Quote:
Originally Posted by jcosta79
Forgive me, but that is poor advice. If you are going to track your car, especially in a climate as extreme as the Middle East, the LAST place you want to skimp on is your brakes.
Motul RBF 600 is good stuff, but if you want extreme heat protection, Castrol SRF is what you want. There's a reason it costs $80 a bottle versus $15 for Motul.
Stainless lines not needed? I've seen OEM rubber lines literally melt right off a caliper after a day of hot lapping. And for the mild investment needed (around $150 a set) it just makes sense to upgrade them.
2-piece rotors are a waste of money? The reason you want to go with a 2-piece rotor is to SAVE money in the long run. Stock rotors don't handle the stress/heat of track days very well and you will start going through them (cracking them) on a regular basis. The 2-piece configuration saves weight, is better at dissipating heat than a 1-piece rotor, and allows you to replace just the friction ring versus having to buy a whole rotor assembly every time they wear out. They're not that expensive. I've seen a front set of 2-piece rotors for $650. The replacement friction rings (the only parts you will need to replace after purchasing the initial set) will be much less expensive. Also, you won't need 2-piece rotors for the rear. The fronts are what do the majority of the braking and consequently take the majority of the abuse.
Whatever cooling kit you go with, make sure the duct mounts directly to the spindle so that the cooling air goes to the center of the rotor and forces air to travel through the middle of the disc (from the center, outwards).
Pads are a personal choice. You will likely go through a few different sets of pads before finding your ideal combination.
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Are you basing these options off of personal racing experience? Because I am...
I've been in the Middle East, thank you very much - I know exactly how hot it gets there. When brakes heat up at the track with a GOOD driver, we are talking in the HUNDREDS of degrees fahrenheit - I believe 350-400 for the calipers, easily. The rotors can get red hot, naturally. 20-30 degrees ambient temperature wont make the difference between requiring Motul RBF600/AP Racing's fluid and some stupidly expensive Castrol brake fluid. 5 minutes of searching found that Castrol is a stupid choice except for the most extreme requirements, hard to find, 4 times the price of normal "good" brake fluid, and it doesn't mix with other brake fluids due to it being silicone based. That stuff is absolute OVERKILL for anything other than an absolute dedicated track rat, with a driver who actually has a need for it. He should stick to a fluid type that he wont have to struggle with, and not spend a fortune on. This isn't skimping, it's common sense.
2-Piece rotors cost a ridiculous amount of money, so "saving money" is easily debatable with it, and would take a while of using them. Furthermore, it's just added complexity - why? Some cryo-treated black 1-piece rotors will do him just fine without breaking his bank. Show me your personal cracked 1-piece rotors please, that don't involve drilled or slotted rotors, and aren't crappy eBay rotors.
Melting the stock brake lines off of a caliper? I've never even heard of this as a problem on the 370Z, but it's cool that you've heard of it happening on OEM lines off of some calipers. Somewhere. On some car. But he wants good brakes to withstand 100+ degree temperatures - not hot laps at Laguna Seca lol. That said, you are right, it's a rather cheap safety investment (I have them, but only because I won them and didnt pay a cent) - I was merely making the argument that they are NOT needed on the Z, at all.
You are throwing him absolute overkill ideas. $80+ bottles of trick brake fluid? Expensive 2-piece rotors? Stainless steel lines? All for (what seems to be) a daily driven car in only 100 degree weather with OCCASIONAL track time? The guy obviously isn't exactly a pro driver - he went out on stock brakes and wasted them in 5 laps, which is no surprise. 5 minutes of research on the board would have yielded knowledge that needed in order to go out safely and properly. So why do you expect him to need all of those super expensive options?