Brakes and headroom

[henrico]

Not sure which bit of forum to stick this post so feel free to move it. Basically I've got two questions:

1) I need better brakes, I think I have the stock ones but I need something which will be more akin to my Integra ie. funking brutal and won't overheat after 15 minutes on track. I don't really want drilled ones as my last ones were drilled and cracked whilst I was at the 'Ring. I have 17" Rays alloys so something that will fit in there would be good. What size is recommended for front and back?

2) My head brushes the ceiling in my car as I have a sun roof one so was wondering what types of seat people have to make themselves lower? I'd need something that was comfortable as well as low and maybe adjustable so just wondering if anyone's changed their seats and can recommend anything.

Thanks

 

[LuPix_S15]

If you're doing a few track days in the year but nothing heavy then I'd suggest you go for what a lot of people recommend: front pads Ferodo DS2500 and stock discs. Rear you can leave standard but make sure you get the braided hoses plus DOT5 fluid added as well

If you find that you're becoming like Jensen Button and are going way beyond the limits of the setup above or you have so much tuning you need much better brakes to cope then the DBA larger disc conversion seems popular... also an upgrade to summat like the R33 GTR brakes as well. Z32 (300ZX) rear brake conversion if you feel the need to


As for headroom, I can only suggest Bride Low Max to get as low as possible - don't think you'll get much advantage with regular buckets/recliners and make sure the seat rails are looow lol!!

 

[craig8585]

How much are you looking to spend on brakes? The cheaper option would be to go for calliper spacers with bigger disks etc. The more expensive option would to be go for bigger callipers etc..


If you want to uprate the rears too you can go for the spacers again with bigger disks if you wish, but the better option would be to go for the Z32 setup which bins iff the handbrake mechanism from within the caliper, and encorporates a kind of drum brake setup in the disk.



Heres a couple of places that do the big brakes.

DB Power
Apex Performance


Apex are doing a groupbuy on SXOC at the mo for the k-sport kits, so it might be worth a look on there too.

 

[henrico]

I need the brakes to be at a stage where I can feel confident that I can stop from high speed repeatedly on track. Being rwd wouldn't it be important to up rate the rears as well or would it be similar to the Integra as most of weight up front?

You reckon I'd get away with sticking me head out the sun roof lol?

 

[craig8585]

Most brake setups will overheat on track unless their a bit serious. I recently went on a trackday in an EK9 which have the same brakes as tegs, and they were cooked after a couple of laps.
I've got 356mm k-sports on my new S15 and they feel more than upto it, but their £1k+, and they won't fit under 17's. They do a 330mm kit that would still be very good indeed, and should fit under 17's so that might be your best option. Does anyone know if the Brembo setup is ok under 17's? If so, that should sort you out too.


As for the headroom, I dont think theres much you can do about it really. Lo Max would be the best option as mentioned above, but the seats have a much deeper base so it might even make them higher overall.

 

[LuPix_S15]

Yeah I reckon K-Sport is a good option... hear lots of good things about them



The rears hardly do as much braking as the fronts - doesn't matter whether it's RWD or FWD so you don't need to worry too much about upgrading the rears but that's my opinion...

 

[henrico]

I was thinking of my mate's MR2 but thinking again that is mid engine so I suppose would need more braking power at rear because more weight there. If I get some big Brembo's for the front I'd be cool (assuming they fit)?

 

[DeanS15]

i've got one of db-powers 330mm brembo front disc conversions with redstuff pads (larger to cover the whole friction surface) and braided hoses. i think they are a very good improvement over standard and for the cost are a nice little kit. comes with brackets, spacers, bolts and discs. the rears i have upgraded to 290mm grooved discs with braided hoses and redstuffs - these wont offer as good braking as the z32 setup but do improve over standard and are an easier fit.

 

[craig8585]

I was thinking of my mate's MR2 but thinking again that is mid engine so I suppose would need more braking power at rear because more weight there. If I get some big Brembo's for the front I'd be cool (assuming they fit)?

I've never been in a S15 with the brembo calliper setup so can't comment on them, but i would have thought they'd be good for what you want if they fit. I think the callipers usually go for £500ish but R33 ones bolt straight on, then you will need suitable disks, pads, and hoses etc. But for the sameish price you could get the k-sport 330mm setup thru the SXOC groupbuy.

 

[henrico]

Looks a good deal - I had read somewhere 6/8 pot being overkill and adding weight to unsprung weight. Is dis true?
btw thanks for help again chaps

 

[craig8585]

The k-sport 6/8 pot callipers are aluminium and very lightweight, so I wouldnt worry about the unsprung weight. Infact, I bet their lighter than the stock callipers.

 

[slammedmind]

Endless front and z32 rears, very good setup and id be very surprised if you cook em .

