Skyline brake upgrade
 

I've looked around on info, but haven't really found what I am looking for. I want to upgrade my brakes in preperation for some engine performance upgrades (you can't have more power if you can't stop!). Anyway, I would like to avoid getting defferent wheels, so the Skyline brake upgrade looked good. Does anybody know what kind of power to braking numbers are involved with this upgrade? In other words, how high can I go as far as engine power before these brakes will need to be upgraded again?

i dont really think there is a measure for that. I think it is mainly determined by your style of driving and what you intend to do with the car. I dont think you could ever really have TOO much brakes. And the Zs breaks are pretty stout to begin with.

It is up to you to determine how much breaking power is needed to stop a high horsepower car fast. Just dont forget to address the other key areaa like tires and suspension. Tires are the only thing that is a part of the car that actually touched the road. What good are bad ass breaks if the tires cant grip?

I talked to my Z shop about the suspension and they said the stock shocks are fine, but changing the bushings, sway bars and springs would be of great benefit. Basically, unless I am planning on turning it into a full track car, save my money. As far as tires, I have some Kumho's on there right now. Not the best, but they do the job. Like I said, I want to avoid getting new wheels for three reasons. First, I don't want the ride to change. I beleive that the stock wheels offer the smoothest ride while still balancing performance. Second, I don't want to put money into wheels if I don't need to. Lastly, I like the way the stock wheels look. Basically, I want the TT to look as stock as possible. As far as driving style, I will be taking it to Buttonwillow Raceway Park a few times a year to do some laps, so that is where I am looking as far as the brakes go. The stock brakes already don't cut it. So, I already need an upgrade. Throwing more power into the equation is what is worrying me.

I agree with the bigger brake upgrade. The brakes actually give out after a little spirited driving. Whether on the track or in the canyons, I'll regularly brake hard enough to where the ABS kicks in. Once they get hot, the pedal will then go about 3/4 of the way to the floor and require pumping to keep the pressure up. I wouldn't consider that my calipers leak, but after boiling the fluid, there is a small amount of fluid that gets sprayed on the inside of the wheels.

jaffi....... besides the skyline brakes, some people have put Mustang Cobra and Mitsubishi 3000gt rotors on the Z. Mostly making caliper adapters and using the stock calipers.

I checked on the hat height of the Cobra rotors and they would require wheel spacers to fit, as they are 3/8" shallower than stock rotorz. I only have 1/4" between my wheel and caliper. I'm not a fan of wheel spacers as they affect other aspects of steering geometry.

Harry at ztuner.com has a 3000gt kit with caliper adapters on his site. Again, I think they'd require wheel spacers.

The "Track Model" 350Z Brembos will fit our carz. YugoBernie on tt.net is selling a caliper adapter kit for $200. I'm going this route with aftermarket d/s Brembos and making my own caliper adapters. Almost 2" bigger rotorz. I'm kind of waiting to see if the rotor prices will come down from $350 a pair while I finish up some other projects........ or find some stockers that a 350Z guy is upgrading from.

I also pieced together a Wilwood kit from their site with hats, rotorz and calipers which came to around $1200. There is also Stoptech and another name brand company providing bbk's.

As you can see, i'm looking to do it on the cheap...... currently at $350 or less. Making my own caliper adapters will cost me maybe $15 in materials for the aluminum and bolts. When I make parts I'll usually make a few extras since it doesn't take that much extra time. I have a coupla other people interested in them too.

What info / pricing do you have on the Skyline kits?

You say you want to go to Buttonwillow? I take it you're in SoCal. Have you been to Willow yet? Post it up when you want to go and I'll try to get out there too. Maybe I can learn something from ya.... :)

I am wanting to keep the price under $1500 But, like I said, I want to be able to keep the stock wheels. About Buttonwillow. Yes, I am from SD (or, actually, I just live there). The guy I bought my car from is actually an instructor at Buttonwillow, so that is why I want to go there. Check out their site, it has workshops for $250. From what he said, with the info you get along with the track time, it is a steal. As far as learning anything from me, probably not. I basically do the same thing you do. Cruise throught the mountain roads at high speed. I still can't get the damn heal-toe thing 100%. But it is getting better. Most of my experience is in a '76 Stingray. I had that car for about 6 years. Then I got my n/a and it was like night and day. Now with the TT, once again I have to make adjustments. I am hoping to go to Buttonwillow in about 3 months. I want to get my new suspension, stage 4+ performance upgrades, new brakes, lighter flywheel and a grippier clutch. That isn't the biggest list of mods, but it does take a while to get done on a military paycheck. I'll keep you posted, though.

just another option for you to look at.... ZTuner.com sells a 3000GT VR4 brake upgrade... they're 12.5" and are the largest that will fit under the stock wheels (the TT rear wheels with the ribs won't even fit with this kit). That's the route I'm going once I can afford it.

