Touring BBK Upgrade: Worth buying Rotora over Ake

Mozen · 07-02-2010, 07:06 AM

After doing a lot of looking around ive noticed i can spend the cash and get good product from AP racing or another like that...but a little more than what i perhaps want to.

My 2 current options are to buy the Akebono Sport Calipers and get a set of very, very, good 2 piece floating rotors for them with some hawk pads. With the good rotors, having to buy a new set of calipers.. and pads im looking at $3400 or so ~~ROUGHLY~~ mebe less Mebe a tad more.

Ive seen a few deals out there on Rotora 6p Front / 4p rear with 2 piece floating rotors for about the same.

Im using the car for AutoX and Time Attack(entry level) and i just wanted someone to weigh in on this.

Thanks!

Mike · 07-02-2010, 10:54 AM

the most economical solution is to upgrade the fronts to brembo GT calipers, and leave the rears stock Amplified sells them for around 2000, maybe a little less, and they use your stock rotors. This is what I run for HPDE along with hi temp fluid and carbotech pads and have had zero issues since the switch.

Mozen · 07-02-2010, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike

the most economical solution is to upgrade the fronts to brembo GT calipers, and leave the rears stock Amplified sells them for around 2000, maybe a little less, and they use your stock rotors. This is what I run for HPDE along with hi temp fluid and carbotech pads and have had zero issues since the switch.

Issue for the rear brakes is i have the cheap *** touring back there as well. Grr, even upgrading to the Sport package brakes is a chunk of money.

bullitt5897 · 07-02-2010, 07:19 PM

Check with mike@blackline he sales the alliance bbk and I know their biggest basest kit was in the $3k range but I am sure they have a normal package in the $2k range so for 6 piston fronts and 4 piston rears ur looking like mid $2k if I remember correctly. Talk to mike he knows the official pricing.

nogoodname · 07-02-2010, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bullitt5897

Check with mike@blackline he sales the alliance bbk and I know their biggest basest kit was in the $3k range but I am sure they have a normal package in the $2k range so for 6 piston fronts and 4 piston rears ur looking like mid $2k if I remember correctly. Talk to mike he knows the official pricing.

Yup, +1

The biggest and baddest kit was in the 3K range... that was 8/6 piston and 15"/14" setup.

Mozen · 07-02-2010, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bullitt5897

Check with mike@blackline he sales the alliance bbk and I know their biggest basest kit was in the $3k range but I am sure they have a normal package in the $2k range so for 6 piston fronts and 4 piston rears ur looking like mid $2k if I remember correctly. Talk to mike he knows the official pricing.

Ok ill take a look in the interest of keeping an open mind. Going to be a hard choice between all my options now tho lol.

Thanks for the feed back guys! +1

AP - Chris_B · 07-08-2010, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mozen

After doing a lot of looking around ive noticed i can spend the cash and get good product from AP racing or another like that...but a little more than what i perhaps want to.

My 2 current options are to buy the Akebono Sport Calipers and get a set of very, very, good 2 piece floating rotors for them with some hawk pads. With the good rotors, having to buy a new set of calipers.. and pads im looking at $3400 or so ~~ROUGHLY~~ mebe less Mebe a tad more.

Ive seen a few deals out there on Rotora 6p Front / 4p rear with 2 piece floating rotors for about the same.

Im using the car for AutoX and Time Attack(entry level) and i just wanted someone to weigh in on this.

Thanks!

My response might be viewed as a bit biased, but if you are serious about Time Attack, you might find that investing a bit more up front for the long haul is a better decision. The AP Racing systems currently available (there are several options for the 370Z) are significantly better than anything else mentioned in this thread thus far. The "extra" money spent might actually be an investment that won't need to be repeated later, something that can't always be said when pushing unproven equipment hard.

Don't let the specs on a sheet confuse you. A lot of companies can go to cheap sources for 4/6/8/??? piston calipers and 15" cheap iron rotors. Very few companies stake their entire reputation on engineering and performance. AP Racing is a globally recognized leader in that group for a large number of reasons.

Something to think about...

Chris

P.S. Did you know that the fastest production car in the world, the Bugatti Veryon Super Sport that just ran 268mph, uses AP Racing brakes as standard equipment?

Mozen · 07-08-2010, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AP - Chris_B

My response might be viewed as a bit biased, but if you are serious about Time Attack, you might find that investing a bit more up front for the long haul is a better decision. The AP Racing systems currently available (there are several options for the 370Z) are significantly better than anything else mentioned in this thread thus far. The "extra" money spent might actually be an investment that won't need to be repeated later, something that can't always be said when pushing unproven equipment hard.

