Brakes for big power (500whp)

[godzillarb]

Here's the deal, I'm about to go get tuned which will mean the boost will be turned up by a good 50% or more resulting in entirely too much power for the ghastly stock s14 brakes. I'm expecting between 470-500whp with a future goal of 650 or so.

Ok, with that said will 300zx or R32 brakes be sufficient? I plan on putting this car on the track at some point as well as the drag strip. Right now it's a major pain in the ass to drive around because I have to baby the shit out of the car just to keep the brakes from melting down.

[drift freaq]

Here's the deal, I'm about to go get tuned which will mean the boost will be turned up by a good 50% or more resulting in entirely too much power for the ghastly stock s14 brakes. I'm expecting between 470-500whp with a future goal of 650 or so.

Ok, with that said will 300zx or R32 brakes be sufficient? I plan on putting this car on the track at some point as well as the drag strip. Right now it's a major pain in the ass to drive around because I have to baby the shit out of the car just to keep the brakes from melting down.

Fair enough question. I would say do at least 30mm z brakes but possibly go with the GTR brakes. You might even think about some kind of big brake kit aka Rotora,Wilwood, STI Brembo's etc... thing is this . Though our cars are light enough that Z32 brakes work well, your talking about pushing 500whp and a lot more with your RB26. Brake sizes are factored by weight and power of said automobile. Now given that, remember that even the 300zx TT rated at 320hp and a curb weight of around 3400lbs the brakes were not really sufficent for the car. Hence I suggest the possibility of a big brake kit adding to the fact that your talking about road coursing it. That really hits the brakes hard. So thats something for you to think about. Also nothing substitutes for race quality pads. Much better stopping power.

[steve shadows]

Z brakes work for me, but so far I have so much power i cant even keep from spinning street slicks...so yeah...

braking from 20-100-0 pretty great, brembo rotors + z calipers on 4 lug s13.

[godzillarb]

Z brakes work for me, but so far I have so much power i cant even keep from spinning street slicks...so yeah...

braking from 20-100-0 pretty great, brembo rotors + z calipers on 4 lug s13.

Interesting...

I'm looking at all these different exotic brakes on ebay from Porsches, STIs and a nice set of 6pot Wilwoods. How hard is it to make a custom bracket to get a non Nissan caliper to work? Something I should be able to do in the garage with a welder?

*Edit* Just found the STI brake thread...and am now reading through it :)

[tknbkthrsdy4anfg]

Significant CNC work is needed make a custom braket, it has to be strong enough to support the load. Porsche brakes as well as alot of other aftermarket brakes are perpendicularly mounted instead of mounted with bolts parallel to the axis of the axle.
However it can be done

[Jung918]

Why not give stoptech a call. A lot of the 350z guys get them and seem to like them.

[wootwoot]

On the streets with the right pads I cant see you ever running into true fade in any somewhat safe action at all. On the track though, you're in Florida, where do you plan on running? Sebring? Sebring is rather long with only a couple of hard braking areas so I would trust z32's with a track compound pad. Ducting would be really important too but at Sebring with the light braking it might make your brakes to cold by the time you got back to your heavy braking zones.

If you are actually going to track this thing and want to do something other then a z32 setup (even with a z32 setup if you are actually going to track it) I would do a brake bias adjuster. If you plan on driving this on the street at all just make sure its in a place where no one will play with it. Why not the use the 300zx calipers with the 12.8'' track rotors off of the z? That should take care of you with the right fluid and pads/ducting. Just buy rotors with aluminum hats(or atleast thin stainless!)

[hello]

i currently have 300zx brakes on my SR powered s13. they're aluminum. i'ts my daily driver and they're awesome! i got them at a wrecking yard. and did a simple rebuild. new pads, re-surfaced the rotors etc...

good luck buddy!

[g6civcx]

Right now it's a major pain in the ass to drive around because I have to baby the shit out of the car just to keep the brakes from melting down.

This makes me wonder. Brake choice is usually a function of speed, durability, and type of racing, and while it's true that more power equals more speed in the same amount of distance, you shouldn't really need any special brakes just because you're carrying 500+ bhp, if you exercise common sense.

The stock brakes should be able to handle multiple stops from triple digit speeds without fading provided you handle some basic maintenance.

Before "upgrading" anything, completely check the brake system. If your master cylinder is leaking, which usually happens with age, replace both the master and booster.

Check all your hardlines and fix as necessary.

You can replace the rubber brake hoses with braided lines to help improve pedal feel.

Check all 4 calipers and make sure they're not leaking/seizing/pitted/etc. Replace calipers in pairs side-to-side if necessary.

Install a good solid Brembo disc and good pads like Hawk HPS. Then completely flush and bleed the system.


After doing all that, if you still feel like you need more than come back and look for choices. Usually people mistake poorly maintained brakes for inadequate brakes in need of upgrade.

With the stock brakes, I can handle a short to medium roadcourse all day long without fade. I only have about 200 bhp to the wheels, but there is no way to hit triple digit speeds on the short roadcourse even if you have 1,000 bhp because the straightaways are not long.

I only start experiencing high speed fading on the long roadcourse where speeds are in excess of 120+ mph, but I do not like to go that fast so it's never an issue for me.

[OptionZero]

Some suggestions:
Wilwood makes a new upgrade for the S-chassis
http://wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Pages/04/index.asp

30mm aluminum 3Z calipers w/ 350Z adapter to use 350Z brembo rotors, 3Z rears, and Porterfield R4 pads. That'll stop you good

if u can find 'em, R34 GT-R v-spec brembos...but they might not be cost efficient or easy to find

of course, upgrading tires and Master cylinder goes with the territory

[Ghostdrifter]

350Z Track Brakes(Gold Brembos) bolt right up to a 240SX and will stop your extremely well

[wootwoot]

pads fluid and ducting are your most important things. I would never drive with that much extra weight upfront on stockers though.

