I guess that's just the brakes.

[Shodog]

Today was real car day.  The brakes on my G35 work really killer but at the expense of the rotors and pads.  When I put the winter wheels on I noticed that my front pads were almost gone and the rotors were past the point of turning.  So I bucked up and bought a set of cross drilled and slotted rotors, Hawk pads, stainless steel brake lines and enough synthetic brake fluid to flush the entire system.

In this picture I have the right rear rotor off and I ready to install the new rotor.

Ah yes cross drilled and slotted goodness.

Flexy old brake lines

Stiff new braided stainless steel lines

After I lowered the car, the guy that did the alignment said my camber was on the edge.  Consequently the inside edges of my tire wore out.  So I bought a set of SPC camber adjusters which will allow me to get all the camber I need.  Here I am adjusting it to the same length as the stocker.  I’ll let the alignment guy do the fine tuning

Here is the left rear all buttoned up.  1 down 3 to go.

Old Right rear

New front right

Front brake lines

left front done

[Madmat]

Cross drilled and slotted discs, braided lines and adjustable linkages []

[Stefan(2)]

Nice setup!

Most people only want more hp's, tune there car into death.

Only to forget that with the increased horsepowers they need some better breaks also.

Don't know if you car is (preformence) tuned, but you can't go bad with these breaks!

Stefan 

 

[MikeT]

Jim - does the G35 have ABS? If it does i can't seem them being much more effective without some wider rubbers!

So - HOW ARE THEY []

Mike

[Shodog]

Cross drilled and slotted discs, braided lines and adjustable linkages []

Thanks, I think they look way cool.  Some people don’t like them because the holes actually remove material but I think the ability to vent gases will help increase braking power.

Nice setup!

Most people only want more hp's, tune there car into death.

Only to forget that with the increased horsepowers they need some better breaks also.

Don't know if you car is (preformence) tuned, but you can't go bad with these breaks!

Stefan

The G35 is built on the same FM platform that the Nissan 350Z is so really it’s a 350Z with a four door body on it.  I took my car to a Dyno day and it was putting down 233 RWHP and 230 RWTQ which was what the G35 Coupes and 350Z’s were putting down. 

Jim - does the G35 have ABS? If it does i can't seem them being much more effective without some wider rubbers!

So - HOW ARE THEY []

Mike

The G35 does have ABS.  The problem with brakes is heat.  Sure the first two stops are great but once the rotors heat up, they fade very badly.  The cross drilled and slotted rotors will dissipate the heat better than a solid vented rotor.  I won't really know how well they work until the pads get fully bedded in.  As for bigger rubber, My other set of wheels are 245x19" and 275X19"

[MikeT]

I love the G35, theres one near my house Badged as a nissan, it's the Coupe though!

Lovely car Jim!

[WillyChang]

Cross drilled and slotted discs, braided lines and adjustable linkages []

Just missing a set of TRF adjustable shockers... []

[DJTheo]

General experience in German sites and forums is that drilled discs cause usually only more problems without really better perfomance (as most low cost hopups, its not easy to improve the nowadays advanced factory-engineering with easy and cheap solutions like its was till the 80s), hope you will be more lucky with them, keep us informed how long they last and if they warp. Hope you got the best and usually the most expensive you can get, as almost nothing beats the OEM ones from companies like ATE or Brembo.

Stiffer brake lines are a good modification though as they increase the precision of braking and can even improve the performance of ABS/ESP. [Y]

Cheers

 

[DJTheo]

Jim - does the G35 have ABS? If it does i can't seem them being much more effective without some wider rubbers!

So - HOW ARE THEY []

Mike

Wide tires don't have anything to do with fading and generally with braking distance (only if they are softer, but thats a different issue), especially on a high stance vehicle wide tires can make its handling very adventurous and steering very unloyal, following pitholes and grooves.

Cheers 

[WillyChang]

Jim:- say, just how THICK are those discs at the rear??

Looked at them again and just noticed how thin it is, imho looks like a dropsaw blade. I'm more used to a bit more meat on the discs; I'd assume the drum/shoes are only for your e-brake and don't do any stopping.

[DJTheo]

After I lowered the car, the guy that did the alignment said my camber was on the edge.  Consequently the inside edges of my tire wore out.  So I bought a set of SPC camber adjusters which will allow me to get all the camber I need.  Here I am adjusting it to the same length as the stocker.  I’ll let the alignment guy do the fine tuning

From the images above I am not sure that link adjusts the camber which is pretty predefined from the upper suspension arm, but it seems it would more affect the toe-in or out which of course can also lead to assymetric tire wear. Even if it would adjust camber, I wouldn't reduce its negative value as it would reduce lateral grip, which is especially dangerous on the rear axle. Thats why I personally don't have high opinion of suspension modifications (had done such mistakes when I was 18) when they are usually made by generic little companies which have to produce suspensions for all cars and thus don't have the expertise, engineering and time for fine tuning like the OEM manufacturer has. Imho the only reasonable suspension mods are to use the complete suspensions from a sportier model version, for example M3 suspension on a 330i. Please don't let the local tuning store Joe mess with your suspension settings, Nissan engineers have put quite alot of thought behind them.

Cheers 

[Shodog]

They are a lot thicker than they look in the picture.  they are vented so there is material in the middle.  One of my cars with rear disc wasn't even vented so it was really thin. 

