Improving the stopping power of my car

[Fruitbooter]

I have got Evo brembos at the front with 345mm grooved brembo discs and EBC Redstuff pads.

I still have crappy oem discs and pads at the back, braided lines on all however.

I still dont think the stopping power is quite where I'd like it to be...its a mixture of problems really, I dont like how when you really stamp on the pedal the abs is far to intrusive yet performs terribly slow and makes me think im not going to stop in time.

I also think the brakes feel either off or on....so your braking at just a bit faster than normal pace it feels as if the pads are low for example until you stomp on them? I know this is probably down to them needing a good bleed as I did kind of rush it the first time and havent had chance to do it again. However im wondering if the pads might not be all that good? I dont think they need warming up that much do they the reds?

Changing to Z32 rears, would this increase performance noticibly? Or would you say upgrading to something like DS2500's on the front help? I just cant see the rears making a massive improvement as they only account for 20% of your braking anyway in most cases.

I did think about removing the abs also but 1. I dont want to loose the speedo and 2. I think the abs does actually save you in those propper unexpected situations.

I want brakes where when I stamp on the pedal i feel like im going to go through the windscreen! Kind of wish I'd held out for K-Sports however Im going to try and improve what I've got..

 

[Max]

You can always try a BMC stopper. I was amazed by the difference, and I have the Skyline rear setup, and a slightly bigger Skyline front set.

Think there is/was a cusco BMC stopper for sale on SXOC, I got mine from tegiwa on ebay though.

 

[pegliobaglio]

Same position as me bro!!
Have the Evo brembo on the front ever since the brakes have felt poo!
I have a z32 rear kit going on end of the month and removing the abs at the same time so will let you know how it

 

[Auss15]

I'd be looking at pads and yes the DS2500's would be, in my opinion, better then the RedStuff. Have you upgraded your master cylinder to a bigger one? If you haven't this is what's causing the ABS problem, as you have changed the brake bias, so it will come on too easily and the brakes always feel spongy.

 

[Max]

I actually technically went to a smaller piston size BMC, but one from a skyline with the right rotor size and piston number (albeit on a skyline). I think balance is the key, so right number and size of pots front and rear for that BMC therefore I think a Z32/Skyline BMC won't help your setup now with only 2 pots to the rear as it will be trying to operate 4. Get the big rear setup, you won't regret it.

The BMC stopper worked for me with a car with quite alot of miles the flex in the firewall must have been growing. The stopper stops that flex, and a few mm flex on the firewall will be multiplied many times over by the end of the brake lever.

 

[S15_SAM]

Would upgrading to a z32 BMC with stock brakes help with help increasing braking force?

 

[Auss15]

No, it will upset the brake balance and ABS with the bigger bore and increased pressure.

 

[Fruitbooter]

Cheers guys! Think a BMC stopper along with a bigger BMC is the way to go and then look into uprated rears with possibly different pads at the front.

 

[mattyb]

Iv got a db power front 345 and rear 300 i think. And there awesome with red stuff pads,

Ebc pads have improved massively in the last few years.

 

[Krish]

I've got 356mm k sport on front and stock rear, BMC stopper hasn't done a huge amount for me, got new discs and pads to go on plus I'm fitting a z32 servo and BMC next week. Hoping for an improvement as they lock up a bit too much at the moment and this can be scary at times!

 

[dave_t]

When i fitted my 330mm K-Sport 8 pots i was a little disappointed too, for pretty much the same reasons you described Jay.

I have now fitted Z32 rear setup & Z32 BM57, to bring the spec to:

- K-Sport 330mm 8-Pots
- Z32 300mm Twin Pots
- EBC Yellow Stuff All Round
- Z32 BM57
- MOTUL RBF600

Initial thoughts: (when we passed eachother the other day it was my first real test drive for 7 monthes!!!)

The stopping power is immense, The pedal feel is AMAZING and just inspires confidence. The balance seems great, but not put her in extreme situations as of yet. Only criticism is the ABS is still too intrusive. Currently have R888's on the rear and budgets on the front, so will update once i have fitted the front R888's and can do some real testing.

