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I was so happy when I found a “kit” that allowed me to use my amazing AP calipers from my C7Z on my new AMG. cars are nearly the same weight. those brakes gave me insane stopping power on that car so what could go wrong ?
*** AP kit was for a C7Z , they don’t make one for our car. Someone makes an adaptor for that kit to work on our car ***
I didn’t actually see them side by side before having them put on or I would have known this was a huge problem. 🤯
Two track days two sets of pads. Same
results. Inadequate stopping power. Brakes got hot , boiled fluid and had soft pedal. Frustrating. Pads were shot after one day. I have Tikt cooling ducts in the front. I was hitting 132 mph at Laguna and couldn’t not go any faster or I wouldn’t be able to stop in time. My C7Z o was hitting 139 mph and wishing i was a few more MPH faster. I’m actually shocked i was running 1:39 lap times there with ****ty brakes like this.
Was told by the place selling the kit that maybe I needed to burnish pads better or try a different compound……. umm nope that isn’t going to fix this issue sorry.
After a long talk with Girodisc I decided to get their new rotors made for factory CCM calipers. So I can now see very clearly the issue. Pad looks about twice the size !!! No freaking wonder it wasn’t working properly.
So here you go….. moral
lf the story. Stick with big brand names
for brakes. This is probably obvious to most. I assumed incorrectly as did the maker of this adaptor that similar weight car they would work fine. Wrong.
Yes those were the front not rear pads from C7Z AP kit next to the Girodisc pads. 😳🤯.
AP Racing has never made one of their Radi-cal BBKs for the GT-R. I asked Jeff Ritter at Essex as soon as I bought mine but there just wasn’t enough profit in it given the low numbers of units that could be sold I’d guess.
You used a third party adapter, (not APR) to try and use your existing AP Racing kit from your C7 Z06 on the GT-R? Thank God you were only boiling brake fluid as it could have turned out to be much more costly.
AP Racing has never made one of their Radi-cal BBKs for the GT-R. I asked Jeff Ritter at Essex as soon as I bought mine but there just wasn’t enough profit in it given the low numbers of units that could be sold I’d guess.
You used a third party adapter, (not APR) to try and use your existing AP Racing kit from your C7 Z06 on the GT-R? Thank God you were only boiling brake fluid as it could have turned out to be much more costly.
Yes i thought I clarified that in my post. it is NOT an AP kit made for our car. it’s a adaptor a third party made to use on that AP kit for our car. I had no idea it was such a mismatch. when i got the car I had them put the kit on before even picking it up so i never compared. I very wrongly assumed it was appropriate for our car. similar weight worked amazing on the C7Z. the person making this adaptor certainly should know it was WAY undersized. 🤷♂️. Clearly i should have been double checking more carefully. and not trusting that people would engineer it halfway decently ….
agreed. Lucky. If it wasn’t such a well made brake kit and pads it would have faired a lot worse.
Pisses me off when people make things improperly or totally wrong /dangerous for the end user. This never should have been sold to anyone intending to track the car. Hey around town it was great …..
Sorry to see this and glad you caught it before much damage.
You would not believe the garbage that is out there in the aftermarket. I see it in these onsite vendors all the time. 90% of them are not qualified to design the replacements parts they offer for sale. Many times they simply have an idea with maybe some basic machining skills, but zero engineering knowledge.
People can be so vulnerable to marketing, including spectacular performance claims, slick photos/videos, fake dyno sheets, etc. I've seen it all. As a Mechanical Engineer I can spot so many things that are obvious to me, but the layperson is going to miss it. I don't like being the "naysayer", so people have to experiment and discover on their own.
Sorry to see this and glad you caught it before much damage.
You would not believe the garbage that is out there in the aftermarket. I see it in these onsite vendors all the time. 90% of them are not qualified to design the replacements parts they offer for sale. Many times they simply have an idea with maybe some basic machining skills, but zero engineering knowledge.
People can be so vulnerable to marketing, including spectacular performance claims, slick photos/videos, fake dyno sheets, etc. I've seen it all. As a Mechanical Engineer I can spot so many things that are obvious to me, but the layperson is going to miss it. I don't like being the "naysayer", so people have to experiment and discover on their own.
