Racing Brakes and Rotors
 

I would like to get racing brakes and rotors for my 2009 370Z Sport/Touring. What should I buy? I'm looking for something that can stand 100 degree heat as much as possible. I don't mind a little expensive, but not too much...

Daisi

does your car see any track time?

Get ready to pay to play. AP Racing and Racing Brake make the ones I have seen most commonly on the forum. I think you'll be looking at upwards of $1000 for a pair of rotors.

"...can stand 100 degree heat..."

I think stock brakes can withstand 100 degree heat, Celsius or Fahrenheit.

are you wanting calipers? or pads? I'm extremely happy with my stoptech trophy kit. In you climate, I would also highly recommend the Stillen brake cooling duct kit, even for a daily driver.

Here you go: Alcon brakes & clutches

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/atta...-20rebuilt.jpg

They're not small...

http://www.lgmotorsports.com/gallery...1/caliper2.JPG

The red calipers behind the Alcons are Brembo MonoBlock 6-Pistons:

http://www.lgmotorsports.com/gallery...o%20center.JPG

Sure the Alcon kit is big enough? Lol I kept thinking about Brock Lesnar when I looked at that pic

If you want more braking than that, you need a brick wall. :tup:

Now THAT is a caliper...

I live in the desert where temperatures reach upwards of 130 F. I usually wont' race if it's above 100. My car has seen track time, and a brand new set of stock brakes burned out after about 5 laps.

So I need racing brake fluid, racing brakes, and I was thinking about some new rotors.

I don't want to spend a ton of money, and I don't want them to look strange and/or make extra noise or anything. I want them to work better than stock brakes but I'm not looking to trick out my car.

Thanks for the ideas, but anyone got a link to a set of brakes that aren't huge calipers?

Daisi

Honestly, I would spend my money on:

• A good racing brake fluid like Castrol SRF
• A set of stainless steel brake lines (I believe StopTech makes a set)
• A set of 2 piece rotors that will fit your stock calipers (I am assuming you have the Sports Package brakes) that I believe StopTech makes for the car
• A brake cooling kit that mounts on the spindles and ducts cool air into your rotors (I'm not sure who makes this for the 370Z but I have seen guys that have it)
• A set of track day pads

These mods will probably serve you better than just buying a big brake kit which will still likely require you to add at least some of the mods mentioned above anyway.

Read above.

All said and done, the brake pads will be around $300 (these are track ONLY brake pads, btw - if you want street pads, look for their street compound). Rotors will probably be around 500-600 give or take. Fluid, another 20-30 at least.

Forgive me, but that is poor advice. If you are going to track your car, especially in a climate as extreme as the Middle East, the LAST place you want to skimp on is your brakes.

Motul RBF 600 is good stuff, but if you want extreme heat protection, Castrol SRF is what you want. There's a reason it costs $80 a bottle versus $15 for Motul.

Stainless lines not needed? I've seen OEM rubber lines literally melt right off a caliper after a day of hot lapping. And for the mild investment needed (around $150 a set) it just makes sense to upgrade them.

2-piece rotors are a waste of money? The reason you want to go with a 2-piece rotor is to SAVE money in the long run. Stock rotors don't handle the stress/heat of track days very well and you will start going through them (cracking them) on a regular basis. The 2-piece configuration saves weight, is better at dissipating heat than a 1-piece rotor, and allows you to replace just the friction ring versus having to buy a whole rotor assembly every time they wear out. They're not that expensive. I've seen a front set of 2-piece rotors for $650. The replacement friction rings (the only parts you will need to replace after purchasing the initial set) will be much less expensive. Also, you won't need 2-piece rotors for the rear. The fronts are what do the majority of the braking and consequently take the majority of the abuse.

Whatever cooling kit you go with, make sure the duct mounts directly to the spindle so that the cooling air goes to the center of the rotor and forces air to travel through the middle of the disc (from the center, outwards).

Pads are a personal choice. You will likely go through a few different sets of pads before finding your ideal combination.

Being in the middle east and having attended a trackday in our current summer weather I can say that my racing brake 2 piece rotors and ET500 pads along with their stainless steel brake lines and motul rbf600 fluid held up great.
Absolutely no brake fade whatsoever.

Are you basing these options off of personal racing experience? Because I am...

I've been in the Middle East, thank you very much - I know exactly how hot it gets there. When brakes heat up at the track with a GOOD driver, we are talking in the HUNDREDS of degrees fahrenheit - I believe 350-400 for the calipers, easily. The rotors can get red hot, naturally. 20-30 degrees ambient temperature wont make the difference between requiring Motul RBF600/AP Racing's fluid and some stupidly expensive Castrol brake fluid. 5 minutes of searching found that Castrol is a stupid choice except for the most extreme requirements, hard to find, 4 times the price of normal "good" brake fluid, and it doesn't mix with other brake fluids due to it being silicone based. That stuff is absolute OVERKILL for anything other than an absolute dedicated track rat, with a driver who actually has a need for it. He should stick to a fluid type that he wont have to struggle with, and not spend a fortune on. This isn't skimping, it's common sense.

2-Piece rotors cost a ridiculous amount of money, so "saving money" is easily debatable with it, and would take a while of using them. Furthermore, it's just added complexity - why? Some cryo-treated black 1-piece rotors will do him just fine without breaking his bank. Show me your personal cracked 1-piece rotors please, that don't involve drilled or slotted rotors, and aren't crappy eBay rotors.

Melting the stock brake lines off of a caliper? I've never even heard of this as a problem on the 370Z, but it's cool that you've heard of it happening on OEM lines off of some calipers. Somewhere. On some car. But he wants good brakes to withstand 100+ degree temperatures - not hot laps at Laguna Seca lol. That said, you are right, it's a rather cheap safety investment (I have them, but only because I won them and didnt pay a cent) - I was merely making the argument that they are NOT needed on the Z, at all.

You are throwing him absolute overkill ideas. $80+ bottles of trick brake fluid? Expensive 2-piece rotors? Stainless steel lines? All for (what seems to be) a daily driven car in only 100 degree weather with OCCASIONAL track time? The guy obviously isn't exactly a pro driver - he went out on stock brakes and wasted them in 5 laps, which is no surprise. 5 minutes of research on the board would have yielded knowledge that needed in order to go out safely and properly. So why do you expect him to need all of those super expensive options?