On a side note, the handbrake is crazy good. Will lock up R888 in a straight line. Can honestly say the Z32 upgrade is night and day over the oem. would compliment your brembo's nicely i imagine Jay.

 

[dave_t]

I will say i also bench bled the BMC when fitting it ( a lot of guides i read dont tell you to but i think it made things easier and saved expensive brake fluid from being wasted)

- Fit the BMC but do not connect the brake lines, instead fit two flexible hoses with enough length to run up and into the BMC reservoir. - Keep pumping the pedal until all air has been released.

Took a good 25-30 minutes of pumping to clear all the air!

 

[spoonman]

If you are going to go mixing up BMCs with all different kinds of setups, you will never get the balance as good as the manufacture's setup, keep this in mind as you dont want to be locking your rears before the fronts, or even putting extreme pressure on the rears and half pressure on the fronts. Which is why companies like wilwood make a simple bias adjusters

 

[spoonman]

also EBC redstuff are only a slight upgrade on OEM pads and are a waste of time, yellow stuff are by far a better upgrade and are perfectly ok for road use, the cold braking hardly an issue as alot of people claim

 

[pegliobaglio]

I also use yellow stuff pads ( new compound) and I have found them to be very good . Will be getting cosworth street master pads next though as my mate just changed from yellow stuff to those and says they are quite a bit better .

 

[Fruitbooter]

When i fitted my 330mm K-Sport 8 pots i was a little disappointed too, for pretty much the same reasons you described Jay.

I have now fitted Z32 rear setup & Z32 BM57, to bring the spec to:

- K-Sport 330mm 8-Pots
- Z32 300mm Twin Pots
- EBC Yellow Stuff All Round
- Z32 BM57
- MOTUL RBF600

Initial thoughts: (when we passed eachother the other day it was my first real test drive for 7 monthes!!!)

The stopping power is immense, The pedal feel is AMAZING and just inspires confidence. The balance seems great, but not put her in extreme situations as of yet. Only criticism is the ABS is still too intrusive. Currently have R888's on the rear and budgets on the front, so will update once i have fitted the front R888's and can do some real testing.

On a side note, the handbrake is crazy good. Will lock up R888 in a straight line. Can honestly say the Z32 upgrade is night and day over the oem. would compliment your brembo's nicely i imagine Jay.

Cheers Z32 deffinitly sounds like a plan!

I'd be interested what the ABS does with the R888's up front...I thought the Z32 rears on yours would lesson the amount the abs kicks in but maybe the K-sports are just 10x better than the brembos so doesnt really help over my situation..

BTW you car looked amazing...really does look superb on the road!

 

[teejay43]

so if i get 330 ksports up front what is the best setup for the rear and overall balance/stopping power Also what sort of costs are we looking at to get there

 

[Jay-pan]

Is it possible to fit bigger discs to standard front s15 brake callipers? Then change the rear to z32 setup? Very rarely push my car to the limit and standard brakes are fine so don't want to go crazy with the brake set up just going to do better discs, fluid, pads,brake lines, BMC stopper.

 

[dave_t]

so if i get 330 ksports up front what is the best setup for the rear and overall balance/stopping power Also what sort of costs are we looking at to get there

As i said in my other post TeeJay, Z32 300zx Rear Brake setup & Z32 300zx BMC (BM57) along with the K-Sports gives you an awesome pedal feel and the balance is very nice too. Best modification i have done so far.

cost wise i paid £150 for my Z32 rear brakes, £30 for the BM57, £30 for apex conversion brake lines, and then its your own choice of pads.

 

[Fruitbooter]

Is it possible to fit bigger discs to standard front s15 brake callipers? Then change the rear to z32 setup? Very rarely push my car to the limit and standard brakes are fine so don't want to go crazy with the brake set up just going to do better discs, fluid, pads,brake lines, BMC stopper.

Yes mate, db-power do a spacing bracket which allows you to fit bigger discs.