It make any sense to just upgrade rotors?

BeauNC

I've done VIR full course with a 350Z and BASE brakes. With Hawk HP+ pads I could get 4-5 laps before getting brake fade. My factory rotors lasted until 80,000 miles or so before I was getting vibration when braking. The last 20,000 miles or so I used HP+ pads for daily driving also, so if I had switched back to a less aggressive pad the rotors may have lasted a bit longer. From my experience, the 370Z with sport brakes should be MORE than track capable with the right pads and fluid and should last 80k-100k miles unless you use aggressive pads and do a lot track days. My fastest lap at VIR was a 2:27 with no mods other than brake pads, fluid, and 275 width tires on all 4 corners. I had puny brakes, the 14" brakes should be amazing.

The last time I checked, Brembo says "not for racing use" on their drilled and slotted rotors. So it seems that not even Brembo wants to advise using them for serious abuse.

cossie1600

Yup, do be careful if you overheat the brakes too much and too hard. I lost a brake line on my 350Z with base brakes after 20 hard track days and 45K miles.

My 370z could pull more Gs under braking than my 350z on the same brake pads (370 has 265 RE11 and 350 has 235 RA1s). I could also get a lot more laps out of the 370 before starting to get a hint of fade. My 370 on RE11 was 1.5 sec faster than my 350 on RA1s at VIR.

BeauNC

If I remember correctly, the RA1's are a far stickier tire than the RE11, so that is quite an improvement on brakes alone. I only had 8 track days and about 800 miles on my old Z. I wish I could have afforded more. Track driving is more addicting than crack I'm pretty sure.