similarly sized bodies to the Z32 calipers (but with longer stalks to compensate for larger rotor diameter), going from Z32 to R33 brakes would increase your unsprung weight by about 10lbs, accounting for a larger rotor as well. This is a ~10% increase in unsprung weight and will not change the suspension's natural frequency enough to upset handling. Plus, with larger brakes and better tires you can delay your braking significantly further into the braking zone.

BTW, my buddies with an sr20 s14 can fade Z32s on the street.