It's still well equipped with or without Brembo's.

 

It's not a question of how well it was equipped it was. It was missing a number of items I wanted. Power seat backs, memory seats, power tilt and telescoping steering wheel, and etc. The Brembos, however, as I stated above are World Class, and would have been a deal breaker. I wanted the other stuff mentioned above, but they didn't carry the importance the Brembos did. Quite simply, IMHO, the stock brakes were substandard. The Brembos on the other hand are superb.

Lou

 

LMAO- funny how you never hear about that in CAR & DRIVER (who loves the RX8)!!!!

 

I agree with Lou- I wish my '04 Coupe 6MT had a power recline on the seat, but it's a small annoyance because I think of the Brembos. The Brembos make me splooge every time I look at them. I have 2400 miles on my Coupe so far and the Brembos have been awesome, and perfectly silent/squeak-free thus far. I probably still would have bought the car if it didn't have the Brembos, but they definitely put the car over the competition for me.

 

RX8 looks great but is not an exciting car to drive. It is not fast, not much torque feel compared to the G35. It(RX8) will be cheaper cause they are selling below sticker. The interior has a very plastic feel and look. I obviously did not purchase one. But, I do admit thinking it is a great looking car. Maybe wait for the new Mazdaspeed 6. Car and Driver did a nice story on it and they say it should be a great car.

 

You are aware that the non-Brembo setup actually stops marginally quicker than the Brembo setup, right? MT has gotten multiple sub 110' 60-0 stops out of the regular brakes and the Brembos have shown ~115' stops. I don't know what kind of street driving you're doing to be trying to force brake fade unless you're doing some canyon racing. The Brembo option is sweet looking that for sure, but for 99.5% of the owners it's simply bling, that's all. Huge rotors, multi-piston calipers, slotted rotors, etc are great for track racing, but on the street where most panic stop range from 70-30mph, a huge brake setup isn't going to benefit you much. Way too many people are under the belief that big brakes mean quicker stops and since race cars use big brakes, it must be great for a street car. This really isn't true because big brakes are more for hard braking from 120+ to 60mph in racing situations with reduced fade. On a street car, you'll find that these big brake setups will usually show worse 60-0mph stops because the pads and rotors don't have adequate time to warm up for optimal stopping ability. There is a lot more heat generated during a 120mph-60mph stop than one from 60-0. I'm not saying the Z/G Brembo setup is bunk, but don't be mislead into thinking you're getting substanially better braking because you're not. If you're an autocrosser or road course racer, get them because you'll be able to use them to their fullest otherwise I'd reconsider because that's a lot of money that could be better spent.

 

I don't have the figures, so I wont argue with you, that for one panic stop, the stock brakes will bring you down in the same amount of feet as the Brembos. But, that's not the point. Notice my comments about performance, modulation, feel, fade and etc. The stock brakes were grabby and much to difficult, IMHO, to modulate. I have experience with both, and again, IMO, there's just no camparision.

I guess I'm not alone because so many people complained about the performance and wearability of the stock brakes that Infiniti issued a special Brake Warranty. There were no TSBs or warranty issues with the Brembos. Again, a World Class Brake, and recognized around the world for their quality.

Lou

 

If I had to guess why Infiniti dropped the Brembos, I'd bet customer complaints were key on the list. For as fantastic as these brakes are, how many of you proud coupe owners (with the Brembos) have had to replace rotors yet? Give the fact that they've been out a couple of years, and average milage people drive is about 15k miles per yr., these rotor replacements are going to start showing up. And if I owned one of these cars, I'd be pretty pissed to find out a full 4 wheel brake job (rotors, pads and labor) cost somewhere around $2,500! The Brembo rotors list for $494.17 EACH! You probably would expect that kind of repair bill on a Ferarri or other exotic but it's insane on a sub - $40,000 car. Now, while they may not warp prematurely like the stock brake rotors (which list for $111.23 BTW), they will eventually need to be replaced. And the stock system does produce excellent stopping distances.

All this said, I'd love a big brake system on my sedan....but one where you can get rotors that are not 24k gold.

 

So are the new 6spds going to have identical sized calipers to autos? Thus no more worries of brake clearance when fitting aftermarket wheels?

 

My brakes make me splooge when I take a look at them:

 

Motor Trend's one-year report on the G35 Coupe 6MT in their last issue reported 109' from 60-0 with the Brembos. By comparison, the featherweight deathtrap Lotus Elise did a 60-0 in 108'. I have the Brembos on my Coupe and I've never driven a car with better brakes in my life. I was on I-75 in Georgia the other day and exited into a rest area- it was one of the older rest areas with a really short substandard exit ramp, and I was doing at least 60 on the ramp and came up on some slowpoke doing about 15 and the Brembos saved me from plowing into his rear. They've been perfectly squeak-free thus far. And of course, they're sexy as all get out!

 

:And of course, they're sexy as all get out!
eekeek:

 

05 rwd sedans have much improved brakes now... they work quite well, as i have used them much during the santa cruz run on the 1st of april and just today on a cruise to Lake Berryesa with several 350z's and 300z's from the hooters natomas meet...

oh yeah the vdc saved me several times during some 90mph maneuvers in the twisties near the lake...

as for the calipers of the 05+ g35s, despite the floating caliper design and looking like single pistons, they are actually dual pistons... yes 2 pistons per caliper in the front... check out the service manual and you shall see....

 

wow, i can't believe this thread was dug out after a year and 3 months!