Z Car Brake Fluid suggestions

[ZR8ED]

Ok I searched and found an excellent thread called the brake fluid faq. It was great reading, but i learned enough now that I'm unsure what type of fluid to put into my z. The faq was very general towards street and race applications, and was also filled with technical numbers/values that pertain to the chemsitry etc of the fluids.

 

What I really need to know, and what would make a great sticky is some specific recommendations of types/brands that work well with our cars. Obviously there should be some variations broken out by vehicle modifications and their intended use.

 

Suggestions for:

 

1 Stock brakes for street use only

2 Stock brakes with street/autoX/drag use.

3 Stock brakes for race only.

 

Mild mods:

4 Rear discs, larger front discs for street use only

5 Rear discs, larger front discs for street/AutoX/drag use.

6 Rear discs, larger front discs for race only.

 

Major mods:

7 Large rear discs, larger front discs for street use only

8 Large rear discs, larger front discs for street/AutoX/drag use.

9 Large rear discs, larger front discs for race only.

 

I would think I am with the majority of the group with a #5 setup/use.

 

Anyone care to comment?add something? Lets make this a sticky if we can get enough information. Sorry that I have nothing to recommend except the stock stuff has worked well for me, even with some track use.

[cygnusx1]

http://www.swedishbricks.net/700900FAQ/Brake%20Fluid%20Comparison.htm

 

There is no best. Pick the one you can afford that handles the highest temp for your intended use.

 

 

FWIW: I use ATE Superblue/Yellow because it has a high Temp/Cost ratio. I also like the fact that you alternate between Blue and Yellow to assure complete system flush.

[mark]

For dual purpose street and track days I have used the Valvoline synthetic stuff. I have also used motul for track days. Some say the motul absorbs water more readily but I always do a brake bleed before track days anyway.

 

Either fliud worked fine for the weekend. I chose these based on a higher fluid boiling point. I think key for any car reguardless of the fluid used is maintence. If the system is topped off and forgotten, no matter the fluid used, brake performance will suffer.

[EMWHYR0HEN]

ATE super Blue works good for your intentions. Plus, you can usually get them at your local BMW dealerships.

[junglist]

I am with cygnusx1, I've always ran ATE superblue/yellow. I used it on my 350Z for daily driving and for track days, also on my Integra GSR which had HUGE brakes before that with no issues. We also used it on my friend's '72 Z with stock brake setup & just Hawk blue pads and it was fine with that car on the track also.

 

ATE is relatively cheap and being able to see a different color fluid coming through when bleeding truly is helpful. I bought a motive power bleeder and that thing is awesome for bleeding fluids.

[johnc]

1 Stock brakes for street use only

 

Any DOT 3 or Synthetic DOT 5.

 

2 Stock brakes with street/autoX/drag use.

 

Any DOT 4.

 

3 Stock brakes for race only.

 

DOT 4 - ATE Super Blue, Motul RBF600, Castrol SRF.

[93anthracite]

+1 for SuperBlue, I bought a case of it at a good price a while back and use it on any car I ever expect to seetrack time.

 

For street cars, I'm a big fan of the cheap and readily available Valvoline SynTec (I think). Comes in a big gold bottle for a few bucks. I haven't researched to see if there would be any kind of conflict with our cars, but I see no reason why not.

Back when I had a Supra, some guys claimed to use the same Valvoline stuff for their road race supras and supposedly it would take a full weekend of abuse without needing a bleed or any kind of maintenance. Repeatedly stopping a 3200lb car from those incredibly high speeds seems like it would take quite a toll on a brake system to me. I was always very skeptical that they weren't bending the truth a bit; that or they had some truly impressive brake cooling modifications...

[jerryb]

Scott

 

I really like Motul. My old Toyota set-up performed much better with this fluid! In fact they only faded once and I pushed the car like a mad man that day.

 

Worked just fine on the street as well...I will run Motul with my new Wildwoods...... more expensive but well worth it.

 

I have no comparison to the other premium fluids.