During the 2 year service at Litchfield Imports, I also replaced the original rear OEM brake discs which were finally beginning to give up the ghost with sizeable cracks emanating from the cross drilled holes. Iain supplied a pair of Alcon rear discs that are both lighter and stronger than the Nissan/Brembo standard items. Rather than the stress-propagating holes, they feature crescent shaped mini-grooves to help dissipate gases. As the Performance Friction PF1 pads were also getting thin, Iain said I could try a set of Cosworth Trackmaster fast road/track pads for review purposes.

Unfortunately they proved to be completely inadequate for the GT-R’s weight and power; with alarmingly long stopping distances and no bite. They caused one particularly heart stopping moment at Goodwood, when I was left wondering if Godzilla was actually going to make the corner before the chicane having touched 160mph on the back straight...

By this point, the second hand front OEM discs I’d bought to prepare the car for sale were beginning to look a little tired too, so to match the Alcon rears, I bought a pair of the latest Alcon front discs that are a whopping 400mm (15.75 inches!) across - which is 20mm bigger than standard - yet weigh a scarcely believable 1.6kg less each.

I ordered the discs from Litchfield, but took them to Carbonetic.com’s premises in Reading, (http://www.carbonetic.com), where they fitted a set of Carbonetic R-spec pads all round. Made in the famous Project Mu factory in Japan, Carbonetic pads have a very strong reputation for full on race pads, but I was slightly apprehensive about how usable they would be on the road.

I needn’t have worried; these pads have incredible bite, even from cold, and absolutely refuse to fade, giving consistent response no matter how hard I was using the brakes. They got tested thoroughly at a Middlehurst Motorsport customer event at Oulton Park, then again at the last evo track evening of the year at Bedford Autodrome, where all the evo readers who got passenger rides were blown away by the grunt, poise and stopping power of the heavy Nissan.

Thankfully they don’t squeal, unlike some other race pads, and any temporary graunching that can occasionally surface can be cured by a few hard stops. At last I feel Godzilla 2 has the braking power to match its monster engine power.

 Costs this month:

2 x Alcon GT-R rear discs - £948

2 x Alcon 400mm GT-R front discs - £1278

Front and rear Carbonetic Spec R pads - £708