Don't let the specs on a sheet confuse you. A lot of companies can go to cheap sources for 4/6/8/??? piston calipers and 15" cheap iron rotors. Very few companies stake their entire reputation on engineering and performance. AP Racing is a globally recognized leader in that group for a large number of reasons.

Something to think about...

Chris

P.S. Did you know that the fastest production car in the world, the Bugatti Veryon Super Sport that just ran 268mph, uses AP Racing brakes as standard equipment?

Yes id love a set of your brakes, ive just got to contend with everything else im after. Ill be sticking with upgrading to the Akebono calipers and after i get the rest of the stuff together ill go back and swap out the front. Waste of money but i have along list of stuff i need. AP is def on my list before i go F.I.

wishihadnav · 07-08-2010, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AP - Chris_B

My response might be viewed as a bit biased, but if you are serious about Time Attack, you might find that investing a bit more up front for the long haul is a better decision. The AP Racing systems currently available (there are several options for the 370Z) are significantly better than anything else mentioned in this thread thus far. The "extra" money spent might actually be an investment that won't need to be repeated later, something that can't always be said when pushing unproven equipment hard.

Don't let the specs on a sheet confuse you. A lot of companies can go to cheap sources for 4/6/8/??? piston calipers and 15" cheap iron rotors. Very few companies stake their entire reputation on engineering and performance. AP Racing is a globally recognized leader in that group for a large number of reasons.

Something to think about...

Chris

P.S. Did you know that the fastest production car in the world, the Bugatti Veryon Super Sport that just ran 268mph, uses AP Racing brakes as standard equipment?

i have a question about the AP/Stillen BBK...is it true that only the Caliper is made by AP and all the other components are Stillen sourced?..thanks in advance.

AP - Chris_B · 07-09-2010, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wishihadnav

i have a question about the AP/Stillen BBK...is it true that only the Caliper is made by AP and all the other components are Stillen sourced?..thanks in advance.

The answer is a bit more complicated than the question, but here goes...

Stillen is an AP Racing engineering partner, and has been since 1996. Stillen was the company that originally brought Brembo to the North American aftermarket, starting the Big Brake Kit (BBK) market in earnest first with the 300ZX. Originally, Stillen was forced to use whatever they could source from Brembo (mostly Ferrari F40 components) and adapt them to cars, trucks and SUV's. Brembo did not take the market seriously at all for the first few years. Eventually, a few more choices became available.

Moving up to AP Racing, Stillen drove the development of several new caliper and rotor lines, including the first aftermarket upgrade 6-piston caliper. Today, AP's road car line has been heavily influenced by both Stillen and a variety of supercar manufacturers (Ascari, Bugatti, Caterham, Gumpert, Koenigsegg, Lotus, McLaren, Noble, Pagani, Zolfe and many others -- dominating the top 10 of the Top Gear Power Lap chart!), plus OE programs like Holden HSV in Australia.

So when I hear someone say that Stillen simply uses AP calipers, I know that they just don't know the history or fully understand the 20 years of brake system engineering that Stillen has under their belts. Some brake systems have more AP Racing content that others, and the AP Formula Brake kits come from the UK entirely designed and built by AP Racing. Of course, many of those do not fit North American models correctly as there are often differences that AP would never be aware of.

Many rotors are supplied by AP Racing and many are supplied by DBA. Either way, they are most often designed by Stillen or at least finished to Stillen's specifications. DBA, in fact, supplies AP Racing in Australia for several GM platforms, such as OE the Holden HSV vehicles. Between the two, it just doesn't get any better!

The Carbon-Ceramic Matrix (CCM) system for the GT-R was co-developed by both AP Racing and Stillen, with Stillen now supplying AP with several components in that kit. So it could also be said that some of AP Racing's components are sourced from Stillen. Confused yet?

I guess the best answer to your question is (if I haven't put you to sleep yet!): It depends. Regardless, all Stillen/AP Racing customers benefit from the decades of street performance and track experience that AP Racing and Stillen both have -- from a simple pads/Sport Rotors/lines upgrade all the way to the big track-capable 6P/4P kits. These are fully engineered systems, not a collection of semi-random parts that a machine shop was able to hog out, then anodized some "pretty" color.

Chris

wishihadnav · 07-09-2010, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AP - Chris_B

The answer is a bit more complicated than the question, but here goes...

