brake fluid recommendations

christian370z

True, but would it not be safer and bring piece of mind that no matter what you can throw at your car, every part will be up to the task and more? At least that is how I rationalize a lot of modding haha.

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Girald

RBF-600 is good - daily and on track run well. I also replaced my clutch fluid with it in an attempt to stretch out my oem clutch slave... the dark fluid over time tells me its going to die a death of a thousand razors anyways.. so be it
Ive got a HS CSC and a new MC ready to drop in when my twin disk goes in ( when the turbos go in ) <---rant

Just get a brake fluid tester for 20 bucks to check it periodically...

On track, after rbf600, and carbotech brake pads and some federal 595 rs-rr tires, my weakest link was the "ice-mode" programming trying to kill me (until i figured out how to avoid triggering ice mode)

Daily, you will never know its in there.

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AAM tt'ed // Soon: Moving back to the East Coast

teknoprep

I only track my TT Z

Yesterday at pocono raceway I lost brakes on the infield turns and had to downshift hard and pump breaks

This was on stock fluid after 6 runs of extremely hard breaking from 145 to 60 using carbotech brake pads slotted stop tech rotors. It was obvious I boiled the fluid.

Put 4 ways on got off of race line and gave everyone point by's until pit row. At speed this is probably the scariest thing in racing to any driver other than knowing imminent death. So point to make is spend the money and get the fluid if you are ever going to track your car.

Optimiser

I use Motul 5.1

JARblue

Car & Driver did the same thing back in 2008 on their first test drive and put the car into the wall

Get some proper brake fluid; even Motul 5.1 isn't really up to heavy track duty. Try Motul RBF600/660 or Castrol SRF or Torque RT700 for your needs.

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Quicksilvers

Motul RBF 600 or 660

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Mr. Clean

TrackRat

Is there a concern about the age of brake fluid? I've got an unopened, sealed bottle of Motul thats been sitting on my shelf for I don't know how long. Was going to use it to flush my clutch but wanted to tap the expertise on here first to see if I'd be wasting my time with it.

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Rob Montgomery
'10 370Z Sport 6MT - Pretty much stock...
'88 Porsche 911 Turbo - You name it... its got it
www.bloodsweatandbrokengears.com

djpathfinder

Should be OK, if it is still sealed. If it is a previously opened bottle, you need to worry about exposure to dust, contaminants and moisture, all of which could lower the boiling point of the brake fluid...obviously not good.

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2012 GT-R Black Edition Jet Black
2010 370Z 40th Anniversary // SOLD

cossie1600

if you have an unlimited budget, sure why not.

i might be in the minority, but i like to save money where it makes sense. i wont spend money on rotoros and rims, but i will gladly spend it on tires, brake pads and synthetic oil

djpathfinder

If you read the label on most DOT4 fluids, it will tell you that you can mix DOT4 with DOT3. You might as well do it right the first time and flush your system with DOT4 brake fluid. If you're careful, you should be able to drain, flush and bleed with new DOT4 and use 2 quarts. Don't use DOT5...that is silicone based and is not compatible with ABS brakes. DOT4 is fine with ABS. DOT4 has a higher boiling point than DOT3, and therefore is more performance oriented. Likely overkill for most, especially if your car remains on the street 100% of the time, but if you want to splurge a little it doesn't hurt. Keep in mind, some luxury brands put DOT4 in their vehicles from the factory, eg. BMW, Mercedes-Benz.

In my opinion, if you can afford a good quality DOT4 go for it. If not, a "house brand" DOT4 is likely better than a DOT3 fluid.

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2012 GT-R Black Edition Jet Black
2010 370Z 40th Anniversary // SOLD

AP - Chris_B

Actually, the opposite is more likely true. The manufacturing process is the key to high-quality fluid. There are only a handful of chemical plants in the world equipped to make glycol ester-based brake fluid. Every label you see on the market comes from one of them. However, there are major differences in how the product is specified and what type of packaging process is used.

The better (more expensive) fluids on the market are packed in nitrogen, not air like some of the cheaper stuff. This means that the better fluids are actually "dry" when you crack the seal on the bottle. The cheaper fluids have already pulled whatever moisture they could out of the air they were packaged in, lower their boiling point efficacy. The cheap DOT4 stuff may have passed the SAE tests, but the product actually sitting on a store shelf may not have the exact same properties as what was tested in the lab.

Also, the more expensive fluids are typically more dense, meaning they have less dissolved air trapped in suspension. The more dense the fluid is (higher specific gravity), the better the brake pedal feels. Specifying a denser fluid adds production costs since it takes more times to make it. The cheaper fluids skip the extra steps.

But in all reality, if changing brake fluid every two years (like we are supposed to), the few extra bucks on a better fluid isn't really going to make much difference in overall maintenance costs per mile. Those tracking their cars will spend a lot more on fluid as they will replace it more often, but will also receive more benefit from the improved properties of the top shelf stuff (AP Racing PRF, Castrol SRF, Prospeed RS683, Motul RBF660 and a few others).

Chris

HKYStormFront

most performance shops recommend motul 600... it's not cheap but it's worth the price

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Patrick // 06 Frontier 6spd Nismosis // Mods: Uprev Tuned @ Z1 Motorsports: 257whp & 292 ft lbs
09 Pontiac G8 GXP // M6 // Sunroof // Tint... For now

Mike

That is why they recommend it.

For 99.9% of drivers, the valvoline synthetic will be good enough.

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NISSAN: 75 280Z / 86 300ZX GLL /87 Sentra SE / 03 350Z / 23 Z
Porsche: 93 968 / 23 Macan GTS / 93 968

ChrisSlicks

Valvoline synthetic was discontinued over a year ago.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

Mike

they just changed the bottle. The white bottle with blue label is still synthetic
Its 480/311 which is fine for the street


I'm all for quality stuff, but anything more is overkill on the street, assuming like AP Chris said, you are going to change your fluid every two years.

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NISSAN: 75 280Z / 86 300ZX GLL /87 Sentra SE / 03 350Z / 23 Z
Porsche: 93 968 / 23 Macan GTS / 93 968