Black_IS300

I have heard that getting steel braided brake lines and some agressive brake pads can greatly improve stopping distance.. and get rid of that mushy feeling. Ive heard in some cases a setup like this will outperform a big brake upgrade kit and it would be much cheaper. What do you guys think?

disc108

stainless brake lines are better than stock because unlike stock ones, they wont flex/change shape under pressure and heat. it wont actually improve your stopping distance but it will give u better brake feel and w/a big brake upgrade, it makes it more efficient.

dogofthegods

you will stop better when the brakes get hot.

Risk3233

Stainless steel lines only role is to eliminate compliance in the brake system. By reducing the compliance, the feel of the brake at the pedal will improve. You also get a more durable brake line from the chasis point to the caliper.

It will not reduce braking distances, address heat related issues, or any other braking dynamics.

dogofthegods

the brake fluid gets hot heats up the lines and makes the lines expand. does this help explain my statement?

i have a tendancy to say things the wrong way. like not fully explaining.

DtEW

Black_IS300, the braided stainless lines and race pads are what you should invest in before jumping all the way up to a big brake kit.

I do have a question for you, though. You mentioned that you came down to SoCal to build a racecar. With an AutoX practice and a track day under your belt, and your supercharger about-to-be-ready, what kind of racing were you intending on competing in?

The question came about when I was planning out my "route of upgrade" as I was going through the SCCA Solo/Solo2 rules. (I'm looking to build to Street Prepared class, BTW) I too was looking forward to a TRD Eaton-type supercharger until I realized that that kind of mod would kick me into one of the all-out, anything-goes-type classes. That's not to say that I will not consider it when it does arrive; it just means that I cannot expect myself to be competitive with the stripped-out roll-caged race-only cars without going to such lengths myself, which I do not at all intend to do.

That's the origin of my question. As far as I remember, your car is configured more for road than for drag. For road racing, SCCA events are pretty much the only game in town. The whole point of racing is to be competitive. Did you really actually mean that you wanted to build an extreme performance street car, or do you have more drastic mods (full gutting, full roll cage, seam welding, etc.) planned for your IS?

Black_IS300

Acutally I think your confusing me with my roomate. He is the one that came down here to build a race car.

As far as racing im not too worried about competing in auto-x. I want to do it again but it is more for fun. I do plan on doing many more time trials with different car clubs. I will do atleast three more time trials this year. I will never l race my car head to head. You can still be competitive doing time trials. Once my driving skill improves more I will be very fast out there. I will have the suspension to handle the corners and the hp on the straights.

I plan on buying another car solely for the track. The kind of car that I wouldnt cry if I rubbed someone or crashed. When I get more experience with time trials I plan to go to full out racing

For my IS300 I want a badass street car and good track car for time trials... no racing. Ill always keep my full interior. (atleast thats what I say now) Maybe 4 or 5 years down the road I will get bored... gut the thing and get real crazy with it, but thats not even an option right now.

Risk3233

DtEW,

You think a lot like me. I'm considering forced inductin as well, but need a system that has broad usable power, maintains/improves driveability and not necessarily creates huge hp.

I'm also waiting on the TRD/Eaton s/c. I think my daily driver at most needs about 5-8 psi. boost to create a reliable daily driver. I need the added power down low in the rev band.

When the time comes, I plan to evaluate the need for slotted rotors. I will definitely upgrade to SS lines and upgraded pads. I heard that TRD has slotted rotors for the OEM calipers and aftermarket pads as well. My brake mods won't occur for some time, but this is my strategy.

Black_IS300

DtEW-
Do you plan on taking your car to the track? After going to the track Im hooked! The auto-x I did was pretty fun but for me it didnt even come close to being on the track. Also you get WAY more driving time at the track than an auto-x event. Their are some time trial events in August at Willow Springs. Im going to atleast one of them. You should come out. I would love to see some other IS's out there. We could show those Bimmers a thing or two out there

DtEW

Black_IS300, that explains everything. I always thought it was kind of strange that a privateer (read: average means) would choose a fairly expensive semi-luxury car to strip to the bone. The confusion is indeed all my own.

Anyways, yes, I am sooo looking forward to tracking my IS to give the Bimmer Boys something to worry about. I was seriously considering joining you and Young for Streets of Willow, but at roughly the same period of time I came to realize the limitations of the stock suspension during a twilight run (Dale @ SKR defined it for me as a "Touge" run) of Carbon Canyon Road. Long story short, I decided that I couldn't fully exploit the potential of even the stock 215hp and street tires with the stock suspension. I decided that I would rather apply the cost of a that track day to a set of Tein HA's, which would allow me to make the most of the next track day. Unfortunately, a few things arose and I do not have my set of HA's yet. I should have it sometime this summer, though.

With a set of HA's, I'll be ready for track days.
With a set of 16" V700 Victoracers, I'll be ready for AutoX's again. (Didn't El Toro do a real number on your tires too? )

DtEW

Risk, it might surprise ya that although the TRD supersharger is the FI means that I'm considering, I'm not all that crazy about aftermarket FI in general, nor extremely hungry for all-out power.

However, the overbuilt goodness of the 2JZ-GE/GTE block and a tranny known to be good for 325lb-ft seems like such a waste w/o it, don't ya think?