Your next automotive purchase

[S204STi]

When I first got into working on cars you could see a differance from one tool brand and the other.  Many of the MAC, SNAP-ON and Craftsman tools now are the exact same tool made in china and sold at a different price. The only reason to buy a MAC or SNAP-ON tool is having the dealer drive up to you every week or after a phone call to replace your tool when it breaks. With craftsman you must get in the car and drive however far it is to do that.

Not really...

[S204STi]

SnapOn socket wrenches have a higher tooth count compared to competitors, meaning more useable degrees of rotation (important in tight spaces), their combination wrenches are not only longer, but more comfortable in your hand, and their bolt-gripping open ends don't round nearly as easily as  my Mac combo wrench.  Those are the main distinctions unless you get into specialty tools, where, again, SnapOn tends to have significantly higher quality.  For air tools, I'd rather go with rebranded IR from Mac, or Cornhole.

[Northlands]

SnapOn socket wrenches have a higher tooth count compared to competitors, meaning more useable degrees of rotation (important in tight spaces), their combination wrenches are not only longer, but more comfortable in your hand, and their bolt-gripping open ends don't round nearly as easily as  my Mac combo wrench.  Those are the main distinctions unless you get into specialty tools, where, again, SnapOn tends to have significantly higher quality.  For air tools, I'd rather go with rebranded IR from Mac, or Cornhole.

[Rupert]

Hehe, Cornhole...

I can't figure out if you think all of us mere amateurs should all go out and spend $1000 on Snap-On tools.

[S204STi]

Hehe, Cornhole...

I can't figure out if you think all of us mere amateurs should all go out and spend $1000 on Snap-On tools.

No, I should clarify: craftsmen is very good, but there is a difference, which I've quantified over the last 8 years. That said, go with craftsman if you want quality at an affordable price point.

[S204STi]

Cornwell is the name of the distributor, but everyone calls them Cornhole.

[Soup DeVille]

Not really...

Ya really "near." Not quite, but very near. And yes: I too, use them on a daily basis.

[Soup DeVille]

SnapOn socket wrenches have a higher tooth count compared to competitors, meaning more useable degrees of rotation (important in tight spaces), their combination wrenches are not only longer, but more comfortable in your hand, and their bolt-gripping open ends don't round nearly as easily as  my Mac combo wrench.  Those are the main distinctions unless you get into specialty tools, where, again, SnapOn tends to have significantly higher quality.  For air tools, I'd rather go with rebranded IR from Mac, or Cornhole.

Longer isn't always a benefit- which is why I have a full set of combo wrenches in three different lengths.

[S204STi]

Longer isn't always a benefit- which is why I have a full set of combo wrenches in three different lengths.

I have various lengths as well, but longer is better for applying torque...

But, for most buyers, yes, craftsman is good.

[Northlands]

Cornwell is the name of the distributor, but everyone calls them Cornhole.

Ahhh. 

[Speed_Racer]

My dad uses a lot of Craftsman. When a tool breaks (rare), he just brings it to a Sears and they exchange it with a new one. No receipt needed. It's only happened once or twice though, and his tools are a few decades old.

My wrenches are Channellock, love them. But I'm buying more Craftsman for the lifetime warranty and ease of exchange. As long as Sears is around that is...

[GoCougs]

That is gonna rip... your car has the 2.5 too right

Despite Cougs protests I really want an intake and exhaust. I feel like this thing will sound incredible opened up. I just don't want the exhaust to be droney on the highway. I am thinking about just getting straight dual 2.5" pipes to the back and then using some conventional baffled mufflers. I had that setup on a few other cars and it worked nicely for pretty cheap. JWT pop charger is only ~$120 bucks.

Stock brakes also suck... my fucking (Prelude brake swapped) Accord had bigger front rotors Brembo upgrade is a little pricey and I am not sure the calipers would be the weak link even at a track day. There is an OE caliper BBK upgrade (11" to 13") for a doable price. I do drive a bit aggressively and haven't seen much fade though.

