VASasha

iTrader: (5)

I was at my car shop today while they were upgrading brakes on a car. Thing is, the ones that they were taking off were not bad. I was wondering how interchangeable breaks are and if I could just take the old ones off the other car and put them in mine. I didn't have a chance to ask my friend this question since I have left the shop and don't want to wait till monday for the answer.

If anybody could let me know, I'd appreciate it. The exact breaks that were taken off were the Brembo kit off a G35.

Thanks

expo1

The BRAKES from a G35 will not fit on a RX-8. When it comes to BRAKES you want a system designed to stop YOUR car, not another with different weights and other specs that effect BRAKING. One more thing to keep in mind is unless you do alot of track driving a BRAKE ' upgrade' is just for looks. The stock BRAKES are very good when it comes to stopping the car.

VASasha

iTrader: (5)

I always thought that with breaks, the bigger they are the more stopping power you have until you get to a certain point with racing breaks where they just don't heat up enough for daily use.

Silverarrow

Nope, size won't necessarily equate to more stopping power. As far as size goes the more mass the rotor has, the more heat it is capable of handling.

The "racing brakes" you are talking about are in fact the pads and their compound. Some brake pads need heat to really work, others work good or decent from cold.

Joel Ramsey

Spot on Expo 1 !! If I remember right, Petit Racing who has been racing RX-7's for years came out with a brake upgrade for the 8 and the car took longer to stop.
Mazda did their homework with this car. If anything, I'd maybe change rotors but that's it.

DaveCM203

I saw a list a few months ago that listed the 20 best and 20 worst breaking cars. The 8 was listed in the top 15. Can't exacltly remember the exact spot. But it was listed among some very exotic machines. Ever since seeing that I put the brake upgrades I was looking at out of my head.

Phantom Menace

Yes and no. A larger diameter rotor will help in stopping power, but you should also upgrade the master cylinder as the amount of fluid going to the pistons would still the same volume. That is, the volume of fluid in the stock master cylinder is the required amount to stop the 12.7" & 11" rotors. If you put bigger rotors, the fluid would not be adequate to get the most from the new rotors, etc. Most change the calipers, pads, and rotors and never think twice about the master cylinder.

Brembos are the best brakes out there. If they were taking them off, maybe something was wrong with it (e.g. warped, cracked, worn, etc.)?

VASasha

iTrader: (5)

Just asked, nothing wrong with the Brembo's. (btw when I have been saying "breaks" I've been referring to the whole break system, not just the pad's/calipers.) They are being upgraded to a whole new system. I asked at the shop and they just told me that it is possible to put the kit on an 8 but it would require serious modification and would just be easier to to get a new kit. If anybody is wondering the shop I'm referring to is Altered Atmosphere in Gaithersburg, MD. I'm getting some exhaust work done there.

Silverarrow

Actually the master cylinder needs to be matched with the size of the piston(s) in the caliper, it has nothing to do with the size of the rotors. A good aftermarket brake system will take this into account, making the need for an uprated master cylinder irrelevant.

Brembos are not bad, but they are over priced and are not the end-all-be-all of brake systems. They have had good saturation in the OEM market however and the name is definitely a big one.

Unknown_Driver

some aftermarket pads will be cheaper and create the same effect as a larger braking system...


i had hawk HP plus on my WRX and was out stopping the stock brembo STi guys... i spoke to race teams and rally car drivers and they all opted that changing the pads would create a better effect for daily driving...

larger braking systems would just reduce the heat build up as contact patch from the tires is really what stops the car, most people don't drive hard enough to build up enough heat to really cause extreme brake fade

iridearocket

Unless you are racing the car, you are overanalysing the situation. The RX-8 stops on a dime... I will promise you that the RX-8 will never crash as a result of you not having enough stopping power. The only problem you will run into is when you start driving another car... you will scare the crap out of yourself becuase it can't stop as well as your RX-8 did.

I've done 30+ minutes of consistent lapping with the stock brakes (just performance pads and racing fluid installed) and the brake fade is still very manageable. There is no way that spending $5000 on larger brakes will even get you 2 more feet of stopping power while driving around on the street.... you need to be careful too becuase some racing brakes will not stop as well as street brakes, until they reach their designed operating temperature... a temperature much higher than you can generate by highway racing to the mall and back.

Whatever Mazda did to heat treat these rotors is amazing... I have 40,000mi on my car, at the end of the 2nd set of pads, lots of track events under my belt and they are still not warped at all. I'm going to put my 3rd set of pads on the car this spring and see if I can bend these original rotors once and for all.

Silverarrow

No one doubts that the stock setup is stout, but as with anything it can be improved upon. There seems to be a misconception that the caliper has to have heat in it, this is not true, some brake pads will not stop until they have heat in them, but this is completely apart from the caliper size/style.

iridearocket

Yes, the brake pads apply different braking power depending on their temperature.

I'd like to see some testing where a set of brakes for under $5000 will stop a RX-8 in 1-2 feet less than the stock setup. (under street driving conditions)

If anyone can find me 2 more feet of stopping power over the 114 feet used to stop from 60mph down to 0, and then justify $5000 for street driving, I'd like to hear more about it.

If you want to drop the dough, just so you can show your buddies how cool the brakes look, that is another story.

That's just my oppinion.... there're virtually no room for any improvement that is useful.

TomAssBender

My buddy just saw my car for the first time a couple weeks ago, his first comment was

"Those red brakes just make it look so badass"

So, painting your calipers red will decrease your stopping distance by a factor of about 10-12 horsepower.

evilmiata

Upgraded pads and tires are your best bet. I had my first emergency stop with Azenis a couple weeks ago. I must have stopped 7-10 feet short of where I expected to end up. You know that "Oh ****!" slow motion thing that goes through your head? Mine was "Why is my car slowing so quickly?" Best mod ever.