Big Brake Brembo, AP racing, Stoptech

Thavee

Thank you very much for sharing.

Best regards,

Gary_C

Thavee,

Most experienced tuners and builders wont make a recommendation unless they know what you are trying to accomplish, and what other modifications or changes have been made to your vehicle.

If you care to share your intentions with your car, and offer some insight into your driving style, maybe with some feedback on your experience with other vehicles in the past, I can definitely get you on the right track.

__________________
I work for Race Technologies, Brembo's sole distributor and representative in the US. I am here as an enthusiast, the opinions shared here are solely mine, & not necessarily shared by that of Race Technologies or Brembo.

Thavee

Hello Mr. Gary,

The car is just for street/highway driving. I go fast some time but never beyond 250km/h. I just need a good braking system only during that time.

I had AP6-Front/AP4-rear on my BMW e90 325. The car goes from 200km to 0km impressively.

When talking to friends in BMW club, some said stoptech, and some said brembo. This is a kind of confusing.

I just got a 370z couple of weeks ago, and with 3xx HP, Factory sport brake is no good to me.

I am looking for the brake system that
1. has excellence stopping power even when it is repeatedly used for a certain period of time. let say, 10 mins. (no track day)
2. not bother me the change the brake pad every 5000km, assuming 20000km per set is fine to me.
3. disc should last for about 50000km (two sets of brake pad then change one set of disc is ok)
4. affordable, for example, reasonable prices of the replacement parts
5. available when the parts are needed


Thanks for your advice.

pipni

I found brakes as Alliance.
They have same design but only without label.

See PhatBoy Brake Kits

Who make these brakes?

AP - Chris_B

We get approached by this company (and others) often. Some of their emails are downright amusing. I won't name names here, but anyone who is willing to order at least 10 car sets can get their company logo on the caliper in any color they want.

Here are just a few reasons why we haven't jumped on these:

• No heritage.
• Little or no racing experience.
• Minimal testing (if any).
• Lack of raw material control.
• Lack of process control -- it is easy to buy a TS16949 cert in China or Taiwan (about US$800).
• Questionable hardware (at best).
• Uncertain how long they will be in business.
• Unclear how stable pricing will be.

There are more, but why bother? Some of us have been doing this for decades. I won't spend 1 minute messing with junk. There are several respectable options on the market. Sure, they cost a little more. But, hey, these are B-R-A-K-E-S --> the primary safety system in any automobile.

Anyone can choose to take their chances, but please don't drive around me or my family if you are experimenting with unproven equipment! I might consider to try some non-essential items, but I would be crazy to mess with anything less than the best when it comes to something as important as brakes.

Chris

dannewton

I think I have to correct you there sir..... Phatboy Brakes is my company and I can tell you categorically that I have never approached yourself or any other companies offering to put your logo on my calipers if you buy 10 sets. Seems like you're working for a rival brake manufacturer trying to put customers off my products, if that's the case the chances are that your brakes are also made in Taiwan, as D2, XYZ, Stoptech, and most other large performance brake brands are. Infact most of them are actually made in the same factory that produces my brakes.

In regards to the lack of testing and inferior materials being used to manufacture such brakes, would you like to divulge to what you are basing such accusations on? I'd love to see you back these claims up. Take a look at my feedback:

eBay UK Shop - Phat Boy Performance Brakes: Brake kits, Calipers, Discs
100% positive feedback so far, so seems like people who have actually bought my brakes and have something to base their opinion on are pleased with the product. Anyway, check out my wesite for cheaper prices than e-bay:

PhatBoy Brake Kits

Many thanks

Dan Newton

AP - Chris_B

Mr. Newton,

I don't see any way we will agree on this, but I've seen these (and the other Far East competitors) up close and in person at SEMA and elsewhere. They may or many not have had the same logo, but the tooling they are made from is recognizable. No, we have not been approached by anyone from your label, but I continually receive communication/spam from that factory and other similar ones. So, if I choose to wire some money over, I will be competing with your brand with essentially the same components under a different label in just a month or two (but I get to pick my colors!). I'll pass.

