BNR34 Brembo and BIOT Brake Upgrade (Front & Rear)

If you have followed this blog for sometime, you would have recalled that I fitted in a set of Endless 6 pot brakes on the ER34 for a wee bit of time before it was removed (Read here and here). The issue was due to the minute clearance between the calipers and the inner wheel. Too small of a margin for me to feel comfortable with. Better be safe and paranoid than sorry later on eh? There were just two options for me then, switch to a new wheel with bigger clearance (i.e. TE37s) or remove the brakes.

I choose the latter and had since sold the set of Endless 6 pots. It now resides in a cool looking S15 Silvia. :(

Pic 1: The 'new' set of brakes for the ER34

Fast forward a year later, I'm now dabbling with brakes again. Via JDM Auto Link, I have managed to get a set of pretty rare BIOT Front Brake Offset Kit. This kit consist of a set of rotors and brake brackets to complement the BNR34 Brembo calipers.

The BIOT Brake Offset Kit is not an affordable kit either. Just the front rotors and brackets alone cost upwards of JPY 160,000. Yeap, BIOT parts is not your run-of-the-mill items, they are at the top of the ladder in terms of performance and quality.

For the rear, I'll slot in the stock R34 GT-R Brembo brakes. That would do unless JDM Auto Link can source me a set of a BIOT Rear Brake Offset Kit that would bring the rotors up to 322mm. :P 

The set of brakes that I procured consist of:-
1) BNR34 Front Brembo Calipers
2) BIOT 345mm Floating Rotors
3) BIOT Front Offset Kit Brackets
4) BNR34 Rear Brembo Calipers 
5) BNR34 Rear 300mm Rotors

Pic 2: The front set of brakes. BIOT Offset kit with BNR34 Brembo calipers

Pic 3: BIOT 345mm floating brake rotors

Pic 4: Super clean set of BNR34 Brembo calipers

Pic 5: Super clean set of BNR34 Brembo calipers

Pic 6: Super clean set of BNR34 Brembo calipers

Pic 7: BIOT Offset Brake Kit Brackets

The set of BIOT brakes enables the ER34 to move up from its stock 310mm brake rotors to 345mm rotors. That's a nice upgrade in term of size. How does that improve braking?

A bigger rotor has more material in it so it can absorb more heat. More material also means a larger surface area for the pads to generate friction with, and better heat dissipation. Larger rotors also put the point of contact with the pads further away from the axle of rotation. This provides a larger mechanical advantage to resist the turning of the rotor itself. To best illustrate how this works, imagine a spinning steel disc on an axle in front of you. If you clamped your thumbs either side of the disc close to the middle, your thumbs would heat up very quickly and you'd need to push pretty hard to generate the friction required to slow the disc down. Now imagine doing the same thing but clamping your thumbs together close to the outer rim of the disc. The disc will stop spinning much more quickly and your thumbs won't get as hot. That, in a nutshell explains the whole principle behind why bigger rotors = better stopping power.

Put quite simply, bigger rotors give you more surface cooling area, so they will stay cooler.

I just got it installed and is mighty pleased that the brakes fit in the wheels nicely. The clearance between the edge of the caliper and the inner wheel is just perfect. The front brakes fill up the wheel orifice nicely. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. 

Oh btw, it's not a direct fit per se. The BIOT Offset Brake kit will require some grinding and shaving of the Brembo calipers and also the knuckle. Nothing too major but just make sure it's done properly. Picture 9 shows a part of the knuckle that have to grind off.

I'll post up some proper pics of the brakes on the car on my next update. Will get some good shots done up and share with you guys.

Pic 8: Rear BNR34 Brembo brake set

Pic 9: BIOT Offset Brake Kit Bracket Installed

Pic 10: Front BIOT Offset kit with BNR34 Brembo calipers

 

Pic 11: Rear BNR34 Brembo brake set test fitted

 

  

Carbon Fibre Rear View Mirror Cover

Pic 1: Carbon fibre rear view mirror cover

Just got some bling for the ER34. Via JDM Auto Link, in came a nice carbon fibre rear view mirror cover for the ride. Basically, it's a snap on cover on the existing rear view mirror. So instead of showing it's beige colour via the front windscreen, it now is displayed proudly in carbon fibre.

Small little thing but I think it should look better when photos are taken from the front of the ER34.

Pic 2: Carbon fibre rear view mirror cover

Pic 3: Carbon fibre rear view mirror cover installed

Pic 4: Carbon fibre rear view mirror cover installed

107,000km Service & New Silicone Hoses

Pic 1: Fresh oils into the ER34

The ER34 has just undergone it's 107,000km service. Fresh fluids in the form of Torco SR1 10W-40 went in together with an original Nissan oil filter (Part No. 15208-53J00).

At the same time, did a small little bit of sprucing up the engine bay. Covered up the holes on the firewall where the heater lines goes to with nice silicone caps. These are no longer in use as the heater lines have all been removed during my stage II upgrades. At the same time, also covered up the unused hole where the original fuel regulator used to be.

Small touches but good enough to somewhat tidy up the engine bay a wee bit. :)

Pic 2: Torco SR1 10W-40

Pic 3: Silicone caps on the heater lines on the firewall

Pic 4: Silicone caps on the heater lines on the firewall

Pic 5: Silicone caps for the old fuel regulator line

    

Nissan Skyline Mega Gathering in Malaysia 2011

Pic 1: The cars at the gathering

Recently, the Nissan Skyline owners in Malaysia had an gathering at the federal administrative centre of the country, Putrajaya. Basically, it's a meet up session to mingle around snap some photos before heading out to the nearest food stall for a bit of chowder and more chit chat. 

