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I'm still in the research/shopping phase at this point but I'm going to overhaul a good portion of the brake system and pull off the OEM stuff while it's still in good shape. Seems counter intuitive I know.
My list:
Z1 Motorsports two piece rotors, front and rear
Stoptech Sport (309) pads front and rear
Goodridge stainless lines (Hopefully)
Castrol SRF or Motul 5.1 brake fluid
Longacre 45202 Single Bottle Brake Bleeder Kit
Motive Products Black Label 0117 power bleeder
I think I have everything else that I'll need already including the appropriately sized flare wrench, stuff to remove rust from the hub, etc...
All I have in right now are the Goodridge lines and they may be the wrong part as the rear brake lines supposedly changed on cars built after June of 2012. I'd go with the Z1 lines but they're not DOT approved.
Here are the Goodridge rear lines, for build date pre-06/2012:
Other brake pads I considered:
Project Mu B-Force
Porterfield R4S
Endless MX-72 (until I saw the price)
Hawk HPS 5.0
Nismo
Akebono OEM pads (I understand they have a slightly more aggressive pad now)
I wanted something that would not require three or four stops on the street and would work well in ambient temp ranges from near-freezing to 106 degree days. That's pretty much the spread I have here where I live. In the winter months, the stock brakes have good initial bite and ok modulation from thereon out. They stop very well overall but I can feel there's room for improvement. In the summer months, initial bite is much less and overall the brakes are more prone to a bit of fade and lack of strength (yes, even on the street). The brake fluid was changed a bit over a year ago by the Infiniti dealer (maintenance plan).
My goal was a small increase in initial bite in the warmer months and a bit more torque and braking power from what I'd call the braking midpoint to the time when the car comes to a stop with excellent modulation along the way. And linear braking power during the hot summer months where the stock brakes seem to loose feel.
It's really tough to assess brake pads by only reviews done by other people. Really hard. So much is subjective which is why I'm not spending big money on brake pads. For the price of the Endless pads, I can buy three sets of the Stoptech Sport (formerly Street Performance) pads which get decent reviews.
If I don't like them, I can try something else and I won't be out a mint. I also like the Stoptech pads come with all new hardware.
Other considerations were brake dust and noise. I'll use plenty of anti-squeal compound, bed them in properly and I can handle a bit more dust even though my wheels are black. I've pre-empted the dust by coating my wheels in some expensive goo.
For the two-piece rotors, I looked at a number of reviews, cost, weight, cooling potential as well as the cost of replacement parts. I considered the ConceptZ rotors but they don't have the replacement cost for the rotor rings themselves listed on the page. Stoptech's are big bucks for the initial purchase and every time you need to replace the rotors. I used to run an AP Racing kit on another car and the rings were $300 a side. Not cheap. If I were tracking regularly, I'd probably go with the Stoptech rotors or with a four wheel big brake kit. Then I could move the sport brakes over to my QX70 Sport (which ironically doesn't have those brakes). Hrm...wonder if the wife would go for that.
For brake fluid, I'm leaning towards the Motul 5.1 as it's a bit thinner and works better with ABS. The SRF is good stuff but it comes in a one liter bottle so I'd be forced to use it on my other vehicle too as it doesn't last long after cracking open the bottle.
That's it for now. I'll post updates as I get stuff in and installed (or change my mind 20 times between now and then). Hoping to have everything on by mid-January depending on my schedule and the weather.
I have the Stoptech 309s with the Z1 slotted 2pc in the front, along with Z1 lines (the ones without the OEM style brass blocks) and Motul RBF600 fluid.
The Stoptech pads dust pretty significantly, enough so to change my bronze wheels to a pretty dark gray. They don't like the cold too much (brake feel drops at around 45 degF) but don't take long to warm up. Also they'll take a LOT of heat without fading (I track mine).
With your planned upgrades, you'll have a pretty solid braking system, but I feel that while the Stoptechs are very good, you can probably find better street pads that require less cleaning while also providing the brake feel you want.
One last thing I would suggest getting - the Brake master cylinder brace from Z1. You would not have any more need to upgrade you brakes for regular street use from there, other than the occasional brake pad change.
Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I'm torn on the Pads then. I know Akebono has a slightly more aggressive street pad and there's leays the Nismo pads too. I ordered the rotors but haven't ordered pads yet. Open to suggestions.
Ok after bPChaos' feedback and talking to Spencer at Z1, I've ditched the Stoptech pads. I've gone with the Nismo pads. Got them at an exceptional price too.
