Stagea Brakes Help

[Mr_RS4]

Hey all,

i've recently picked up my stagea and its so sweet, only thing it needs is some attention to the brakes. the front pads are low (not seriously low but will need replacing soon).

Well after a good blast up Mt Mee (for any of you here in brisbane) I noticed that stopping power wasn't as good as I'd like. i realise these things weigh in excess of 1650kg even if they don't feel like it.

I would like to replace the rotors with DBA xdrilled and slotted definatley front and depending on price rear too (at least machine the rear) and then some preformance pads.

what I need to know is are the stagea series 1 braking system the same as an R33 gtst or are they something different. Never owned a skyline before so i'm not sure. This will make getting the gear a lot easier than aksing people at stores. oh yeah and pads too, same as r33 ?????

thanks for the help

[Terminal]

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...ercooler+thread

try that thread, we figured it all out a while ago

[Tangles]

I tested my brakes yesterday (new baby = very tired driver; would be better off drunk I reckon!).

They are GOLD. They stop hard & quick...... standard. As good as my DBA x-drilled/slotted rotors on my ex-VR V8 chaser sedan.

When they are worn, then I'll put slooted DBA's on the front, with good pads all round.

Brendan

[AlexCim]

Stagea brakes?

This car has the most pathetic brakes i have ever used. Even my 2tonne celsior braked harder then my stagea.

The stock pads overheat within 3-4 hard corners too (mountain stuff) which is also pathetic.

DBA's etc should make them "good", AP make them "mention worthy"

Each to their own though. For me, they overheat way too easy.

[AlexCim]

Oh, the stagea brakes are fine for city driving, they stop quickly on a road in traffic etc, but for anything beyond daily driving, no no no

[Tangles]

Too true, in perspective this is a city traffic car, so its ok for that sort of driving. For track/hills, Brembo all the way!!!

[Sydneykid]

BAH HUMBUG! you guys obviously slow down too much for corners. In 18 months of Stagea driving I have always been able to activate the ABS at will. So the limit of retardation is the tyres, not the brakes. Good pads, slotted rotors and decent brake fluid is all mine needed.

cheers

[harold]

BAH HUMBUG! you guys obviously slow down too much for corners.  In 18 months of Stagea driving I have always been able to activate the ABS at will.  So the limit of retardation is the tyres, not the brakes.  Good pads, slotted rotors and decent brake fluid is all mine needed.

cheers

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Need better tyres?

Does anyone know what sort of money I would be looking at to upgrade the front to r33 gts-t calipers and DBA rotors.

Is it all a straight swap?

[AlexCim]

Maybe around ~500 for calipers all round, new rotors are 400 a pair, new pads are 200 a pair.

SK, even in straight line mega dry conditions, 100 to 0, i cant lock the ABS up. And ive got the braided lines too....

2nd time in the hills two nights ago, i consciously thought about not dragging the brakes, and being very quick with my braking. Wasnt getting very bad brake fade, not as bad as the first time.

I think maybe i have the el cheapo of cheap pads on mine, crapper then stock im talking

[Tangles]

I'd think that mine has good pads, as they grip VERY well. I was very surprised I stopped so quickly. Biggest limiting factor is the $100 cheaparse tyres Im using (until someone finds me a set of 17inch R34 GTT wheels!! wink wink please)

Brendan

[Mr_RS4]

Yeah well I'm thinking of just going with a whole GTST upgrade. Front and Rear. It seems (after reading so many posts here) that doing anything with the standard brakes is just too hard as far as finding parts goes. At least with a whole R33 GTST setup I'll have better preformance and easier replacment of pads / rotors.

Has anyone here done this. And how much did it cost. I'm thinking R33 4 spot calipers front, 2 spot rear and matching rotors front and rear. Wether I go for slotted or not is a different matter depending on cost. Otherwise i'll upgrade rotors later.

I'm assuming pads and rotors are going to be much easier to find this way. Also how easy to fit the whole setup.

Thanks guys

[Mr_RS4]

Oh yeah and where are some good places to look for the conversion parts. Preferably in Brisbane but doesn't have to be.

[Sydneykid]

Need better tyres? 

Nope and the suspesnion is pretty good too.

Does anyone know what sort of money I would be looking at to upgrade the front to r33 gts-t calipers and DBA rotors. 

Is it all a straight swap?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't forget the master cylinder and the hoses. Just sticking used callipers on is not my idea of a good move. I would look at rebuilding the callipers and master cylinder before I put them on. They may well be in worse condition than what you take off. Just changing the fronts only adds a complication, that being the master cylinder front/rear biasing will be wrong. That means differential bore sizes to fix, not a cheap conversion as it requires some braking system expertise (not your local workshop).

Last time I bough Nissan 4 spot fronts and 2 spot rears they cost $800 with used standard rotors, because the people selling them wouldn't separate. So I ended up with a set of rotors that I didn't need plus the $50 freight (they are heavy) to get them here. The prices are high because the Silvia guys all want to do the 5 stud + brake upgrade. Their strong demand pushes the prices up. I sold the standard rotors for $150 to get some money back.

Then I had to get the callipers serviced, that was $400 and new DBA slotted rotors where $700. Then I had to buy pads, decent pads, they were $450 for the set (front and rear). The standard brake hoses didn't fit, although they were in OK condition. So I made up a set of braided lines, they would have cost $320 trade price. Fortunately the master cylinder was the right size and I already had it rebuilt for $180.

Add it up;

800 + 50 - 150 + 400 + 700 + 450 + 320 + 180 = $2,750.

Plus the labour to remove and replace, I reckon no change from $3K.

Did it improve the braking, hell yes, but I reckon I could have achieved almost the same improvement with just rotors and pads for around 1/3 the cost. This is why I have gone that way with the Stagea.

cheers

Edited February 2, 2006 by Sydneykid

[Techo]

WHO NEEDS BRAKES, When you have 4WD!!!!!!

[AlexCim]

What? 4wd is acceleration, brakes is slowing power?

So SK, when is the brake group buy going to happend then? All machined down and RTR?