best bang for your buck brakes under $200

[Enjin]

Originally Posted by cdlong

i can't believe we've gotten this far without asking the OP what he does with the car and how much power he has. and OptionZero and ProjectRDM already hit on this, if your tires suck, upgrade those first.

the car is being built to be tracked.

it doesn't matter how much power I have, though.

basically, the car has been sitting on jackstands for the last 6 months while I work and go to school, and while breaking down the suspension to replace everything, I realized that my brakes look like they are completely through. never really driven THIS car.

judd- you have the equipment to redrill the q45 brakes? I lost your number when I got this new phone... hit me up.

[cdlong]

Originally Posted by Enjin

the car is being built to be tracked.

it doesn't matter how much power I have, though.

since when? if you're tracking the car, the only thing that matters is power.

if you accelerate down a straight, the amount of power you put in dirrectly correlates to the amount of energy you have to dissipate with the brakes at the end. i.e. heavy car w/300hp will be going 110, lighter car with 300hp will be going 140. basically the same momentum

on the street, the weight of the car is what matters because you're going a set speed no matter what.

this is all in relation to heat management, which is what big brakes are for anyway. i'm assuming you're going to use some real tires.

so let me get this straight. you're planning on tracking this car, but considering using the stock brakes? if you're seriously tracking the car, z32 brakes should be the minimum. put some cheap pads on the car so you can drive it and keep saving for some real brakes.

[vvtisupra]

Just because the front does most of the braking work, it doesn't mean you can put a bigger set of calipers in the front and expect the brakes to work better. This is a common misconception.

Running bigger brakes increases rotational mass and unsprung weight. Infact you may even stop in a longer distance. Also, it throws off the pedal ratio changing the amount of fluid your master has to displace. This is why people upgrade to 300zx masters when they convert to 300zx brakes to compensate for the different volume required to displace the brake fluid. Also running larger rotors and calipers with larger pistons in the front can throw off your brake bias. Of course there are a lot of variables that can influence this such as tires, tire sizes, weight, weight transfered etc. But generally running larger brake components in the front will increase front bias.

The benefit to running larger brake components is brake torque and heat dissapation(however if your stock brakes create enough torque to lock the wheels then its not an increased advantage).

Anyways if you only have 200 dollars to spend I recommend
running stock rotors, with a high performance pad. Depending on how hard the car is driven will determine the compound you would want to use. It is a lot of trial and error. I recommend starting pretty mild and if you feel the need to increase your heat range, then purhcase pads that are designed for higher heat.

Some pads that i have come across that work well for dual purpase (sport and street) would be axxis ultimates, hawk HP+, Porterfield RS4, and project mu NS. There are a lot more variaties but these are the pads that I have tried myself and found decent and can be purchased for around 200 dollars. Your rotors may still be good. Places like kragen, midas and autozone and resurface your rotors for a good price.

Also remember to always use fresh brake fluid DOT3 &4 and non silicone based DOT 5 will all do the job. Make sure to do a good job bleeding the brakes and breaking and bedding in the pads properly. I go to www.Stoptech.com and use the break in procedures described in their white papers, and have always came out with good results. Remember it is very important to break and bed in the brakes properly. The burninsh and bedding of the pads is what outgasses the pads and also creates a friction material layer for your pads to do work.

Later as money permits, i'd look into stainless brake lines, better tires and or a complete upgrade.

[Enjin]

Originally Posted by vvtisupra

Just because the front does most of the braking work, it doesn't mean you can put a bigger set of calipers in the front and expect the brakes to work better. This is a common misconception.

Running bigger brakes increases rotational mass and unsprung weight. Infact you may even stop in a longer distance. Also, it throws off the pedal ratio changing the amount of fluid your master has to displace. This is why people upgrade to 300zx masters when they convert to 300zx brakes to compensate for the different volume required to displace the brake fluid. Also running larger rotors and calipers with larger pistons in the front can throw off your brake bias. Of course there are a lot of variables that can influence this such as tires, tire sizes, weight, weight transfered etc. But generally running larger brake components in the front will increase front bias.