I reckon there were close to 40 Skylines comprising of R32, R33 and R34 Skylines plus a lone V35 Skyline. Most of the lot were ER34 and BNR34s though. It would have been excellent if there were older Skylines present like the R31s around.

Took some pictures and a video. Do check them out below.

Pic 2: The line-up of BNR34s

Pic 3: The line-up of ER34s

Pic 4: Some R33s here

Pic 5: The line-up in front

Pic 6:A photo opportunity not to be missed. A ladder saves the day here for an 'aerial' shot

Pic 7: Roll-out!

It's funny that some music CD albums in Japan somewhat portrays the love hate relationship with the Nissan GT-R (R35). Check out these album covers below.

I find it very amusing. LOL

Pic 1: I love R35!!!!

Pic 2: I hate R35!!!!

Been pretty quiet .....

Gosh, it's been pretty quiet here lately. Sorry for that folks. I've been busy with my job but rest assured I'm scheming up some mods to be done with the ER34. Got JDM Auto Link to try to source me some rare stuffs. It's about time I did a bit of pampering on the ER34. Hopefully it can be found in the land of the rising sun. *fingers crossed*

In the meantime, here's some pictures of the ER34 with Felixia Yeap, Malaysia's one and only Playboy bunny. :)

DILYSI #18: Frasiers Hill

Pic 1: The group setting off - Dinesh right at my rear. Note DARK skies.

After a long hiatus on the DILYSI sessions and doing a recce trip 2 weeks back, DILYSI #18 took place last weekend to none other than Frasiers Hill. I have had many sessions to Frasiers Hill in the ER34 and before that in my Proton Perdana V6. I really love the route and what it has to offer in terms of driving enjoyment.

What is different in DILYSI #18 was the weather. This is by far the worst ever weather I have had going up Frasiers Hill. It was raining pretty heavily thus the roads were drenched! To add more drama, as we get closer to The Gap, the roads were littered heavily with leaves and tree branches. Add a couple of fallen tress and landslides, it really does gets very unnerving.

And I was driving a little bit faster than I should in these sort of conditions. Not a really wise thing to do I must say. All the seven of us (2 ER34, 1 BCNR33, 1 BNR32, 1 ECR33 and 2 A31) would probably be finding it a bit of a handful to drive hard as we got nearer to Frasiers Hill, and as the weather worsens.

There's some incidents enroute and the drive was cut short. We didn't even make it to The Gap. We were probably 5 km away to that. Oh well, as long as everyone is ok. Not sure when will the next DILYSI be .......... somehow I think I might want to retire from driving my ER34 like I've just stolen it and my life is worth half a penny.

Pic 2: Turning in after Ulu Yam town


Pic 3: This is how bad the condition is. Rain, wet roads and loads of leaves


Pic 4: Turning back as a fallen tree have blocked the road


Pic 5: The group just hanging around


Pic 6: EJ's ER34, Temujin's BNR32 and Wai Chun's A31


Pic 7: Loki's BCNR33 and Alvin's ER34


Pic 8: Feez's ECR33 and Temujin's BNR32


Pic 9: A monkey enjoying its meal


Pic 11: Inquisitive fellow this one

BNR34 Seats and Interior Trims

Pic 1: BNR34 Seats

The interior trim of the ER34 is kinda dull and uninspiring. I've not really liked it since I got the car. All I've done so far is just to add on a single piece of Recaro RS-G and changed some of the panel trims to the BNR34 version.

Many people would be eager to slap on the stock BNR34 seats into their ER34 for it looked really good and does the job of holding the driver very well. This is especially true of the newer BNR34 seats where it has the black trim. The older grey trimmed seats are just as dull in my opinion. The trouble is that these sort of parts doesn't come easy nor does it come cheap. There have been a couple of grey trimmed BNR34 seats that popped into the market place and those were sold for top dollars! The black trimmed version? Suffice to say it's as rare as spotting an elephant in downtown Kuala Lumpur! Hehehe

Pic 2: BNR34 complete interior seats with front door panel

But lucky me I just got hold of some very rare bits of interior trims off the BNR34. I've got:-
1) Pair of front seats with railings
2) Set of rear seats
3) Set of front door panels

The best part is all of the above are finished in the black trim which originates from the newer of the BNR34s. I've chucked these in the corner of my house and been staring at it whenever I pass by the area. Sat on it numerous times to get a feel and jolly well, it's damn good! Plus it looked really nice with the black trim. I'm positive, with this set in my ER34, the whole interior would look simply awesome. Another plus point is that the front door panels comes with the lighted red lens where in the ER34, it's just a reflector with no lights inside.

I'm actually at a cross road now. Not sure to install it onto my ER34 or to sell it off. If I'm still on stock seats, it's a no brainer to put it into my car. But I have a Recaro on the drivers side already. I love the Recaro RS-G and am a bit apprehensive about taking that out of the car.

Decisions ...... decisions ..... What do you think? Hmmm .....

Pic 3: Nice trimmings


Pic 4: BNR34 Rear Seats


Pic 5: BNR34 Front Door Panels

Recaro Side Protector

Pic 1: Recaro Side Protector

It is common for bucket seats to have worn side bolsters. The high sides of the bucket seats means that the driver will often rub against it when entering and exiting the vehicle. Friction, over time will wear off the cloth trim of the seats and expose the insides. Not a pretty sight and not something that I hope to happen to my Recaro RS-G.

To prevent that from happening, I got myself a Recaro side protector. Basically, it's just a piece of leatherly material to wrap around the sides of the seat. With it on, the fabric underneath is protected from wear and tear.

A simple thing but works a treat!

Pic 2: Before fitment


Pic 1: After fitment