i'm not sure if my brakes are getting old or getting worn out...i've had this car for over a year ago and have never changed brakes or anything. i use to think it stops fine until today i drove my cousin's stock 00 altima. his brakes are soo sensitive. i slightly touched it and it stops. stops a lot better than my 02 maxima =/ maybe it's time for me to change my brakes i don't think my brakes are new when i bought the car over a year ago. how good are the oem brakes?

 

You won't notice a huge difference. You can try and bleed your brakes when your at it, that may help it feel stiffer. I've had people drive my Max and say the brakes are sensative, but then I drive their car, and I say the same thing to them. It's just that you are not used to it.

 

a good, inexpensive upgrade is to get the rotors and calipers from the 6th gen, as they aer about an inch larger in diameter rotors and larger pistons and pads in the calipers. Combined with good pads (Hawk HPS) it is a substantial upgrade and gives better braking performance. The 5th gen brakes are a bit undersized for the weight of our cars (after all, they are the same as the brakes on the lighter 4th gens)

 

I could have sworn gen 4's use a much smaller rotor/brake system than a 5.5

 

this is true for the 5.5 gen, but not the 5th gen, which the original poster has. It's not that big of a difference though.

 

OEM brakes suck if you ask me...But upgrading your pads alone should help quite a bit (Hawk HPS, Axxis Ultimate, Porterfield R4S)....bleeding brakes might help as well too (valovoline synpower dot 4 fluid)...and possibly a good quality tire to help aid braking...I know with me, I switched to an ultra high performance tire...and immediately felt better traction while braking

And like irish said, if you want to go further, 6th gen brakes will be a good upgrade...

 

i thought he got an 02 max

 

owns me... I just remembered seeing the black SE tails when I was typing that and figured he had a 5th gen. My bad! haha But the 5.5 gen front brakes are 11.68" and I think the 4th gen brakes are about 1/2" smaller. The 6th gen brakes are 12.6"

 

cool thanks for the info guys haha i liked how my cousin's altima brake i just thought it's just my car's heavier so feels less responsive haha but ya i think i'm going to change the brakes soon...it's starting to make sound sometimes. i'm just going to try the hawks one with oem everything else. do the hawks make noise when braking? on my previous car when i went with aftermarket brake pads the squealing noise when braking was kinda loud =/

oh ya btw i have a 5.5 gen i just changed the tails

 

If you're changing the calipers it's a good time to do a full brake fluid flush