The benefit to running larger brake components is brake torque and heat dissapation(however if your stock brakes create enough torque to lock the wheels then its not an increased advantage).

Anyways if you only have 200 dollars to spend I recommend
running stock rotors, with a high performance pad. Depending on how hard the car is driven will determine the compound you would want to use. It is a lot of trial and error. I recommend starting pretty mild and if you feel the need to increase your heat range, then purhcase pads that are designed for higher heat.

Some pads that i have come across that work well for dual purpase (sport and street) would be axxis ultimates, hawk HP+, Porterfield RS4, and project mu NS. There are a lot more variaties but these are the pads that I have tried myself and found decent and can be purchased for around 200 dollars. Your rotors may still be good. Places like kragen, midas and autozone and resurface your rotors for a good price.

Also remember to always use fresh brake fluid DOT3 &4 and non silicone based DOT 5 will all do the job. Make sure to do a good job bleeding the brakes and breaking and bedding in the pads properly. I go to www.Stoptech.com and use the break in procedures described in their white papers, and have always came out with good results. Remember it is very important to break and bed in the brakes properly. The burninsh and bedding of the pads is what outgasses the pads and also creates a friction material layer for your pads to do work.

Later as money permits, i'd look into stainless brake lines, better tires and or a complete upgrade.

baller, thanks

[Enjin]

Originally Posted by cdlong

since when? if you're tracking the car, the only thing that matters is power.

if you accelerate down a straight, the amount of power you put in dirrectly correlates to the amount of energy you have to dissipate with the brakes at the end. i.e. heavy car w/300hp will be going 110, lighter car with 300hp will be going 140. basically the same momentum

on the street, the weight of the car is what matters because you're going a set speed no matter what.

this is all in relation to heat management, which is what big brakes are for anyway. i'm assuming you're going to use some real tires.

so let me get this straight. you're planning on tracking this car, but considering using the stock brakes? if you're seriously tracking the car, z32 brakes should be the minimum. put some cheap pads on the car so you can drive it and keep saving for some real brakes.

good point, however, speed obviously directly correlates to the force required to stop the car, so what you are saying is that a car that is going faster (achieved by higher levels of power) will need more force to stop. DEFINITELY SO, SIR!

the question that I have is, given that, does the rate at which you achieve such a high speed affect the optimum velocity for a corner? If I put everything together correctly, the optimum cornering velocity is brake and suspension rate limited, rather than speed.

HOWEVER, I can see your point about having a car that will be going much faster at a given point along the track needing stronger brakes at that point than a weaker accelerating car, but would not that weaker accelerating car be able to brake LATER, considering the relative LOSS in linear velocity due to the lack of power?

the big question I am trying to present here is: theory and concept aside, since I have only driven 240's with stock brakes, and then again with upgraded pads, I am wondering the real EFFICACY of dropping big money on your brakes. can you actually tell a SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCE or is it just money that I could allot to other things, like this big ass comfy oversized chair I am buying tonight... mmmmmmm sooo comfy. I'm serious.

[Tearlessj]

Originally Posted by Enjin

judd- you have the equipment to redrill the q45 brakes? I lost your number when I got this new phone... hit me up.

Yea, its just a 1/2" drill bit. I still have the brakes off my parts car if you want them for $10 or food. I'll PM you my number. (No homo)

[projectRDM]

Originally Posted by Tearlessj

Yea, its just a 1/2" drill bit. I still have the brakes off my parts car if you want them for $10 or food. I'll PM you my number. (No homo)

I always go up to a 9/16" to make sure, you have a little more room for error on the holes that way. Since the rotor is hubcentric you're not hurting it by going bigger on three of the holes and you're guaranteed correct alignment.