[Full-Lock]

i would go AP Racing if i were you..they have some money setups

[wootwoot]

Stop hard where? You're running a dang endurance racing setup. Plan on running at LeMans?

[OptionZero]

350Z Track Brakes(Gold Brembos) bolt right up to a 240SX and will stop your extremely well

Not exactly true. You need to drill out the holes in front to 14mm IIRc...or 2mm bigger than whatever the stock size was

the calipers are also considerably heavier than stock, which IS a concern when you're at the track and have already invested in 500hp

[harlockssx]

I've never had any problems stopping my car (522 rwhp S13) from repeated runs at VERY fast speeds... 26mm Z32 fronts w/ Endless street pads, crossdrilled rotors & stainless lines F&R used with Z32 master cyl & stock Z32 rear brakes w/ Endless street pads.

[godzillarb]

If I drive the car hard in traffic, ie, lots of 0-60-0 I do see some brake fade. After racing a lightning to about 115 and then slowing down to turn into the local car meet my rotors were actually glowing.

From what you guys have said, sounds like I'll be just fine with some z32 brakes and maybe racing pads if all else fails.

[g6civcx]

If I drive the car hard in traffic, ie, lots of 0-60-0 I do see some brake fade. After racing a lightning to about 115 and then slowing down to turn into the local car meet my rotors were actually glowing.


I wouldn't admit that if I were you. Just say you're using it for "the track" before people start flaming you for "streetracing", whatever that means.

[Dream240]

If I drive the car hard in traffic, ie, lots of 0-60-0 I do see some brake fade. After racing a lightning to about 115 and then slowing down to turn into the local car meet my rotors were actually glowing.

From what you guys have said, sounds like I'll be just fine with some z32 brakes and maybe racing pads if all else fails.

ME FIRST!!!

Well, wanting to upgrade so you can drive the car "HARD" on So Cal. freeways is just useless. I can understand the need to upgrade for track use or just plain bling factor, but if you value your car let me give you some advice. Save the hard driving for the open roads! Tracks or even some good back roads or spirited driving going up into the mountains is fun too.

You've got to admit driving your car hard in the daily grind is really just a PITA, not to mention your monthly gas budget.

I'm not flaming you, I'm just saying there's a time and a place for everything. Sure I gas it up sometimes, mostly I save it for when I'm merging on the freeway in low traffic. I like to use the on ramps as an excuse to feel the power of my car and see how the latest "wrench time" I did is holding up. Freeways are fun for driving faster than usual but try to save the triple digits speeds for late nights or early morning driving, you get more out of it. I'm not condoning anything, but we all know we speed, it's a fact of life. We build our cars to drive fast plain and simple, just be smart about it (if you can even call it that :) ).

(Gets off soap box)

To help with your question, I agree with g6civcx. Get the stock brake system up to 100% performance, and then see how it handles. I personally did some stock maintenance and noticed a world of difference in pedal reliability on a stock setup. Give it a try.

[Ghostdrifter]

Not exactly true. You need to drill out the holes in front to 14mm IIRc...or 2mm bigger than whatever the stock size was

the calipers are also considerably heavier than stock, which IS a concern when you're at the track and have already invested in 500hp

your're right forgot you had to drill it out, but that's easy.
they are heavier but advantage in clamping force and fade resistance significantly outweigh the disadvantage in weight. Any big brake kit is gonna weigh more than stock

[OptionZero]

yes, but if u use the 30mm 3z aluminums, you can use the rotors without the weight of the larger calipers

its going to be smaller pistons and pads, though

if u wanted bigger calipers, go with wilwood

[seekanddestroy]

Go with the wilwood kit, it comes with 2 pc rotors.

Overall the kit will probably be LIGHTER than the 300zx brakes (which really do not have that much clamping force for how HUGE they are, the pistons are relatively small)

[2JZGTE]

I run the 4piston wilwood kit from arizonazcar (using the 4piston billet dynalite calipers) for track use and they've been awesome. Also using the full-race pad compound and some Motul fluid.

Currently I get quite a lot of front wheel lockup but installing a proportioning valve soon and possibly the wilwood 4piston rear kit.

Don't see any need for these brakes if you're running street tires all the time as they will just overpower the tires and lock up quite easily. Mine are great for the track with 30minute sessions, never fading and always consistent hard braking.

Weight came out 3lbs lighter per corner vs. STOCK front brakes. These are the 12.2" 2piece rotors and 4piston billet dynalite calipers.

Billy

[silnismo]

another idea would be getting some used EVO/STI front BREMBOs, there was a thread while back with a write up and also a diagram to how to make the brackets. am sure you can just search for it. this would save at least 500$ instead of going for a brake kit.

[OptionZero]

they are pretty much the same as 350z or R34 GTR fronts, so there isn't that much advantage unless u get them for dirt cheap

and again...wilwood beats those stock brembos

[240sxrb25]

i just bought an r32 set of calipers and ebrake setup with new oem Z rotors. i got braided lines too. lol i think the r32 rear caliper is bigger than the stock front caliper.

once i get my new motor put in i cant wait to see how they feel. i think that r32 or z32(same) setup will be very sufficient.

best bang for the buck it seems

[godzillarb]

Holy thread bump batman.

But I went with 300zx brake all around. The car stops hard enough for now.

[Pantaloons]

brakes are worthless if u have shitty tires...