Not a huge fan of the k-sport stuff to be honest, id go for the brembo setup over the k-sport brake setup.

Good fluid, z32bmc and better pads with braided lines as a minimum. I found the standard s15 brakes a bit **** and cooked them on the road, never mind the track!

 

[JEZ 8553]

Ive got K-Sport 8-pots with 330mm Discs on the front and they are truly awesome, more than an overkill for road use so really would have the best made of them on the track. I have found that my bias is way out now as the fronts tend to lockup easily so im going to go for a Z32/R33 296mm rear setup to reset the braking bias.

The K-Sport 8 pots weigh less than the oem items...well sure felt like it when i swapped them over !! Also the discs are 2 parts with bells and rotors to reduce any increase in unsprung weight from larger, thicker discs.

 

[_Wing_]

stock calipers are heavy cast iron POS's so anything is an upgrade in terms of weight, but their physical size and piston diameters aren't a bad thing, what lets us down is the tiny rotors.
adapters to move the standard caliper out to fit bigger rotors aren't good IMO, the pads don't make use of all the rotor face and when/if you get the custom larger pads the pistons in the caliper aren't pushing centrally on the pad, and don;t forget you're also locked into a small range of pads of whoever supplies the custom bigger pads.

GTR brembo's calipers aren't anything special, a marginal upgrade really, but what makes it a good upgrade is it's rotor, 324mm VS 280mm... it's more leverage and more surface area and the most important to having brakes last time and time again is MORE WEIGHT - the bigger (read: heavier) the rotor the more heat it can hold so the longer they can last and the more chance they have of cooling off before the next time you need to stand on the brakes.


k-sport not my cup of tea, their claim to fame is "i copied AP Racing" and you can have 6/8/12 piston calipers for a fraction of the cost and can have 400mm discs, ZOMG! i got nothing on them, can't pick anything wrong with the design but hey..... if i could then AP RACING would be in trouble.
here's a question - why dont you use KSPORT coilovers?

so what to do? buy an upgrade from a reputable company with quality brands - these are brakes we're talking about...... brakes fail = you die.
can't afford it? no problems, get pads suited to where you want to drive - if its lapping a circuit then get HC+ or BLUES or HT10 or PFC01 and get quality brake fluid like endless RF600.



about the seat height, the lowest sliding rails you can get are bride super low FG's:

grab a seat you like (sit in and try them out as they all feel different) and mount it as low as you want, you can have your butt scrapping the floorplan if you like
(i don't like it just tooooo low for me, can't see anything and you're pushing the pedals forward like you're in the F1, as opposed to pushing down at 45degrees)

 

[JEZ 8553]

I admit AP Racing brakes are awesome but 50% of the price is for the name imo bit like Brembos which have become a branded selling point for car manufacturers.

Yeah ive heard poor things about the K-Sport coilovers though but i cant fault the brakes especially for the price i paid, though i wouldnt pay the full whack for them as id be just as happy paying less for the R33/Z32 fronts and 324mm discs as you mentioned but when it came down to it i was paying only a fraction more for brand new calipers, rotors and lines.

 

[craig8585]

For the money the k-sport setup is unbeatable. AP's would be nice, but so would a new GTR.

 

[_Wing_]

I'd rather save for twice as long for something twice as expensive knowing it will work without any issues and give me maximum performance


This comment is NOT aimed at anybody in particular: funny how K-SPORT brakes are awesome but K-SPORT coilovers is the plague...

 

[JEZ 8553]

Its all in the design and i imagine they just got it wrong with the coilovers. I have found Greddy to be the same when it comes to their products tbh.

Why not consider carbon ceramics brakes then

 

[LuPix_S15]

My Ferodo DS2500's on standard calipers are already locking up the fronts never mind some 8 pot monsters lol??!!


I've heard Performance Friction are excellent pads so maybe worth getting these on standard calipers and see how much difference this makes

 

[_Wing_]

Horses for courses


And I did look into C/C brakes lol... Aftermarket carbon brakes are available through ATS for the GTR so if you get the GTR brembos you can actually bolt on carbon brakes The biggest advantage of them is weight - the weight of them is ~10x less than standard! so if you feel the performance gains your lightweight forged mono rims gives you is good, which shaves off at most 2x the weight of a heavy bling wheel, then imagine shaving off 10x the weight in that same vicinity

only problem is they were only for drag racing use, but they are working on road-going versions now. oh and price, about $5000usd *OUCH!!*, but when they drop in price like their carbon clutches then it's a decent buy when you weigh things up, say $3000usd VS a nice metal 2-piece rotor costing ~$1000usd, and nice pads ~$2-400usd plus shipping......... so that's twice the regular price for how many many more benefits?