Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for awhile gathering lots of useful info so thanks, if any of those OGs from 2006 are still around!

This is my new daily, 2004 G35 6MT coupe with 115k miles (5k from me). I overpaid a bit for the body, and she's got some rust bubbles forming on both rear wheel arches, but I got to enjoy her all summer so it's worth it! 5/16 spacer, stage 2 clutch, exhaust, Brembos, dealer maintained engine, etc helps as well.

I do all my own work learning as I go so this forum has been and will be an invaluable resource to me! I'm halfway through installing the full Whiteline bushings kit and I don't plan on stopping until I know she drives just like new again.

 

Nice car looks like fun, inspect your front rotors, looks like pretty deep grooves in it

 

Haha you noticed! They look a lot deeper than they are - the only symptom is a bit of braking vibration that manifests over 85 or so. I don't particularly mind and I'll replace them next time I'm in there. The car's a daily so for 99% of my driving they're fine. I'm coming from a 5 speed 2005 Corolla so anything is an upgrade. This is... well... a very large upgrade

 

Still look good show some love

 

Yep, probably a very slightly warped rotor, just plan ahead that they likely need replaced in the front and not just resurfaced. The G is definitely an upgrade over the Corolla lol.

 

Congrats! Good choice - the '04 6MT's w/Brembos are great cars and well maintained should run for a long time. Rotors aren't expensive on these - you can find Centric premium blanks for <$100/rotor.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I found these on RockAuto for $50 a rotor, they seem like a great deal since as I understand it Centrics come off the same line as StopTechs.

Any recommendations for bang for the buck pads for the Brembo brakes? There are so many options from $15 to $70 for the front set. 90% of my braking will be from normal driving but I want something with similar or better performance to OEM just for that 10% when I'm flying down a country road at night and I see a deer (or a black car parked on the side of the road ) I might do an autocross or two next summer but that's the extent of my planned "track" use. From what I've read Hawk HPS is a good budget friendly performance pad with no real downsides. Is this still the case or has something better come along?

 

Hawk HPS for any street use? NAH. Not good in rain at all .

 

And yet, HAWK HPS pads have worked perfectly for me since I installed 'em 60K miles ago! Driving rain, snow and SoCal heat...how much more do they need to be tested? Is it possible if anyone had bad results you didn't do the "Bed In Process" or you had other brake issues?
Gary

 

Hmm, after looking around a bit it seems complaints about the HPS's cold performance are pretty common - I'm sure they'll work great especially if you track the car but for my use I don't think that's a worthwhile compromise.

I found a review the Stoptech Street Performance pads, and they're half the price of the HAWK pads with better cold performance and initial pedal feel. If anyone has any experiences with these feel free to chime in, but given the price/performance ratio I think I'm going with these.