Stillen is an AP Racing engineering partner, and has been since 1996. Stillen was the company that originally brought Brembo to the North American aftermarket, starting the Big Brake Kit (BBK) market in earnest first with the 300ZX. Originally, Stillen was forced to use whatever they could source from Brembo (mostly Ferrari F40 components) and adapt them to cars, trucks and SUV's. Brembo did not take the market seriously at all for the first few years. Eventually, a few more choices became available.

Moving up to AP Racing, Stillen drove the development of several new caliper and rotor lines, including the first aftermarket upgrade 6-piston caliper. Today, AP's road car line has been heavily influenced by both Stillen and a variety of supercar manufacturers (Ascari, Bugatti, Caterham, Gumpert, Koenigsegg, Lotus, McLaren, Noble, Pagani, Zolfe and many others -- dominating the top 10 of the Top Gear Power Lap chart!), plus OE programs like Holden HSV in Australia.

So when I hear someone say that Stillen simply uses AP calipers, I know that they just don't know the history or fully understand the 20 years of brake system engineering that Stillen has under their belts. Some brake systems have more AP Racing content that others, and the AP Formula Brake kits come from the UK entirely designed and built by AP Racing. Of course, many of those do not fit North American models correctly as there are often differences that AP would never be aware of.

Many rotors are supplied by AP Racing and many are supplied by DBA. Either way, they are most often designed by Stillen or at least finished to Stillen's specifications. DBA, in fact, supplies AP Racing in Australia for several GM platforms, such as OE the Holden HSV vehicles. Between the two, it just doesn't get any better!

The Carbon-Ceramic Matrix (CCM) system for the GT-R was co-developed by both AP Racing and Stillen, with Stillen now supplying AP with several components in that kit. So it could also be said that some of AP Racing's components are sourced from Stillen. Confused yet?

I guess the best answer to your question is (if I haven't put you to sleep yet!): It depends. Regardless, all Stillen/AP Racing customers benefit from the decades of street performance and track experience that AP Racing and Stillen both have -- from a simple pads/Sport Rotors/lines upgrade all the way to the big track-capable 6P/4P kits. These are fully engineered systems, not a collection of semi-random parts that a machine shop was able to hog out, then anodized some "pretty" color.

Chris

thanks Chris..yeah that was a long answer.

07-02-2010, 07:06 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mozen Track Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Newport News, VA Posts: 820 Drives: Nissan 370z PW M6 Rep Power: 17	Touring BBK Upgrade: Worth buying Rotora over Ake After doing a lot of looking around ive noticed i can spend the cash and get good product from AP racing or another like that...but a little more than what i perhaps want to. My 2 current options are to buy the Akebono Sport Calipers and get a set of very, very, good 2 piece floating rotors for them with some hawk pads. With the good rotors, having to buy a new set of calipers.. and pads im looking at $3400 or so ~~ROUGHLY~~ mebe less Mebe a tad more. Ive seen a few deals out there on Rotora 6p Front / 4p rear with 2 piece floating rotors for about the same. Im using the car for AutoX and Time Attack(entry level) and i just wanted someone to weigh in on this. Thanks! __________________ PW 370z \| AEM \| MISHIMOTO \| ARK PERFORMANCE \| WHITELINE \| NISMO \| STILLEN \| FORGESTAR \| BC RACING \| AMS \| NON STOP TUNING \| CARBONETICS LSD \| 4 Point DOM 1.75" SCCA Spec Roll Bar + Harness Bar CHECK OUT MY BUILD THREAD HERE

07-02-2010, 10:54 AM	#2 (permalink)
Mike The370Z.com Sponsor Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Loganville, GA Posts: 5,944 Drives: 370z Rep Power: 2185	the most economical solution is to upgrade the fronts to brembo GT calipers, and leave the rears stock Amplified sells them for around 2000, maybe a little less, and they use your stock rotors. This is what I run for HPDE along with hi temp fluid and carbotech pads and have had zero issues since the switch. __________________ NISSAN: 75 280Z / 86 300ZX GLL /87 Sentra SE / 03 350Z / 23 Z Porsche: 93 968 / 23 Macan GTS / 93 968

07-02-2010, 07:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
bullitt5897 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: North GA Posts: 6,831 Drives: Twin Turbo Z34 Rep Power: 3682	Check with mike@blackline he sales the alliance bbk and I know their biggest basest kit was in the $3k range but I am sure they have a normal package in the $2k range so for 6 piston fronts and 4 piston rears ur looking like mid $2k if I remember correctly. Talk to mike he knows the official pricing. __________________ *Shop Cars: 2013 318whp Nismo VspecII 370z SOLD, 2009 1000hp+ 93oct 4.0L TT 370z Fast Intentions STAGE 4 #054*

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