Upgrades
 

I just bought my z and took it for a drive in the hills. had a blast. i am also planning on taking an HPDE course this year as well. besides suspenion(rob at z car garage in san jose is puttin in BC ER coilovers, 19"rays, and hotchkis sway bars) i read the article that the z has brakes that melt. my question is: are stock brakes good enough for hills twice a week and two HPDE courses a year? any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

The Z's stock brake system in general is good enough (assuming you have the sport pkg brakes), you just need better pads and fluid (which is true of most street cars really). ATE Super Blue or Motul RBF-600 works fine for fluid. I'm running Carbotech's XP-10 pads in front and XP-8 in the rear. There are plenty of other viable low-end track pad options though, if you search around in the track subforum and whatnot there's some discussions. Upgrading to SS braided brake lines is nice for a more responsive pedal feel as well, but not strictly necessary.

o man. i have the stock non sports. the bbk packages are very pricey, so its good to hear that if i buy the akebonos, some good fluid and pads, braided steel lines, and a break cooling kit i'll have few worries.

I really don't know exactly how much worse the non-sport setup is, not a lot of reports on it. I guess the big differences are you have slightly smaller rotors, and half the pistons (sport is 4-piston front 2-piston rear, non is 2-piston front 1-piston rear.. which I guess means it's a floating caliper?).

Z1 sells non-sport -> sport upgrade packages, looks like ~$1400+ for the whole car to do it depending on the options you pick. Most of the name-brand BBKs I've seen are double that price or more for doing front+rear, in the ballpark of $4-7K.

thanks!

Track-day-best-practices-must-read.html

Let me know if this answers any of your braking issues :-)

it answered many questions. however, i am still wondering if upgrading to the akebonos is necessary, or will keeping everything but the brake fluid and pads stock will work.

I'd do brake fluid and pads, which is a relatively cheap endeavor, then if I was unhappy with the performance of my brakes after a HPDE, I'd spend more to get more.

I have the sport package, and I did brake fluid and pads, and I'm happy. Would I be happy with fewer pistons and smaller rotors? I don't know; never tried.

I've seen some heavier cars with shittier stock calipers do ok at the track. It may not be ideal, but with good pads and fluid it shouldn't be catastrophic.