worth the upgrade?

[phreeky]

finally having the z32 cailpers sitting there, i'm wondering whether the conversion is worth it.......from the standard twin piston slide caliper ones (u13 import)

the pad surface area on the stock calipers is a tiny bit bigger, the disc diameter is the same. the difference is the z32 calipers i believe the disc is a couple of mm thicker (extra heat absorbing abilities?), are a "fixed" design (better pedal feel?) and have cooling fins on them.

i'm a little surprised the pad surface area and disc diameter are what they are

the z32 calipers will also require me to sort out wheels (test fit shows they hit spokes, but fine diameter wise)

would the caliper design and/or thicker discs make a noticable improvement or am i wasting my time? with some average pads (just bendix advance) i hit the sprints on the weekend and they seemed ok, but was only running crap tyres so brakes didn't get used as hard as they may in the future.

[260DET]

The aluminium Z32 twin spot calipers do flex a bit so it could be they will be no better than what you have, but I have not compared the two in action so.......... Use Ultimate instead of Advance pads.

[phreeky]

yeah the problem is that nobody seems to have compared the two, s13 owners don't bother using the u13 calipers (not common enough for them to know about i guess) even though they give much better wheel clearance.

i can only imagine the z32/r32 ones would be an improvement however because my stock brakes seem to resemble the NA r33 brakes (not exactly the same however), surely turbo r32 brakes would've been better? (i'm not sure on NA r32 brakes).

the sh*thouse local brake place told me bendix no longer made ultimates and advance was the replacement, idiot me believed them and thought nothing of it until i went to the bendix website and that certainly isn't the case.

that said.....i currently have to buy maxima pads and angle grind part of the backing plate to make them fit (just 1mm or so from an edge), i imagine z32 pads would be heaps easier to find and in good compounds too.

atm i'm only running stock discs (haven't been machined since who knows when) + bendix advance, far from ideal.

[260DET]

The 260Z has aluminium Z32 calipers and Ultimate pads. Its brakes work well but I'm guessing some firewall and caliper flex causes them to feel a bit spongy. Not bad though, good bang for the buck.

[oldcorollas]

just a note, although the Z32 discs are thicker (30mm vs 22mm?), the DBA ones are only about 100grams heavier for the Z32's.. so it's not like you have more mass for heat to be absorbed.. but the vanes inside are bigger, so perhaps slightly better cooling??

the R33 is same just 296mm (and stiffer calipers?? or is that the GTR?)

if you do decide to fit them, i'd love to find out what rims/offset etc you had to use.

i saw an S13 with Z32 4 spots at Autobacs last weekend, but i couldn't see the rim offset.. they looked like Enkeis tho ;)

OT, would these calipers still flex on a substantially lighter car?

[phreeky]

better heat/cooling capabilities is so far the only advantage i'm seeing of this brake upgrade. you say R33 is same just 296mm, if that were all the difference was then that would at least give a mechanical advantage due to larger diameter discs.

yeah rims are an issue and i'm likely to use spacers :( the rim design requires huge clearance to the spokes, enkeis and other high clearance rims seem to be the only way to go.

as for car weight, given 260Zs aren't all that heavy then the above response is your answer i guess. my car is around 1450kg dry, so not light :(

[oldcorollas]

mechanical advantage is always good..

from here (http://www.performanceforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67203109)
Yup. And it not just the increase in rotor mass (against fade) and diameter (ie more brake torque), but the R33 caliper is much stiffer than the creaky old R32 ones. They might look the same, but they are much better.

i had thought the calipers were substantially the same, but apparently they are different?? (too many calipers to get confused with ;) )

if i see any S13's with 4 pots around, i'll try to get a pic of their rims/spacers

yahoo auctions...
Z32 4pot (http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s17731842) ribbed, alloy, 280x30 (or 26)
R32GTR (http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m31493053) smooth, alloy? 296x32
R32GTS(T?), looks same as Z32 (http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e55618826) ribbed, alloy, 280x30 (NA R32 and R33 are 280x26?)
R33GTS(T?) look more solid.. no ribbing (http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e55628026) smooth alloy 296x30 (felt like alloy when i picked em up last weekend)
R33GTS(T?) again (http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n39176578)
R33GTR (http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n38221366) brembo.. DBA lists all brembo'd skyline as 324x30

so i apologise...
the R32GTS-T and Z32 are basically same caliper and either 280x30 or 280x26 for the R32T and R33GTS NA models.
R32GTR are smooth and 296x32, or 324 for brembo(and later GTR)
R33GTS-T is smooth and 296x30 and GTSBoy says stiffer caliper.

(this is also so i can reference later on.... my car weight should be under 900kg so perhaps calipe flex (with unboosted brakes) will not be so bad... but i am also trying to fit to S13 or S14 struts)