I need to get some basic tools as well. Gonna hit up Harbor Freight some time this week to get a jack, jackstands and front/rear bike stands. Then I will be ready to work.

How do you know the stock brakes suck? Simply because of rotor size?

Bigger rotors won't really get you anything on an otherwise stock car. You'll have better luck with pads, fluid and tires. Beyond that you'll need a complete brake system redo to get any material improvement - different (but not necessarily larger) rotors, better calipers (more and/or bigger pistons) plus attention to (or replacement of) some/many/most of the finer details: brake lines, master cylinder, booster, reservoir, proportioning valve, and the whole of the ABS system (controller, pump, modulator, sensor).

[12,000 RPM]

How do you know the stock brakes suck? Simply because of rotor size?

Fade. Bigger rotors = bigger heat sink. Though to fully wipe out fade I would need steel braided lines and bigger calipers/pads. But for now, bigger rotors + Hawk HPS pads + steel lines will do.

My only fear is that bigger rotors in front will hurt the brake balance. I definitely like to trail brake when pushing and the stock balance is good for that. But even on little light highway runs I can feel the brakes start to fade. Again my last Accord weighed a good 300lbs less and had ~1" more front brake rotor diameter. So brake wise the Z is a big downgrade

[SVT666]

If you aren't experiencing fade then why go to the expense?

[S204STi]

I never experienced fade, but it didn't stop me from upgrading some components when I did brakes on my car.  I kept stock rotor size, however, and just went with better pads.  Those made a huge difference.  (HP Plus up front, HPS in the rear).  The tradeoff was more brake noise, but with such awesome and consistent pedal feel I could hardly care less about that.

[12,000 RPM]

If you aren't experiencing fade then why go to the expense?

I am. Not a ton, but enough to know that at a track the brakes would be a weak link. Stock non Brembos are dinky

[GoCougs]

Fade. Bigger rotors = bigger heat sink. Though to fully wipe out fade I would need steel braided lines and bigger calipers/pads. But for now, bigger rotors + Hawk HPS pads + steel lines will do.

My only fear is that bigger rotors in front will hurt the brake balance. I definitely like to trail brake when pushing and the stock balance is good for that. But even on little light highway runs I can feel the brakes start to fade. Again my last Accord weighed a good 300lbs less and had ~1" more front brake rotor diameter. So brake wise the Z is a big downgrade

And bigger rotors = more mass = take longer to cool down when they do get hot. That's why manufacturers pretty much never just use bigger rotor with their brake upgrade option. Brake design is a system endeavor (and in particular, managing heat).

Reason why I mentioned pads and fluid is thin pads can contribute to pedal/brake fade and low and/or cheap fluid can be prone to boiling quicker. If you're getting fade on "little light" runs my hunch is there's a deficiency somewhere.

To get materially better braking you'll have to do what Nissan did originally (Brembo upgrade, which addresses pretty everything I listed above).

[12,000 RPM]

And bigger rotors = more mass = take longer to cool down when they do get hot. That's why manufacturers pretty much never just use bigger rotor with their brake upgrade option. Brake design is a system endeavor (and in particular, managing heat).

Reason why I mentioned pads and fluid is thin pads can contribute to pedal/brake fade and low and/or cheap fluid can be prone to boiling quicker. If you're getting fade on "little light" runs my hunch is there's a deficiency somewhere.

To get materially better braking you'll have to do what Nissan did originally (Brembo upgrade, which addresses pretty everything I listed above).

These bigger rotors damn near double the rotor mass. And they come with new pads. I'd also do SS lines too which would require new fluid. So the only remaining stock piece would be the caliper. But pretty much every piece and issue you touch on would be addressed. The only lingering issues would be how the single piston would wear the pads, and if I would need a new MC to deal with fixing the brake bias.

