How difficult was the Stillen brake cooling install? I'm looking to install this or the Z1 kit before my next track day.

I did my 1st track day in the Z last weekend with XP10s/XP8s on aftermarket drilled/slotted rotors w/ Motul RBF600 fluid and got major brake fade at the end of the sessions. Thinking I absolutely need to add cooling and install SS lines to replace the 7-year-old factory rubber.

And, I just bought street pads so I'll only run the Carbotechs on the track. At $300/set, plus the dust and squealing, I only want them on the track. I went with Centri Posi-Quiet for the street pads, they cheaper on Amazon than from Z1, FYI.

The Stillen brake cooling kit isn't that hard to install. You have to remove the bearing units and install the new shield behind it. To do that, you have to remove the ABS sensors. Then figure out how you route the hose.

Definitely get the SS brake lines, and get the Z1 brake master cylinder brace.

I'm gonna butt in here: which track are/were you running?

I agree with what's been said here. I think you'll get the best improvement from the stainless lines. I would bump up the brake fluid to 660 as well. I cannot speak to the 10/8 combo as I've never run it, but the 12/10 combo gives you unbelievable stopping power and will give you some more pad life.

I don't have cooling and I haven't had any fade issues with the brakes, but usually, I cook my tires before I get to brake fade. So I will defer to others on whether you absolutely have to install the cooling kit at this point.

I switched from the Stillen 2" hose to a 3" hose. What a PITA that was. But it works.

Oh I definitely don't doubt it. I think I tried routing a custom kit for a bit and that helped, but I ended up removing it since the tracks where I went to at the time (H2R and MSRH) Arent heavy on the brakes, and then some corners don't require brakes with the aero.

I did have an idea for making some GT3-R style ducting for my useless side vents, but I already have too many projects.

MSR Houston last weekend. I see you've been there!

On the end of the 2nd session, the pedal went to mush and I couldn't slow down enough to make it into turn 16 coming out of Gut Check so I went into pit lane. At first I thought it was driver error, but when I got into the paddock, the pedal was going to the floor. Bled the brakes in the paddock and everything was fine the rest of the weekend.

For additional content, this was really strange since I had just bled the brakes the weekend before, put 5 bottles of fluid through it so I was damn sure (so I thought) the OEM fluid was out. When I re-bled them on the track, I bled through less than 1 bottle and like I said, no issues with the brakes the rest of the weekend but they did seem to get softer as the day got hotter and 20-25 mins into the session.

Have you ever had an instructor in your car that commented or noticed your braking habits?

I'd check your rubber brakes lines for a bubble just in case.

Yes, I've always had an instructor in the car. My braking technique is fine (not dragging my foot on it or stabbing the brakes), threshold braking in a straight line was not the problem here.

I'll take the wheels off this weekend and check for bubbles. Never seen a pic like that before. What causes that to happen?

Extreme heat and time. It's not common but SS brake lines should be a pretty high priority for any 370Z that sees regular track time.

I wasn't trying to insinuate otherwise on the braking btw. Obviously you're serious about :driving:
Hope to run into you sometime soon.

No, of course. I didn't assume anything by the comment. I bet the SS lines take care of it. I think I'll install the Z1 Premium lines with fresh Motul fluid and see how they do in September at Eagle's Canyon. If I still run into issues I'll know it's a cooling issue or possibly something undiagnosed so far with my braking technique.

Get the non-premium lines. They get rid of the stupid blocks, which are just another potential leak point.

Thanks for the tip!

If you get coilovers. Some of them have no place to mount the connection block.

How would StopTech Street compare to The 1521 Carbotech’s? (strictly for street use)

I got this on the interweb. Good reference? :

Friction:
StopTech > Carbotech 1521 > Hawk HPS

Dust:
StopTech > Hawk HPS > Carbotech 1521

Abrasiveness on rotors:
StopTech > Hawk HPS > Carbotech 1521

I run stoptech streets on both my cars. They're fine. With the Z's Akebono Kit, it's plenty of stopping power for the street. If you need more, you need to give yourself more space when driving.