| BGTV8 |
07-28-2010 07:46 PM |
An Australian Brake Experience
Travis .. the first area I attacked on my Z34 were the brakes. I have the Akebono brakes - these are standard on Aus-spec - and have been fitted with Endless pads (partno EP461TR for front and EP462TR for the rear), but more importantly I threw the standard rotors away and fitted DBA 5000-series rotors. I have access to a lathe so I was able to machine up hats for the rotors, and I also had to mill a section out of the outer caliper half to gain clearance for the bolt heads that mount the rotors onto the hats. The DBA rotors are DBA 52102SL and SR (slotted left and right). I also use Motul race brake fluid. I also removed the backing shield (it doesn;t do much anyway) and fitted a home-made brake cooling "plate" from 1.6mm ali to direct air into the centre of the brake rotor, which is secured to the lower suspension arm by a couple of water hose clamps.
At Sandown International Raceway here in Melbourne (3.2kms/lap) in a 1m30s lap there are three high speeds stops from 125mph+ down to 60-65mph and a couple of slower corners, and I have not had a moments trouble with the braking with this setup.
I run with Stability Control off, but I have left the ABS on, but have to admit, that if the ABS is triggered, it is a pain in the arse as braking efficiency is reduced by at least 30%. There comes a point when you cannot drive deeper into a corner and expect the OEM electronics to help ... one the ABS is triggered, your only option is to get right off the brakes and allow it to reset, and that is usually not an option unless you have "lots" of runoff room.
If you don;t have the Sport brake package - it might well be cheaper to go BBK as the machining costs won;t be cheap if you don;t have access to the machining capability.
RB
Quote:
Originally Posted by travisjb
(Post 91692)
Very helpful response, thanks. I've been struggling to describe how my brakes have felt under these conditions but I think you've hit on it exactly when you said it is like "driving on lose sand..." I've also noticed that when it fails in this way, the ABS seems to kick in sooner / with less pressure, so that when you back out of the pedal enough to NOT get ABS involved it is at a lower pressure and thus stopping distance is increased... in other words, you're screwed either way.
Really look forward to your testing results with pyrometer. I think this will shed light on theory that heat is spreading to electronics/sensors as root cause.
I'd like to see some aftermarket mfgrs throw some R&D at this problem too... we're going to need more than just us guys trying to solve it on a shoestring. There need to be more fixes to this problem other than just "here's a big brake kit"... BBKs will be a good option for some - maybe me! - but not most, I suspect.
Travis
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