[GoCougs]

These bigger rotors damn near double the rotor mass. And they come with new pads. I'd also do SS lines too which would require new fluid. So the only remaining stock piece would be the caliper. But pretty much every piece and issue you touch on would be addressed. The only lingering issues would be how the single piston would wear the pads, and if I would need a new MC to deal with fixing the brake bias.

Sounds like a ton more unsprung weight then.

Sorry, sounds like a hack job and unlikely to work better overall than your stock system esp. considering reliability. You're not going to outdo Nissan with bolt-ons out of a catalog, unless it's the whole brake system (rotors, calipers, lines, master cylinder, booster, reservoir, ABS system, and probably other things).

Just go with good pads, new fluid and good tires.

[3.0L V6]

Didn't Nissan have problems with the 350Z's (or was it 370Z?) brakes? I remember that Car and Driver planted one into a retaining wall not too long ago and ended up doing a braking comparison test, only to find out there wasn't enough cooling and the brake fluid overheated.

[GoCougs]

Didn't Nissan have problems with the 350Z's (or was it 370Z?) brakes? I remember that Car and Driver planted one into a retaining wall not too long ago and ended up doing a braking comparison test, only to find out there wasn't enough cooling and the brake fluid overheated.

They concluded it was boiling fluid owing to the quick nature of the failure (i.e., fluid boils or it doesn't whereas brake fade builds), which probably isn't fixed by larger rotors. 

[Rupert]

I'm with Cougs on this one, but more because I think track days are a dumb excuse when you've never even done a track day before.

[GoCougs]

Most all the value in mods is in the action, not the result, which having done plenty of, I can identify with. Thing is, results (or lack thereof) do count, esp. as we get older as we need our cars to be daily drivable.

[12,000 RPM]

I'm with Cougs on this one, but more because I think track days are a dumb excuse when you've never even done a track day before.

Having the infrastructure to do track days regularly is part of why I left NYC

[280Z Turbo]

I'm not quite sure what Cougs is getting at. Larger brakes run cooler, that's a fact. I don't know if he thinks if there's some kind of engineering voodoo that magically takes away heat or what, but larger rotors would certainly result in lower temperatures. How much, I don't know.

[GoCougs]

I'm not quite sure what Cougs is getting at. Larger brakes run cooler, that's a fact. I don't know if he thinks if there's some kind of engineering voodoo that magically takes away heat or what, but larger rotors would certainly result in lower temperatures. How much, I don't know.

Take a look at a brake test performed by C&D; specifically, SRX. vs. FX50 vs. Cayenne. The FX50 was the lightest and had the biggest/heaviest rotors yet did the worst in the test by far - halfway through the test cycle they had to stop as the pedal went to the floor. The Cayenne, despite being ~850 lbs heavier and with smaller brakes, had only slight fade over the 25 stop test.

Heat pretty much goes everywhere - not just into the rotors, or the air, or the calipers, or pistons, or w/e.

[S204STi]

Well, the moral of the story here is that Nissan sucks@brakes, nothing else.

[GoCougs]

Well, the moral of the story here is that Nissan sucks@brakes, nothing else.

The moral is that there's a lot more to it than just bigger rotors.

[12,000 RPM]

Take a look at a brake test performed by C&D; specifically, SRX. vs. FX50 vs. Cayenne. The FX50 was the lightest and had the biggest/heaviest rotors yet did the worst in the test by far - halfway through the test cycle they had to stop as the pedal went to the floor. The Cayenne, despite being ~850 lbs heavier and with smaller brakes, had only slight fade over the 25 stop test.

Heat pretty much goes everywhere - not just into the rotors, or the air, or the calipers, or pistons, or w/e.

The pads and rotors are the main heat sink. The bigger the rotors/pads the less heat going to places its not supposed to

Not sure what the FX has to do with anything either... unless it was equipped with the same aftermarket kit

[Rupert]

Having the infrastructure to do track days regularly is part of why I left NYC

Well, then get out there and track your car!