Big brakes won’t stop your car any shorter

Brakes, tires and suspension.

Agree, big brakes are a terrible idea for most everyday drivers, but they do look cool, and you can take your car to the track and not experience the dreaded fade. Rivs actually have more need for big brakes than a lightweight sports car, because we will generate more heat slowing from high speed. Big brake calipers also tend to offer more high performance pad compounds.

So when you see big brakes on cars like Nissan GTR, Mustang GT500, or Hellcat/Demon, it sort of makes sense because these big cars' brakes will heat up fast. Nissan got embarrassed a few years back when a popular car mag crashed one of its NISMO cars into a barrier after the brakes completely failed during a track test. It only took 2 laps!

AA wrote:

Agree, big brakes are a terrible idea for most everyday drivers, but they do look cool, and you can take your car to the track and not experience the dreaded fade. Rivs actually have more need for big brakes than a lightweight sports car, because we will generate more heat slowing from high speed. Big brake calipers also tend to offer more high performance pad compounds.

So when you see big brakes on cars like Nissan GTR, Mustang GT500, or Hellcat/Demon, it sort of makes sense because these big cars' brakes will heat up fast. Nissan got embarrassed a few years back when a popular car mag crashed one of its NISMO cars into a barrier after the brakes completely failed during a track test. It only took 2 laps!

I find the upgrade to F-body brakes sensible. I drive lots on the highway over mountains, and there is a difference in consistency.

Yeah, I really liked them for track days, mountains, and towing duties. Felt like I had plenty of headroom to travel at high speed in any of these scenarios.

Also the maintenance interval is longer with the larger F-body pads.

AA wrote:

Nissan got embarrassed a few years back when a popular car mag crashed one of its NISMO cars into a barrier after the brakes completely failed during a track test. It only took 2 laps!

That was because the GTR's robot brain is constantly using the brakes to do traction/stability control though, right?

Nah, it was because the car (370Z) came with street pads (and had poor air flow to the calipers), even though it was branded as NISMO performance trim. They offered a performance pad after C&D ran it into the wall (the test driver had 15 years experience testing cars on track).

Point is, it shows that stopping shorter isn't the only reason for upgrading brakes. When you push a car to high speed, or add weight, or drive down a mountain, things like big brakes, better fluid, air vents, and race pads pay off in spades.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15129918/z-meets-wall-we-investigate-why-the-nismo-zs-brakes-failed-at-lightning-lap/