Stock rotors with Akebono 4 pots?
 

first, i searched all over to find this but nothing came up. but i'm also real bad at searching through forums...

ok, my question is, can i use stock rotors with akebono calipers? mine's a base (non-sport) model with little miles so rotors are still in good shape.

if i get the calipers now without rotors then the upgrade gets to be a lot more economical.

ok, thanks!

The base rotors are a lot smaller than the sport rotors. I seriously doubt it would work. Save longer. Don't halfass brakes.

Chuck is correct. The rotor diameters are smaller on the base brakes. To upgrade to the sports package brakes, you even need to cut or replace the dust shields. Z1 sells the kit or you can always wait until someone sells them on here. The Z1 kit is priced pretty well. You can do what some have done and upgrade the front set and back set separately.

Skip them. Mine are horrible, and I have yet to hear a complaint from an owner with the "base" brakes.

details please. why do they suck?

He has a 40 page thread on his brake issue

the calipers don't suck, brake cooling on this car sucks. no one with a G37 that tracks complains about them and for street use, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them, other than they weigh a couple pounds more than a brembo or stoptech caliper, per caliper.

If I was upgrading... I'd be looking at the 6 piston fronts and 4 piston rears. Dought you would ever need them unless you substantially upgraded the HP but they are sooooo cool.

But brake pads and fluid is what I'm willing to do.

Best for you would probably be waiting for someone that's upgrading and selling thier sport set.

I've got no problems with my 4 piston Akebono's. :tup: And I track with them. :driving:

This is a repost, but I think it is relevant. I was answering a question about mounting front base brakes on the rear.

Here is a dirty secret on Big Brake Kits. They don’t create more braking force than a normal/stock caliper. I doesn’t matter if you have 4, 6, 12, or 64 pistons per calipers.

Now to get a little technical. The force that a caliper exerts is purely based on the total surface area of the piston (or pistons). You can have one large piston or 6 small ones (take a look at the size of the pistons on a six piston caliper compared to your single or double piston stockers) if they total up to the same amount of surface area they will exert the exact same force.

Sorry guys, a Brembo or Stop Tech sticker does not increase braking force.

Now let’s talk about brake bias. The front brakes are handling a disproportionate amount of the force in slowing a car down. This is because the car is generally moving forward (transferring weight), has more weight in the front (i.e. the engine), and the suspension is pushing the front wheels down and lifting the rear wheels under braking. The manufacturers know this and this is why every vehicle on the road has disproportionate brakes (i.e. piston surface area) front to rear.

Wow, this really is a long winded answer… But I digress. What is the harm in mounting the front brakes (i.e. more piston surface area) on the rear? Well, on a normal vehicle when you exceed the available traction under braking (pretend we don’t have ABS) your front wheels lock (now you lose steering because you have no available traction) and your car follows the path of the unlocked rear tires and slides forward in a predictable straight line. Hopefully into a gravel pit and not a tree.

Let’s change that scenario. This time you exceed the available traction to your rear tires under hard braking. All your weight and momentum is still moving forward but with your front tires (still having available traction) acting as a pivot point causing your car to spin uncontrollably.

Here is the second dirty secret on Big Brake Kits. The ones that actually shorten braking distance exert LESS braking force than the stock brakes! I may explain that later…

All of that is true, and most people don't get it. All you really add when you go to a big brake kit is heat resistance, so fade is less of an issue. Braking distance is primarily a function of tires, not brakes. Want to stop in a shorter distance? Get stickier tires. I wouldn't be surprised if the stopping distances of the base and sport brakes are close to the same if on comparable tires. For the first hard stop. After that, the base brakes will fry a lot faster.

this is all excellent information, thank you. my only experience with big brakes was on my former sti and the wrx that came before it.

going from a wrx to sti, there was definitely a giant improvement in the braking distance, feel, maintenance, etc.

now, i wasn't aware of the potential brake cooling issue with the Z, but it seems you all are putting ducting to remedy this problem, which i'll end up doing as well.

lastly, and least important, monoblocks just looks so much better, especially with larger wheels, right?

I made the same switch. If you bought the Subies new, or with OEM tires on them still, most of the noticable difference was going from the RE92s on the wrx to the RE070s on the STi. All you really get with a big brake setup over base brakes with good pads and fluid (assuming equal tires) is fade resistance and appearance. That's well worth it for me.