Finally upgrading brakes and diff bushings
 

So after my son was born in January, every project I had on my Z has been put on hold for a little bit over a year.

Now I'm back and I bought SPL solid diff bushings which I'm letting a shop do since it looks complicated online and I already switched out the brake fluid for Motul 600.

I am also upgrading from the stock Sport brakes to a street setup and a track setup (along with the tires).

Just wanted your opinions and if anyone has experience with any of these products I mentioned (SPL Solid Bushings, Stoptech Drilled and slotted+pad combo, Endless Mx72 Pads and DBA Rotors).

For my street setup, I have Continental Extreme Contact Sport Plus tires, Stoptech Select Sport Brake Rotor And Pad Kit, Drilled And Slotted combo.

For my track setup, I have Toyo R888r tires, 2 piece DBA rotors and Mx72 Endless Brake Pads.

What are your opinions on the street and track setups? I know there are no one size fits all tire, brake and rotor combos which is why I split in between the two. I heard and seen cars with pretty aggressive pads and rotors on the street and it makes me grind my teeth and the dust is annoying. On the track, it doesn't matter to me at all because no one is staring at me in a grocery store parking lot wondering why a cool looking newer car is broken.

I won't be changing the stock differential just because of the noise of most aftermarket ones. I know an aftermarket one will help me on the track but changing pads and tires takes 30 minutes. the differentials does not.

The only thing I'm going to comment on is the differential. I run an OS Giken and it doesn't make any noise.

Zero reason to run drilled and slotted on the street, its just for looks

Dont think it helps on track unless it is done correctly

As long as you run the OS Giken fluid, all is quite. For track use he would need to add a diff cooler. Wavetrac may be the best option for him.

:iagree:

Wavetrac should be quiet like oem, and relatively maintenance free vs OSG.

I chose the drilled and slotted because of a black friday deal lol. Supposedly they bite harder on the street, and bite even harder in rain but they crack on the track. But the black Friday deal is literally the only reason why I got them, they were cheaper and lighter than the OEM disc which is also a nice benefit. I do prefer to have my exterior look as bone stock as possible, but I'm also a bargain shopper lol.

I like the sound of that. How does the Wavetrac hold up on the track? I don't expect it to outperform the OS but if it's better than the stock diff and I don't have to be underneath my car to maintain it every now and again, that's a plus for me.

Anything is better then the oem VLSD. The Wavetrac is track proven.

:confused::confused::confused:

Anything? Even an open diff?

:rofl2:

From my reading:

The OEM vlsd becomes useless when the viscous fluid (of a sealed unit within the diff housing, viscous fluid can’t be changed) gets overheated, eventually degrade Vlsd to an open diff with no recourse. At that point, only option is to put new VLSD in or do aftermarket diff.

Rusty has a diff cooler setup and can monitor diff fluid temp, he noted elevated diff fluid temperature from even just regular driving. Its reasonable to think the fluid temperature in the outer core highly translate to the inner core as well.

In other words, it’s inevitable.

Even with normal street driving? Geez. I did notice the last time I changed my rear tires and even my current tires, near the middle sections is more worn on one side than the other. Right now, the passenger side is more worn but the last time, the driver side was more worn. I had the car corner balanced and kept getting alignments multiple times until the tire techs said to stop coming back because it's just the nature of my car to eat tires unevenly.

I know with open differentials, one wheel peels would cause that, but my Z is still relatively new with only 32k miles. Even changed the diff fluid ahead of time before that when I first got it. You guys really think I should add a Wavetrac diff to the mix? This is the 2nd time I've noticed uneven rear tire wear

The VLSD is useless at 7,000 miles. IF you want to drop your lap times significantly, upgrade the diff. Even with the Wavetrac, when your times start dropping you will need a diff cooler eventually. With the OS Giken, you will need it right off the bat. One of the best upgrades I did before I was even boosted.