While it can be a good indication of customer service, positive feedback on eBay has nothing to with testing in a demanding environment such as professional racing. What I wrote is certainly a generalization of what I have seen in my experience. Not all points may relate directly to your particular product line, but I have not seen anything to disprove them as of yet. I am always open to learning something new and do respect the ingenuity in the market, so I will continue to evaluate new products as they come out. The market generally reserves respect for those who earn it, and this takes time -- lots of it. Just calling up one of the copycat factories (we know who they are) and ordering product does not qualify a brand in the eyes of most.

If you care to do a little research, you will find that AP Racing and Stillen components are NOT made in the Far East. AP is located in England and controls all aspects of their manufacturing and supply chain. AP's history goes back almost 100 years to the days of the original Automotive Products, LLC, company. They have been involved (officially) in the highest level of motorsports for nearly 40 years -- including 651 F1 wins as of last weekend. "PhatBoy" has --- how many? 87% of NASCAR teams use AP Racing brakes with ZERO sponsorship -- they must pay around $30k per car set for them (with no pads, lines, fluid, hardware, etc.). Are any of the remaining 13% secretly running "PhatBoy"?

Stillen is located in Southern California and has been involved in performance brake solutions for over 20 years, being the company that first brought Brembo to the North American aftermarket. Stillen has complete in-house engineering and manufacturing capabilities as well. It is important to understand that Stillen is an engineering partner to AP Racing and not simply a distributor piecing brake kits together, which is why you won't find AP Racing kits on eBay. The Brembo Group, parent company to both Brembo and AP Racing brands (although run entirely separately) does have two plants in China for OE programs for Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru and others (not the high-end Gran Turismo aftermarket or racing lines), but AP has no manufacturing there or in Taiwan. I'm afraid there is no involvement between Stillen and/or AP Racing with your company as you boldly claim.

Best of luck to you sir,

Chris Bernal
STILLEN/AP Racing USA

AP - Chris_B

AP has several options to consider for the 370Z as well (and more coming!). As you probably know, no one knows about getting more performance from the Z and G vehicle lines better than Stillen/AP Racing. There are quite a few forum vendors that can help you choose the right one for your budget.

Chris

ChrisSlicks

The AP Racing does pretty well for high speed highway driving, however it doesn't seem to like heavy rain. Takes an extra second to sweep the rotors before you get full braking power. I think this will be less of a problem on wet track where you can build up a little heat, but on the highway it was a little disconcerting.

__________________
Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

VIP-STATUS

AP 6+4 here! Love them
going to the track next week @ L.V.
I'll let you guys know it is

Thavee

Hello sir,

i like the wheels. are they 20"? will the tires rub the fenders?
what offset are front and rear?

Thank you for your information.

ATL_Red_G35

pshhh.....shamlessplug

AP - Chris_B

Very nice! That car keeps getting better looking with all the subtle changes. Looking forward to hear some testing feedback.

Chris

AP - Chris_B

I've noticed the same thing in every car I've ever driven in heavy rain with either OE brakes or with upgrades. It may possibly happen more with a BBK as many require splash shield removal or modification, but I have not noticed much difference. It is always good practice to test the pedal before it is needed when there is a lot of water on the road.

This is why several Mercedes-Benz models (and probably others) have a feature that occasionally induces brake system pressure when the windshield wipers are on. Doing this allows the pads to "rub off" the water on the rotors every now and then to help keep them dry.

Chris

ChrisSlicks

Chris, Good to know. The only other time I had driven the OEM brakes in heavy rain was on an auto-x course, so of course your tapping the brakes every few seconds and there was no problems. And I have experienced it in a minor fashion with previous cars I've owned, it just seemed worse.

The AP racing install didn't require any modification to the front splash shield and only an extremely minor trim to the edge of the rear splash shield so I don't think that is a significant factor.

I know BMW touts a similar system for some of their cars, when the wipers are on it presses the pads gently against the rotors to keep them swept.

__________________
Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms