Nissan GT-R Brake Upgrade Options

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

Upgrading the brakes on an R35 GT-R almost never means throwing away the factory Brembo calipers. The car already carries monoblock six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers over very large discs, so the real gains come from choosing a pad compound that matches the heat you actually generate, and from replacing the heavy one-piece discs with lighter two-piece units. Get those two choices right and the car stops harder, fades later, and feels the same on the tenth lap as it did on the first.

What the R35 already gives you

The GT-R was designed around a large-diameter, high-clamp brake package from day one, which is why so few owners need a big brake kit. The factory architecture is a six-piston front caliper and a four-piston rear caliper over full-floating discs. Nissan and Brembo pushed that layout about as far as it goes on the NISMO and Track Edition cars, where the carbon ceramic option uses a 410mm x 38mm (16.14 x 1.5 inch) front disc and a 390mm x 32mm (15.35 x 1.26 inch) rear disc clamped by monoblock aluminum six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers. Brembo puts the unsprung weight saving of that complete carbon ceramic package at roughly 35 pounds compared with cast iron.

That number is the most useful thing to take from the factory ceramic option, because it tells you where the weight on a cast-iron car actually lives: in the discs. It is also why the sensible upgrade path on an iron-rotor GT-R runs pads first, then discs, and only then anything exotic.

Step one: match the pad compound to how you drive

Pad compounds are rated by the temperature window in which they make consistent friction. Run a pad below its window and it feels wooden and grabby; run it above and it fades. The published windows from the manufacturers make the choice straightforward.

Read that table against your own driving. A GT-R that lives on the street and sees a few spirited on-ramps never reaches the bottom of the DTC-60 window, which starts at 400 F. That is exactly why a race pad on a street car feels poor when cold and chews rotors: it is being asked to work hundreds of degrees below where it was designed to work. Hawk lists the DTC-60 for NASCAR, ARCA, pavement circle track, sports car and GT classes, and open wheel cars, and lists no street application for it.

For a daily-driven R35, the Hawk Performance Ceramic front pad set is the quiet, low-dust choice, and Hawk states it is gentle on rotors for extended pad life. If you want more bite without leaving the street window, the HPS 5.0 front set uses a Ferro-Carbon compound Hawk positions specifically for high-powered vehicles, with the window pushed 100 degrees higher at the top end. Owners who do genuine autocross or occasional track days should step to the HP Plus front set, and dedicated competition cars to the DTC-60 motorsport set.

Where EBC Yellowstuff fits

EBC positions Yellowstuff as a fast-street compound with an aramid fibre base and strong cold bite, and gives it a green fade threshold of 400 C (750 F). EBC is candid that hard track conditions can push brake temperatures above 500 to 600 C, and now steers dedicated track users toward a higher-temperature compound instead. Treat Yellowstuff the way EBC does: a strong street and light-duty pad, not a race pad. The Yellowstuff front set for 2008-2011 cast-iron-rotor cars and the Yellowstuff rear set for 2012 and later iron-rotor cars are both fitment-specific, so confirm which generation you have before ordering. You can compare the full range in our brake pads section.

Step two: rotors, and when two-piece is worth it

A two-piece rotor splits the disc into a cast-iron friction ring and a separate aluminum center hat. GiroDisc machines the hat from 6061-T6 aircraft specification aluminum and the ring from cast iron poured and machined in house, then joins them with ten high-strength alloy steel drive pins so the ring can float. Anti-noise spring washers keep the assembly from rattling when cold while still letting the ring grow as it heats. The vanes are curved rather than straight, a racing design that works as a centrifugal pump to pull cooling air through the disc.

Three things follow from that construction, and they are the reason to buy one:

• Less unsprung and rotating weight. Aluminum replaces iron in the hat, which is mass that never touches a pad.
• The ring expands without fighting the hat. A one-piece disc has to absorb its own thermal growth, which is what produces the pedal pulsation owners usually blame on warped rotors.
• The hat insulates the hub. Less heat travels into the wheel bearing and the studs.

Because a floating two-piece disc is a direct replacement that keeps the factory calipers, it also leaves the factory front-to-rear brake bias and the ABS calibration intact, which a mismatched big brake kit does not. Our GiroDisc A2-232 slotted rear rotor set for 2007-2011 CBA cars is the complete assembly with hats and hardware. Once it is on the car you never buy the hats again: when the rings reach their wear limit, the D2-232 replacement rings bolt to the hats you already own. That is the part of the two-piece math most owners miss, and it changes the long-run cost of the upgrade considerably. Other options are in our brake rotors section.

Know which R35 you have before you order

This is where most GT-R brake orders go wrong. The R35 changed front disc diameter partway through its life, and the two sizes are not interchangeable. GiroDisc sells a 380mm front disc as the direct replacement for the factory rotors on 2007-2011 CBA cars, and a separate 390mm front disc as the direct replacement for the factory rotors on 2012 and later DBA cars. Same car, same caliper family, different disc.