As the saying goes: "Caveat Emptor"
Glad you are "uprighted" now.
All the Best,
Acta
appreciate the kind words.
I am REALLY looking forward to going back to Laguna Seca this next sunday with good brakes for the first time. Made it VERY difficult to feel comfortable with the car when it couldn’t brake properly. little more speed than my C7 but a lot less stopping power.
Yes that’s the one. Told them I had GTR. Shouldn’t matter. No way it would work properly on either platform with real track use. Maybe a novice driver or street driving it would be okay.
I have contacted them and asked to return it. It was not properly tested before being released to the public. Nice idea but dangerous end result.
I bet that Essex Racing as the official importer of AP Racing equipment did not sanction this at all.
definitely did not. Said they did track test them …. “every track has different braking requirements “ while that may be true these are not ready for prime time. not even close IMO. Sure a novice driver may get away with them or street warrior. Boils SRF fluid in first 20 session at Laguna Seca driven decently.
Said i can return but can’t offer a full refund since they are used. Fine with me. just want it in my review.
Most importantly don’t want others to follow my footsteps.
Pagid pads on the carbon ceramics are killer on the track. Never failed me yet.
have those on rear but with iron conversion.Using one of Girodisc endurance pads they offer for the front. They told me another GTR in Cali they setup has 8 days on pads and thinks he has 50% left. Id be thrilled with 4-5 days total. They use this setup for Ferrari Challenge cars etc. haven’t tested them yet. around town they are not too noisy at all thankfully.
$500 per track day rotors alone for CCM. no thank you. that’s what i spend on tires per event.
have those on rear but with iron conversion.Using one of Girodisc endurance pads they offer for the front. They told me another GTR in Cali they setup has 8 days on pads and thinks he has 50% left. Id be thrilled with 4-5 days total. They use this setup for Ferrari Challenge cars etc. haven’t tested them yet. around town they are not too noisy at all thankfully.
$500 per track day rotors alone for CCM. no thank you. that’s what i spend on tires per event.
Cali or Canada? LOL.
I was just talking to them the other day and mentioned that I have 8 track days on my Girodisc setup. Pads have about 6-8mm left. I think they started out about 16mm. I will probably get another 2 days on the pads and I will swap them out.
So call it 10 days total. Other than 2 days at Area 27, which is pretty hard on pads, I would say my other track days are moderate on pad wear. Just for reference, on my CCBs with Pagids, I ate up over 50% of my pads after 2 days at Area 27. Probably what finally killed my CC rotors as well.
As for the Girodiscs, they are phenomenal!
No noticeable drop in performance over the CCBs.
Bit more heat to deal with and noticed some chatter when very hot in the beginning which was probably due to not sufficient bedding. Fine now.
Probably get 2, maybe 3 sets of pads to one set of rotors. Some minor heat checking so far, and front rotors are down about 0.4mm.
On a side note, crazy story. I blew the belt that drives the power steering during my last track day. Lucky it happed just as I was entering a slow corner, further lucky to get the car slowed down and turned in time before hitting the wall. When I went to turn in I was like WTF!!! Car did not turn at all! If the belt had went about 10 seconds earlier I would probably not be here to type this. Previous corner is a high speed corner coming off the main straight. Enter it at about 210km/h and apex at about 150km/h. I would never have made that corner with no power steering. These cars are extremely hard to turn with no power!!!
Perhaps that is a good item to check during maintenance checks!
Last edited by canucklehead; Aug 4, 2022 at 10:25 AM.
On a side note, crazy story. I blew the belt that drives the power steering during my last track day. Lucky it happed just as I was entering a slow corner, further lucky to get the car slowed down and turned in time before hitting the wall. When I went to turn in I was like WTF!!! Car did not turn at all! If the belt had went about 10 seconds earlier I would probably not be here to type this. Previous corner is a high speed corner coming off the main straight. Enter it at about 210km/h and apex at about 150km/h. I would never have made that corner with no power steering. These cars are extremely hard to turn with no power!!!
Perhaps that is a good item to check during maintenance checks!
Hi canucklehead (Cory)
i am very glad that nothing happened to you.
I've never ridden at 150 without a servo coupler, so I haven't tested it.
