Extreme 13 necessary for non-auto X car with big HP?

[violacleff]

I have read all the posts concerning brake packages and it seems that everyone who does the $1,000 + upgrades is auto X racing. My 240 is undergoing a turbo swap for 350-400 whp. Now this will be a daily driven car that will see the strip a few times. I know that braking is a huge factor for cars racing on the track and big brakes are important. I have seen Ross, Dave and Juans brake packages and had a few questions.

1st. I am willing to spend 1300 for the Xtreme 13 if this will be necessary for street driving/my safety. But is it necessary or race only?

2nd. I noticed that Juan sell the Spacer for the 4x4 vented setup and suggests that a full kit (ross, MSA) is unecessary if it can be found in the JY. Is this true? Or is there any advantage (performance wise) of buying a $350 setup over JY parts using the spacer? I am on a budget but will spend more for safety if necessary. Not interested in bling.

3rd. Ross mentions using the 4x4 setup with Porterfield R4 pads. This seems to be some sort of medium between the typical 4x4 setup and Extreme package for a guy who is not doing circuit racing. Is this a correct assumption?

 

Sorry for the long post. I have read through the posts, but as I mentioned they all seemed to be race oriented. I will pay extra $$ for safety but don't want to go overboard if its not necessary.

 

Dave

[JMortensen]

Guys who road race with VARA and similar organizations use the 4x4 setup, because VARA will only allow brakes similar to the original racing equipment, and the 4x4 setup is very similar to the FIA stuff used in the 70's. Only problem I've heard from them so far is one guy snapped the long bolts that hold the rotor and spacer to the hub, but he thought that metric grade 8 was the same as SAE grade 8, so he was actually using SAE grade 5 bolts to hold it all together.

 

These VARA cars are FAST, 12:1 compression triple carbed cars.

 

Jon

[violacleff]

HMMM so I guess with good quality pads I should be ok then.

[baddriver]

Stock brakes will be enough to stop the car from whatever speed. As long as you are street driving, and not always on the brakes, you won't have a problem. If you do go autocrossing or get into road race, then you'll need upgrades to keep the rotors from overheating.

[Wagz]

For what you describe, the stock disc/drum setup will handle your needs just fine. Just keep things well maintained and use good quality pads/shoes and you are good to go.

 

As stated above: If you do go road racing on a regular basis, you may want to upgrade. But, even then, there are guys using the stock setup with high quality components that are doing just fine.

 

I went with the big brake upgrade on my 240Z/Velo Rossa because I plan to auto-cross for fun. I had a '76 280 with a V8 conversion and stock brakes that I drove pretty hard on the back roads regularly and didn't have any problems.

[evildky]

I have the turbo swap on my 240 with stock brakes with hawk pads, I autocross regularly, the brakes work fine but when co driving I can see my brake fluid rise, I need to assl some heat shielding to the lines, if you have shielding you'll be fine if not get some shields or make them

[tannji]

When I was a lot younger, I had several Z's that saw a lot of light-to-light racing, and the breaks were a big problem. MY sbc 240z did pretty well tho, and I ran good pads and new brake lines. My current car is getting Ross's kit, but mostly because I want it, not out of any great need. I do plan on hitting meets and gathers with it.... so a little mechanical bling is necessary. (just like the V8 in a 2 seater, in a 4 car family, right? LOL) Honestly, the biggest improvement I ever saw was eliminating the stock rubber lines going to the calipers. If I never work on a drum brake again, it will still be too soon for me, so you can see I kinda need that disk conversion, as well....