Custom Porterfield Drift Z Brake

[johngriff]

The 300zx brake upgrade is a very common upgrade, but almost constantly overlooked during this upgrade is the emergency brake, and its components. One of my customers inquired to me about upgrades or solutions for the Z ebrake, because like it or not the ebrake is a necessary part of controlling larger and double apex drifts.

Looking around, I have noticed that no companies have taken this issue into consideration either, rather opting to push simple brake pad compound upgrades or conversion kits to hydraulic handbrake and Ebrake setups. While in many regards this may be a more effective setup, it is also expensive.

The Porterfield Ebrake Shoe marks the happy compromise between high quality and high cost when attempting a Drift ready Ebrake setup. The Shoe is re-paded from the oem frame with Porterfields very own R4-S compound, with a little customization at RPSport’s request. The Ebrake drum fitted with this shoe will now work as an excellent turning/drift brake, in comparison to using old shoes with the Z brake upgrade.

This being the first of its kind by request of myself and the customer from zilvia.net took 4 weeks time to complete. As interest peaks I could stock a few of these, other wise the wait time is expected at 4 weeks per order, plus core exchange.

For a long time I have been a big proponent (along with 1000’s of racers and auto-x’s around the world) of Porterfields Cabon-Kevlar brake compound. Specifically the R4. For this Brake, I understood that longevity was an issue because of the time it takes to replace the shoe behind the rotor. At the same the I was not satisfied sacrificing the brake biting sharply. The R4-S Compound was used, and with it, blended in were strands of more carbonfiber to increase the stability and rigidity of the pad surface and increase the bite of the compound.

These tweaks to the compound, along with simply having a racing compound on the ebrake shoe should definitely make for a much more aggressive turning brake, that can bite hard and last through multiple competitions. I am always excited with projects like this (even the little ones) because of the opportunity to do things effective and truly different.


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