(MWSMotorsports.com also has a 12.1" brake kit for the Z32 as well)

I just think the Skyline brake kit is WAY overpriced considering it includes the same calipers you already have (R32 calipers = Z32 calipers), mounting brackets, and rotors.

If I am not mistaken, the calipers that come with it are 6 pistons, as apposed to the stock 4 piston that come with the Z32. I may be wrong. But, the thing that has me wondering, do you put your stock front calipers on the back when you get this kit? i.e 6 piston on front and original stock 4 piston on the rear? I'll inquire.

show me this kit... because I used to sell the Skyline brake upgrades when I worked at Ultimate Z, and I'm telling you that the R32 brakes (which are the only ones offered in a kit for the Z32) are the same calipers as the ones you have on your car. (there are good pictures of it at UltimateZ.com > Z32 300ZX > Performance Parts > Brakes)

They are the ones that are at Stillen. I may have been wrong that they are 6 piston, but it does say that they are larger. It also says that they are stage 4 which qould normally imply 6 piston. I'll call to find out for sure.

Ok, just got off the phone with Stillen. They are 2 piston, just like the stock front calipers, but they are larger to accomodate the larger rotor. From highway speeds (I can't remember the exact speed), they will stop 12 feet shorter than the stock setup. And, of course they are cross-drilled and vented. So, they are about the best stopping power that I have seen that will fit under the stock wheels without any real modification.

I think the only difference between the Z32 and R32 brakes is that the Skyline ones a steel where as the early Z32s had those piece of crap aluminum ones. I noticed that as well. The R32 breaks are the same. It just has different mounts and a slightly larger caliper. Thru the NISMO catalog at any dealership you can order just the parts you want and piece the Skyline system together and not buy the calipers. I think the only Sklines offered with the 6 pistons were the V-spec II or maybe it was the R34 GT-R. I m not certain...but I know for certain the R34 did.

You are correct. If you look back at my post, I edited it. But, the numbers are definately better than the stock brakes on a z32 and the fact that they are cross-drilled will definatley help with heat. Heat was my #1 concern. I don't drive on the track often, but when I do I like to know that heat will be dissipated at a higher rate than what I have now. My current track experience is with the n/a and I imagine that I will run into the same problems with the stock TT brakes. I don't want the grand puba of brakes, I just want something better than what I have now. Plus, I like to keep things close to stock, and calipers with the Nissan logo will help with that. Basically, I am not one of those guys that wants to advertise what I have into my car. I want the world to look at my car and think that it is as-is straight from the factory.

1. do more research before you decide to go with cross-drilled rotors. I'm not going to post all the info again (I've said it all a million times), but cross-drilled are not the best rotors available.

2. they're only bigger in a wider sense, the Skyline rotors are slightly thicker than stock rotors... this doesn't help with the braking distance, the diameter does, and like I said, there are 2 larger alternatives for less money

3. both of the kits that I posted are cheaper mainly because they use the stock calipers, so you're not paying for something you really already have. They both simply relocate the caliper further out. The only brake kits that aren't going to say Nissan on them are Stoptech, Willwood, Brembo, etc...

cheaper isn't really a concern. Though I am on a military paycheck, I also have other means of income. I am one of those people that will pay just for the convenience. Call it blowing money or whatever, I just don't like to deal with stuff, I want it done. Money can be made and IT IS every day. I just want a solution to deal with the unsatisfactory performance of the stock z32 brake setup. You said that there are 2 larger setups that are cheaper. But, do they fir under the stock wheels? That is my main concern. Yeah, I would like it to be cheaper. But, like I said, if it costs more for the convenience, then that is what I will get.

DO YOU LACK READING COMPREHENSION???? READ MY POST!!!!!

The 3000GT VR4 rotors are ~12.5" and are the largest that will fit, and are also MUCH cheaper than the Skyline kit.

Actually, I comprehend written English very well. But, I don't always have time to scroll through an entire post or remember the exact path that said post had taken to get to where it is now. I have a lot to do in the day and there are only 24 hours to do it ( I don't waste a single second through the day). All I am looking for is bigger calipers. Bigger rotors can be had, no problem. It is calipers that match that extra surface area that I am after. If you want to get mad for no apperent reason, that's fine. It's no skin off my back. I have to get back to my busy schedule. Later.

I was amused at your ignorance, not mad.

Skyline calipers are not bigger in a sense that will provide ANY better braking, they're simply wider to accomodate the wider rotor. Width of the rotor and caliper has no bearing on braking distance. Bottom line is, 3000GT rotors with stock calipers relocated to compensate for the larger rotor will provide more braking leverage than a Skyline brake upgrade, and it will cost significantly less at the same time.

