Hello all here is a short and crappy video of my G35 with the G37 big brake kit on it ! enjoy ! easy install direct bolt on awesome braking power...!!

THANKS TO BLUESLATE for the inspiration and TONY @ RIVERSIDE for putting together such a great kit !!!

update a couple of pics





(it's a youtube it's somewhat blurry and it blows but u get the point)

 

Looks great

 

Looks fantastic! nice work!.

 

Looks nice, but I am from the school of 'big brakes aren't actually that different to stock, as long as you set them up right' thought. Still, they look meaty enough. Did you do any tests to check out braking distances before, and after, to see if there is in fact any improvment in braking ability? More often than not most folks think they have better brakes, when in actual fact didtances are not improved, rather the force required on your brake pedal is altered, (ie, have to push less, to get x amount of force on the brakes)...

Would be nice to see a comparison.

 

Looks nice, but I am from the school of 'big brakes aren't actually that different to stock, as long as you set them up right' thought. Still, they look meaty enough. Did you do any tests to check out braking distances before, and after, to see if there is in fact any improvment in braking ability? More often than not most folks think they have better brakes, when in actual fact didtances are not improved, rather the force required on your brake pedal is altered, (ie, have to push less, to get x amount of force on the brakes)...

Would be nice to see a comparison.

 

great job, so what size is the G37 rotor?
how about pistons size diameter?

I'm curious because I want to compare the actual brake torque difference and brake bias change

how much you paid for the calipers?

 

As far as piston size i'm not sure and i really don't know where i can get that kind of info ? The calipers and i'm sure everyone knows 4 pistons in the front and 2 piston in the back. the rotors are 14.0-inch front and 13.8-inch rear.

Everything said and done cost be about 2k give or take.

As to bluemeanie i know exactly what you're saying about big brake kits not being too different from stock. you're basing that on the fact that the factory balances the brakes out perfectly and all the numbers are dialed in. but what you have to realize is that these brakes are actually "STOCK" and they're a factory item so rotor size, line length, caliper size, caliper positioning, etc etc etc. were in fact dialed in for perfect braking balance maybe not on this car but on a g37 which uses the same platform.

as far as testing goes no i have not had the opportunity and i don't think it's necessary. what i refer to as "awesome braking power" is the fact that now i have more responsive brakes at both low and high speeds, much better pedal feel, less brake fade, and if i had to just guess on braking distances i would personally say they have improved much. (from driving on known roads and known braking distances) and they look great !

Thanks for all the props guys i really appreciate it.

 

The Akenono brakes look great!

Thanks for the preview of the 2009 G37 (sport package) brakes. The 09 would probably be better integrated than a bolt-on retrofit update (i.e. different master cylinder and brake balancing?)

If the Akebono brakes are good enough for a 5000+ lb Infiniti FX50, think of what the same brakes would do for the 2009 G37 sedan.

 

i don't know if they would change the master cylinder and other components i mean i know have all matching part numbers on my car than those on the g37 same part number for master cyl and all ... but it's possible ?

 

They do look good. Did you change your proportioning valve?

 

no i did not,the research and comments from guys that have done it before me there was no need to. so i didn't look into it much.

 

Looks great! Good job. Did they install stainless lines as well?

 

I'm of the school of thought that the stock brakes on my '04 sedan suck. After a couple hard pulls from say 80-40mph they stink more than they stop. When I put wider stickier tires on the car the brakes basically cannot lock up/activate abs much at all unless the road surface is uneven. I can only think that in this case bigger brakes have got to decrease stopping distances as well as increasing the number of decelerations before getting hot as hell and fading.

I replaced the fluid with high temperature racing grade fluid, installed stainless steel lines, Hawk HPS pads and slotted rotors. They still suck and that's on the road, I haven't had this car on the track yet.

Does anybody else feel this way? Or otherwise?

I've just ordered Hawk HP Plus pads that I hope to install before a track day this weekend at Carolina Motorsports Park and I'm hoping that the higher heat resistance and increased friction coefficient will help and that maybe they'll perform ok but I'm not very hopeful.

I also plan to install this kit from Riverside as well unless I'm pleasantly surprised by the performance of the HP Plus pads.

To CDMORENOT: thanks for posting! I was looking for just this kind of feedback.

I'd like to do some tests of 60-0 if I can get onto the skidpad so we could perhaps compare those to the Ops after upgrade distances, or else mine after I do mine.

Its tough to see being able to do good controlled before and after tests but maybe I can. It would be interesting to do 10 runs in a row of 60-0mph measuring each before upgrading and then again after. Of course it's important to bed in the pads for a while before abusing them so it'll be impossible to exactly match the conditions.

 

Got back from CMP, HP Plus pads bite well but severely overheated, cracking my front rotors during my second session. I got replacement "premium" rotors from NAPA, nice quality and heavier than the ones I had on. I went back on the track and did better with them. Pads performed pretty well but they were still exceeding their operating heat range. Rear brakes actually held up.

Out on the street I find that with these Rotors and HP Plus pads the stopping power is MUCH improved. There's a lot of dust and they squeal under light braking at low speeds but they sure do grab! It's interesting to learn how much different rotors and pads can do.

Given that on the track these brakes still failed me I am still now looking to upgrade to a larger setup but I've learned a lot about what the stock brakes can and can't do. They can do more than I thought possible with the right pads and rotors. Hawk HPS pads did little better than stock but the next step up to a more racing oriented pad made a huge difference. I thought they'd be slippy when cold and scare me but they grab fine at low as well as high temperatures. A premium rotor from NAPA has more heft and thicker walls than slotted EBAY rotors, dissipates a lot more heat and performs much better. For me the latter failed while the former survived. On a track like CMP the stock 03-04 brakes couldn't handle the heat that built up even with HP Plus pads. I have been advised to try carbotech pads or to try a higher heat range set of Hawks like HT10's. With the right pads even the stock brakes MAY well be able to take the heat of the track and not glaze or fade. Its when they begin to fade or glaze because they get out of their heat range that the trouble begins, with extreme heat buildup, more fading, etcetera potentially degrading or destroying the rotors and the pads.

I might hold off on upgrading to bigger brakes until after my next track event when I can try those yet hotter pads, but I think what I'm actually going to do is upgrade not to a BIG brake kit, but instead to the 05-07 350z/G35 OEM which are considerably larger than the 03-04 brakes. 12.6x1.1 vs 11.6x.9 in front, similarly larger in the rear as well. It depends on if I can get a set cheaply. I think that then with the right pads they may hold up ok.

The problem with this strategy is of course that I may well just keep driving faster once that weak link is strengthened with this upgrade, and I may then run straight into an overheating problem with them as well, just at higher speeds and with later braking attacks before corners. Then I'll have spent time and money and be back kind of where I was, needing a BBK upgrade anyway.

This has been a really interesting learning experience for me. I spent more time changing wheels and rotors and pads at the track than I did driving, but I did get out on the track for four different sessions so it was a lot of fun anyway. It was the first time on the track with my G35 Sedan and I can definitely drive it a bit better now, pushing its limits more confidently. The way the brakes are set up now I FINALLY have satisfaction on the street with the grippy HP Plus pads. Noisy, yes, messy, yes but oh so satisfying.

Maybe I should just go for big brakes for their looks...

Anybody have some insight to share on my dilemna? Been here before? I don't want to solicit generic "Go with the Big Brakes Kit" comments, unless they are based on experience that includes stuff like I've experienced. I'd love to hear from you if you've made brake upgrades, run through pad possibilities on the track and then made additional brake upgrades to a yet bigger and better system because even with the best pads for the application you still had problems and had to upgrade again to keep up with your driving level.