Pads follow the same split. Our Yellowstuff rear listing for 2012 and later cars specifies M12/M14 bolts and iron rotors in its fitment for exactly that reason. Check your model year, confirm whether your car has cast iron or carbon ceramic discs, and match the part to that. Carbon ceramic cars need carbon-specific pads and cannot run an iron-rotor pad.

What to replace at the same time

Pads and discs are a matched pair. Fitting new pads to grooved, lipped discs throws away most of the compound change, because the pad only contacts the high spots until it wears to match. If the discs carry a measurable lip or the pedal pulses, do both parts of the job together.

Beyond that, inspect and replace the anti-rattle clips, shims and slide hardware while the caliper is off. Worn hardware is the usual cause of a new-pad squeal that owners then blame on the compound; our brake hardware kits section covers those pieces. Flush the brake fluid as well, because fluid absorbs moisture over time and its boiling point falls as it does, and a high-temperature pad is only as good as the fluid behind it. Use the DOT specification printed on the master cylinder reservoir cap on your own car.

Bed the pads in properly

Every compound above needs a transfer layer on the disc before it makes its rated friction. EBC notes that most of its street pads self-bed during normal driving, and that after roughly the first 100 miles there is nothing further to do unless you drive aggressively, in which case allow at least 300 miles before hard braking. Yellowstuff ships with a surface coating EBC calls Brake-In to speed that process up.

Track pads are different and need deliberate heat cycles. EBC's published procedure for its track compound is a first fade run of 8 to 10 stops that takes the brakes to about 430 C (800 F), a short cool-down, then a second run of 6 to 8 more hard stops past that temperature again, followed by at least 20 to 30 minutes of cooling, or overnight if you can manage it. Follow the procedure your specific pad manufacturer publishes, and torque the caliper and wheel fasteners to the values in the factory service manual for your car.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a big brake kit for a tuned GT-R?

Usually not. The factory Brembo six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers over full-floating discs already provide more clamping capability than most owners use. A pad compound matched to your temperatures plus a lighter two-piece disc addresses fade and weight without disturbing the factory brake bias or the ABS calibration.

Will race pads work on the street?

Not well. Hawk gives the DTC-60 a 400-1600 F operating range with a 700-1100 F optimal band, and lists only motorsport applications for it. Street driving rarely reaches even the bottom of that range, so the pad stays cold, bites unpredictably and wears the disc. Use a street compound such as Performance Ceramic or HPS 5.0 for road use.

What is the difference between the 380mm and 390mm front rotors?

They fit different generations of the same car. GiroDisc lists its 380mm front disc as the direct replacement for factory rotors on 2007-2011 CBA cars, and its 390mm front disc for 2012 and later DBA cars. Confirm your model year before ordering either one.

Can I reuse the aluminum hats when the rotors wear out?

Yes, on a two-piece system. The friction rings are sold separately from the complete assembly, so when the rings reach their wear limit you replace only the iron and keep the hats and float hardware already on the car.

Do slotted rotors wear pads out faster?

Slots do sweep the pad face, which is the point, and that costs a small amount of pad life relative to a plain disc. On a car driven hard enough to justify a performance disc, the gain in consistency and the reduced weight are the better trade. On a purely street-driven car, a quieter pad on a good disc is the more comfortable setup.

How often should I change the brake fluid?

Follow the interval in your factory service manual, and change it sooner if you track the car, because brake fluid absorbs moisture over time and its boiling point falls as it does. Use the DOT specification printed on your reservoir cap.

Sources

1. GiroDisc Nissan GT-R 2007-2011 380mm front rotors - the 380mm front disc as direct replacement for factory rotors on CBA cars
2. GiroDisc Nissan GT-R 2012+ 390mm front rotors - the 390mm front disc as direct replacement for factory rotors on DBA cars
3. GiroDisc Nissan GT-R rear rotors - 6061-T6 hat material, ten drive pins, curved vane cooling, anti-noise spring washers
4. Hawk Performance Ceramic - 100-650 F operating range, 100-450 F optimal, quiet and low dust
5. Hawk HPS 5.0 - 100-750 F operating range, 100-550 F optimal, Ferro-Carbon compound
6. Hawk HP+ - 100-800 F operating range, 300-600 F optimal, autocross application
7. Hawk DTC-60 - 400-1600 F operating range, 700-1100 F optimal, motorsport applications only
8. EBC Yellowstuff fast street pads - 400 C green fade threshold, Brake-In coating, street positioning
9. EBC bedding-in procedure - street self-bedding mileage and the track fade-cycle procedure
10. Brembo GT-R NISMO braking system - caliper piston counts, carbon ceramic disc dimensions, 35 lb unsprung weight saving