If you want to be an idiot and spend more money on a smaller brake kit that won't stop as well, have fun...

OK if were are going to go any further with helping you. I think we need to set some base guidlines to go by for a search. We need a list of design constraints:
1. Better braking distance over stock
2. Better heat dissipation over stock
3. Retains stock or OEM image (ie..NO BIG MITSUBISHI LOGO)
4. Fits within stock 16" wheels

Now what kind of alternatives can we get now?
1. Skyline brake upgrade
2. Cross drilled or slotted rotors with high performance brake pads
3.....

Any more ideas? I think we are straying from the goal of this post. We need to find something he wants. Personally I do not think that the desired track ready brakes you are looking for within these design constraints is possible..especially if you want to get a lot of laps in. These cars are just too heavy.

... right...

The 3000GT VR4 kit is ONLY LARGER [3000GT] ROTORS AND CALIPER RELOCATION BRACKETS. There are NO MITSUBISHI SYMBOLS ON THE ROTORS.

The MWSMotorsports kit is also ONLY LARGER ROTORS AND CALIPER RELEOCATION BRACKETS.

Both of these kits:

1. Have better braking distance than stock.
2. Dissipate heat much better than stock.
3. Use NISSAN 300ZX CALIPERS.
4. Fit under stock 300ZX wheels.

and an extra one
5. ARE LARGER THAN THE OVERPRICED SKYLINE BRAKE UPGRADE.

All you people need to go back to school and learn some reading comprehension or do some research, because I've said all of this two times before.


just to prove my point...

this is the 3000GT VR4 brake kit from ZTuner.com...
http://www.ztuner.com/images/parts/bbr.jpg

and this is the MWSMotorsports.com brake upgrade...
http://mwsmotorsports.com/products/images/MWS_brake.jpg

Just what we need is another shitty ass attitude......... :(

... wouldn't be the case if I didn't have to restate myself 4 times...

the bottom line is, I'm trying to help this guy buy showing him a cheaper and better alternative, and he's just looking for reasons to spend more money on an inferior product...

It's a common theme with kids and their cars. Jaffi is apparently fixated with the Skyline brake kit. There's no need to rant and call people idiots. Just share your knowledge and let it be.

I'll reiterate my view..... since I've only learned about the Skyline kit here. If it isn't bigger in diameter it isn't better. The 3000gt kit will require wheel spacers depending on your wheels, ie required to fit my car.. I haven't seen a Cobra kit, but the rotorz will fit like the 3000gt rotors, needing spacers.

tnkrstoyco, actually went out to his 350z and measured his Brembo rotorz for me. (the hat height) They'll fit right on without spacers. The only thing you'll need is the caliper adapter brackets. These you can get, along with the bolts from YugoBernie on tt.net. This is the way I'm going, except I'll make my own caliper adapters. The last I looked the caliper adapters are $200. The best Brembo rotor prices are $309 from YugoBernie.

maybe you could combine callippers from a skyline with disks from tarox or other brand with higher friction
and brake pads that can withstand higher temps and also use high quality brake fluid

this has realy worked for me

Check this link, it might be what you want to do.
http://s95014253.onlinehome.us/63104/104050.html
CC you know I didn't even think to compare the differences from the 350 to the 300, mine are sitting right next to each other.

In my opionion (As little as its worth :D ) would be to go with the MWS kit if you are looking for a bit of an upgrade at a decent price, but if you are looking for more of an upgrade and the price isnt that much of an issue then the 3000gt brake kit, or some other brake that needs spacers and longer studs etc (more expensive, but bigger rotors), or if you have bigger wheels the 350z brake kit sounds like a good idea (what i'll be looking at whenever I get around to changing my wheels :rolleyes: )

Jaffi,

without being biased here is my evaluation. You make the choice

3000GTVR4 kit - Upside - cheapest. Easy to find rotors and other parts, and gives you every benifit of a big brake kit. Downside - you need to use 15 mm spacers on the front wheels if you want to fit 16's. Fits 17's

MSW kit - Upside - fits under stock wheels. Downside - not as big as the 3000GT setup, replacement rotors cost more and have to be sourced from MSW ONLY since they are custom.

350Z brake kit - Upside as good as the 3000Gt setup, NO spacers required and replacement rotors are easy to find. Downside - Need atleast 17 inch wheels. Costs significantly more than the other 2.

Skyline kit - Upside - its wider than stock so brake fade resistance.Fits under stock wheels. Downside - Expensive rotors , hard to find, it does not offer better braking over stock ONLY better fade resistance. Caliper rebuild kit is hard to find. Its the MOST expensive kit of the ones listed above with the LEAST benifit so IMO its not a good deal

I will not list more expensive kits because thats a whole different ball game. Hope this helps

Harry