[MikeT]

Theo, i've got to disagree with you mate!

If the tyre is wider, it puts down a larger contact path with the ground ( and assuming Jim has some good Tyres, Pirelli, Michelin or Whatever ) then the tyre will create more friction with the road before the tyre would lock.

Mike

[stulec52]

Ah yes Mike, but it's all about the transference of kenetic energy into heat anyway, and the width and profile of a tyre makes such a small difference in actual braking performance.

 As a few have mentioned the best improvement is to displace the heat.

 The 2 best upgrades are vented disks over solid ones, and pads with a higher temp rating.

 FADE that some also talked about is when the brake parts all get to their max temperature where there is no room to displace the kinetic energy into heat.

  But really, with most modern disk all round setups, it's really really really hard to heat em up enough to get actual fade.

 A lot of people mistake fade for poor performance. Having driven some pants old cars and had some experience of it, I can say it is really weird, you press the pedal, all feels well, but you ain't slowing down, not fun down a rather steep hill..... I did rather crunch into 1st to slow it down ![]

[DJTheo]

The 2 best upgrades are vented disks over solid ones, and pads with a higher temp rating.

True but most modern cars have those already from factory, thats why extra holes and slots don't really bring much, except faster warping.

 FADE that some also talked about is when the brake parts all get to their max temperature where there is no room to displace the kinetic energy into heat.

  But really, with most modern disk all round setups, it's really really really hard to heat em up enough to get actual fade.

 A lot of people mistake fade for poor performance. Having driven some pants old cars and had some experience of it, I can say it is really weird, you press the pedal, all feels well, but you ain't slowing down, not fun down a rather steep hill..... I did rather crunch into 1st to slow it down ![]

Also true, but you can get also modern car brakes to fade when you brake several times from very high speed, but that would be only legal in Germany LOL (so I have felt it too many times LOL)

Cheers 

[DJTheo]

Theo, i've got to disagree with you mate!

If the tyre is wider, it puts down a larger contact path with the ground ( and assuming Jim has some good Tyres, Pirelli, Michelin or Whatever ) then the tyre will create more friction with the road before the tyre would lock.

Mike

Sorry but thats one of the most widely spread to most automotive interested errors as

a) the actual contact surface doesn't change much with wider tires (as they have a wider but less long surface "square", check pic below)

Here is a very good article about tires and wheels http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

even if it would change, friction force F is INDEPENDENT from contact area, as surface pressure decrease with larger area and just depends on friction coefficient m (material of contact surfaces) and the normal force N pressing them together (usually weight), F=mN http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction

Another thing that most people don't know is that friction acceleration (for example maximum braking decelleration) is also INDEPENDENT from weight/mass, as higher weight (normal force F) is counterweighted exactly by the higher inertia due to the larger mass, so with the same rubber mixture and tarmac a 500kg and 2000kg car would brake in the same distance if they both have optimal brakes.

So the maximum theoretical braking decceleration just depends on the friction coefficient of the 2 surfaces, i.e. rubber mixture and road surface!

So why do sportive cars have wider tires then? The answers are

a) they can dissipate heat better due to their larger surface

due to their larger surface softer mixutres can be used

c) they have less deformation at braking or cornering (usually combined with lower profile) so they give more precise handling and better feedback to the driver

Unfortunately these things seemed not be passed well in school physics, so even most of my University students don't know them before I tell them, so you are excused! []

Cheers 

[MikeT]

True Theo, i'm only doing my GCSEs this year ( 16 y/o )

I didnt think about as the width increases, so does the diameter! D'oh!!

Good call theo !

Mike

[DJTheo]

Diameter doesn't really change as we wouldn't like rubbing on fender, different gearing and wrong tachometers, but the tire stiffness and thus deformation and pressure distribution.

Cheers 

[clarkey]

Diameter doesn't really change as we wouldn't like rubbing on fender, different gearing and wrong tachometers, but the tire stiffness and thus deformation and pressure distribution.

Cheers 

Im glad you posted that theo as i was confused as to how the actual diameter would change i did not consider the stiffness of the tire and thus deformation. Its been quite an education so far.  

[Madmat]

Haha i love it.....what do you do if someone tries to get one up on you....Get scientific on them.

 

Great link that car bible one, just had a quick glance around it and it looks pretty good so far. 

[stulec52]

My biggest brake issue is this :

Why do so many American cars not have handbrakes??   takes all the fun out of driving...... []

[Floyd]

My biggest brake issue is this :

Why do so many American cars not have handbrakes??   takes all the fun out of driving...... []

I couldnt agree more []

[DJTheo]

My biggest brake issue is this :

Why do so many American cars not have handbrakes??   takes all the fun out of driving...... []

The same reason as most have rear solid axles and underdamped suspension, they are made for soft highway crusing, not curve fun [] Good thing though is due to their poor suspension and big motors they don't need a handbrake for some fun oversteering! []

Cheers 

[MikeT]

Stu! If your Mk2 escort has a 1.3 or 1.1 then you definately need the Handbrake to initiate the slide ( or a good flick on a wet roundabout [] )

LSD is nice too ( Limited slip diff, not Acid! )

Mike

[clarkey]

You seem to like cars alot mike do you drive on track days as im guessing at 16 you dont drive?