Standing is super difficult.(It's the same without engine running)
Far as I know, the power steering is speed-dependent.Above a certain speed (I think it was 80mls/h, unconfirmed) you practically drive without power steering. I'm writing this, to get the monsters out of your head.:-)
On my own behalf: Would also like to officially thank you here.
The Pro vents have now arrived.You haven't charged me anything until today.If you don't want anything, which is already very generous, I can only say thank you again. Please let me at least cover the shipping costs (canada -> germany, think not so cheap) and your time.
Cali or Canada? LOL.
I was just talking to them the other day and mentioned that I have 8 track days on my Girodisc setup. Pads have about 6-8mm left. I think they started out about 16mm. I will probably get another 2 days on the pads and I will swap them out.
So call it 10 days total. Other than 2 days at Area 27, which is pretty hard on pads, I would say my other track days are moderate on pad wear. Just for reference, on my CCBs with Pagids, I ate up over 50% of my pads after 2 days at Area 27. Probably what finally killed my CC rotors as well.
As for the Girodiscs, they are phenomenal!
No noticeable drop in performance over the CCBs.
Bit more heat to deal with and noticed some chatter when very hot in the beginning which was probably due to not sufficient bedding. Fine now.
Probably get 2, maybe 3 sets of pads to one set of rotors. Some minor heat checking so far, and front rotors are down about 0.4mm.
On a side note, crazy story. I blew the belt that drives the power steering during my last track day. Lucky it happed just as I was entering a slow corner, further lucky to get the car slowed down and turned in time before hitting the wall. When I went to turn in I was like WTF!!! Car did not turn at all! If the belt had went about 10 seconds earlier I would probably not be here to type this. Previous corner is a high speed corner coming off the main straight. Enter it at about 210km/h and apex at about 150km/h. I would never have made that corner with no power steering. These cars are extremely hard to turn with no power!!!
Perhaps that is a good item to check during maintenance checks!
Okay you must be the guy they were talking about. I believe they do start out at 16 mm. expensive pads at $690 for the fronts. I wonder how those tracks compare to Laguna Seca for brake wear. Laguna is brutal on brakes. I would only get a single day on St43 at Laguna running 1:36-1:37s.
If you have 6-8 mm left you could probably run atleast 4 more days i’d think. then again better not to get them too thin and take a chance.
Wow that’s crazy losing your steering. I still need to get that recall work done for the driveshaft that can come off.
Okay you must be the guy they were talking about. I believe they do start out at 16 mm. expensive pads at $690 for the fronts. I wonder how those tracks compare to Laguna Seca for brake wear. Laguna is brutal on brakes. I would only get a single day on St43 at Laguna running 1:36-1:37s.
If you have 6-8 mm left you could probably run atleast 4 more days i’d think. then again better not to get them too thin and take a chance.
Wow that’s crazy losing your steering. I still need to get that recall work done for the driveshaft that can come off.
Ever go to Laguna Seca or Thunderhill ?
Dave
I missed out on a road trip to Laguna Seca & Thunderhill earlier this year because I don't have the jab and 2 weeks in Covid jail did not sound appealing.
Never been to either before.
Okay you must be the guy they were talking about. I believe they do start out at 16 mm. expensive pads at $690 for the fronts. I wonder how those tracks compare to Laguna Seca for brake wear. Laguna is brutal on brakes. I would only get a single day on St43 at Laguna running 1:36-1:37s.
If you have 6-8 mm left you could probably run atleast 4 more days i’d think. then again better not to get them too thin and take a chance.
Wow that’s crazy losing your steering. I still need to get that recall work done for the driveshaft that can come off.
Ever go to Laguna Seca or Thunderhill ?
Dave
Hey how are your brakes doing? I just purchased a GTR and I ordered the same setup from Girodisc. Since we both go to LS I'd like to know how they're performing.
Hey how are your brakes doing? I just purchased a GTR and I ordered the same setup from Girodisc. Since we both go to LS I'd like to know how they're performing.
hey. they are performing quite well thank you. two track days on them so far. Jeff Cool tan a session on them and got a 1:34.1 with zero fade of lack of braking. i was hitting 137 mph he was hitting 139 zero issues. 👍. proper brakes for this car. feels great.
also they aren’t noisy around town which is a huge plus
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