Everything else has been ordered along with a flare wrench set and "turkey baster". I ended up with the Motul 5.1 as it flows better (and probably leaks more easily) through the small valves in the ABS system. It's also half the price of the RBF600 fluid.
All of my track buddies run project mu pads. I tried the stop tech ones and when they found out they all said "do you want to die!!?"
And they were right, the brake fade was real in the second 15 min session. Thankfully my car needed a cool down lap anyway since oil temperature got too high.
Needless to say I'll be switching to project mu when I have time to work on the car.
I was told the 5.1 boils quicker than RBF as well.
I almost went with a set of the Project Mu's, either B Force or HC+ but couldn't find a decent review for either the 370Z or the G37. If I hate the Nismo pads, I'll try the Mu's.
I also considered some Endless pads but couldn't justify the $500 price tag.
You're definitely right on the 5.1 vs. the RBF but I'm not going to track the car unfortunately. Sucks as I'm only an hour away from Circuit of the Americas. The wet/dry performance of the 5.1 vs the RBF600 is actually really close. The Castrol SRF is better than both but also more expensive and you have to buy it a liter at a time. Guess I could do the G and the QX!
I have on my car:
- Z1 Motorsports two piece rotors, front and rear
- Carbotech XP10 front XP8 rear. They dust and squeal like mad and are WAY too sensitive on the street for daily driving so I run OEM for commuting/autocross and the carbotech pads for the track. They're also $400 a set and not worth wasting on the daily drive.
- Goodridge stainless lines (without the brass block)
- RBF600 brake fluid
- Longacre 45202 Single Bottle Brake Bleeder Kit
- Motive Products Black Label 0117 power bleeder
The pedal feel could be better with OEM pads, but the rest of the kit is great.
Don't bother with a turkey baster, they make a mess. Get yourself a 20ml syringe from your local pet supply store (in the medicine section). They get to the bottom of the brake and clutch fluid reservoirs and don't leak!!!
racing brake as well as CZP make 2 piece rotors as well if you want to look into some alternatives.
My racing brake rotors have gone through atleast 20k miles of track and mountain runs. Almost zero fade at the track for atleast 15-20 mins in extremely hot UAE weather (always 100 degrees F and above)
I already purchased the Z1 two-piece rotors and they have the lowest cost for replacement rings vs. all the other brands available. I may not ever need a second set of them as I'm averaging about 10K a year. Anxious to pull the stock brakes and see how they look. I'm actually pretty hard on brakes. The weight savings should be nice too. I'll be at about 17 pounds per corner (off the top of my head) less in the front than the stock brake/shock/wheels/tires.
I would be tempted to get the Z1 two-piece rotors, but I found some hawk rotors for $65 a piece. I know that the Z1's save 10 lbs a quarter, but I will probably get the hawks. My front brake pads were at 6.5mm when I bought the car. The rotors were cut at one time. I even feel a bit of a vibration in them.
There aren't too many rotors for $65 a piece, especially ones with as good quality as these appear to be. I plan on getting the Akebono performance Ceramic pads.
I don't race the car. It is strictly for the street. I wonder how long the front rotors last on the G37S?
I had a bunch of stuff arrive yesterday including the Z1 rotors which weren't supposed to come in until Wednesday. So I may be installing these Sunday or Monday and do the brake lines/fluid later once I get that situation figured out.
The owners manual says dot 3, I might just go with that since you aren't supposed to mix the two. I plan on getting my brakes flushed eventually. I like the idea of the steel brake lines, doubt I will do that any time soon.
3, 4 and 5.1 are all interchangeable. NEVER mix 5.0 with any of those.
I'm doing a full bleed with 5.1. Already have it in-hand but waiting on the power bleeder and to figure out my braided line issue as they changed the fittings after 06/2012.
All the exposed surfaces that don't get touched by the pads are coated. Nice!
Front rotor
Rear rotor
Chamfered holes and slots, everything's coated.
Z1 magnetic drain plug thrown in for free. Already have one on my IPL (it works) but I'll put it on the QX70.
Nismo brake pads! I think these are going to dust like crazy. Time will tell.
They match the color of my suspension springs, LOL.
There's a bit of disinformation that the Nismo pads are by Akebono. They are not. They're Ferodo pads. If you've ever driven a Mustang GT (latest model) with the sport package, big brakes, they use a similar pad. Should be a nice increase in initial bite and I know they'll maintain their performance advantage in the hot summer months. I'm not tracking the car so I'm not worried about the performance falloff after the 100th hard stop from 80mph.
Flare wrench set. I have to pick up a few more things, 19mm crowfoot wrench for one. And I'm waiting on the brake bleed stuff as well.
