Steel rotors on 370z?

JARblue

That makes absolutely no sense

The sport package brakes have an extra piston in the calipers along with bigger pads and rotors vs the base brakes. The extra clamping force and larger pad contact surface area contribute to significantly improved braking capabilities.

Different tires and their wear condition can also significantly impact braking ability.

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Botaine

I'm guessing the improvement is only during high speed braking then, in situations where the rotor is rotating too fast for the calipers and pads to stop it completely. Once the calipers and pads are able to stop the rotor, it is up to the tires to stop the car.

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JARblue

If you're suggesting that the sport package brake setup with Akebonos does not provide greater braking capability than the base brakes at low speeds, that is incorrect.

The difference will be less at low speeds and greater at higher speeds. Whether that difference is worth the cost to upgrade is entirely up to you. But there is a difference. Simple physics at work here.

The tires and brakes work in tandem to stop the vehicle. Not one then the other as you have stated above. If the calipers stop the rotors before the vehicle stops, you're locking up the brakes which means they are not able to do their job as intended.

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DrBacon

No, bigger brakes does not exactly equate to better stopping distances. Pretty common misconception.

Your tires and even suspension is where that comes from. Having extra pistons on a caliper distributes the force on the pad and rotor which reduces heating for heavy brake use (many hard braking in a short time or lots of weight from a heavy car or towing something). As long as the brakes have the ability to overcome the traction of the tires then there is effectively no difference in a single emergency stop situation.

JARblue

Which is why this guy is fine with the base brakes. There's a lot of variables that go into braking, of course. I realize an earlier statement I made is not exactly clear - it was a response to a statement I misread.

The time that it takes smaller brakes to reach that threshold vs bigger brakes is quite small, I'll give you that. But in an emergency situation, that can mean the difference between an impact or not. All other things being equal, that is.

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