Quote:
Originally Posted by DDMotorsports
(Post 3800)
Which Brembos did you smoke? If its the OEM 350Z Brembos remember that those rotors were only 12.8" front and 12.7" rear. OEM 370Z rotors are 14", and the APs you want are 14.25".
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Just wanted to clarify.. there is a lot of differences between the AP and OEM's beyond purely the rotor size.
I dropped a note to our Brake Division Manager to give you guys some other insight..
From Chris - STILLEN / AP Racing Brake Manager
"Looking at just rotor diameter is a bit of a thin comparison. Keep in mind that ANY OE system (Brembo and Akebono included) is made to a very tight cost constraint. That is why the Brembo GT kits perform much better than the OE Brembos on the G's, Z's, STI's, Evo's, etc. The OE manufacturer scores some marketing points by using the name, but it is not top-shelf product by any means.
I would bet the biggest reasons that Nissan switched from Brembo to Akebono is that Brembo likely wanted too much money for a larger system and REQUIRED Nissan to keep the name on the caliper. Akebono doesn't seem to care much about their public brand awareness, especially in North America, so they didn't need to charge the "logo tax". They are happy enough to paint the Nissan or Infiniti logo on the caliper for less money and call it a day. Carlos Ghosn is well known for his thrifty ways.
The Sport package owners who take their car to the track will notice not only an improvement over the previous models, but also that the new stuff is not for track use either. The front caliper does use a larger pad, but the caliper itself is not a very stiff one. Steve Millen made comments right after his first drive in the 370Z, that the brakes did NOT feel like a 4-pistons. He was not very impressed and thought they should be better for how they look. And, not many pads options will be available any time soon. I'm sure Hawk and Carbotech will have something, but I don't see Raybestos, PFC, Mintex, etc., jumping through hoops to service that market.
There is simply no substitute for track tested components with many years of development behind them. AP Racing is a leader in that category. Akebono is not.
AP Racing: Larger, 2-piece rotor made from a much higher quality casting. Curved-vane vented for maximum cooling. Aluminum hat is considerably lighter than a 1-piece cast iron design. 6-piston caliper (lighter than the OE 4-piston) with more pad area, and many more pad compound options are available. Race-proven design that is much stiffer under heavy braking than the bulky OE bits. Design allows for quick pad changes for going from the street to the track and back without removing the caliper. <-- Not sure yet if the OE caliper allows this, but I think we have a pair lying around off one of the project cars. Need to look on Monday."
