Brakes for Noobs

[Paul McWhiskey]

OK, going to do my first HPDE event this spring. After studying this and other forums I have accepted the advice that the stock Brembo's on the car will suffice and that the part that has the room for the most improvement and upgrading will be me. With that said are there any other things that I can do beside new pads, and probably rotors since the car has 63K miles on it, along with a fluid flush and refill (will use Redline R-600 since I have inventory) as far as the brakes are concerned? I will be putting solid rotors on, so no drilled, slotted, or two-piece, etc. Are there any other tips, tricks, or advice for a car that is a daily driver, only about 1500 miles year, and those miles are while driving to enjoy the experience.

I suspect that HPDE will become something that I will want to do more of to develop my skill level and although I am not averse to spending a bit more to get better parts, I also see no reason to spend thousands on brakes until I can out drive the ones on the car, so I have decided stay with OEM pads. I look forward to any tips, tricks, or advice for brakes.

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[1 old racer]

For your first few times out you have already reviewed and accepted what needs to be done . So change out your pads and rotor if needed and change and flush the brake fluid and go have fun. and please let us know about your experience.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

For your first few times out you have already reviewed and accepted what needs to be done . So change out your pads and rotor if needed and change and flush the brake fluid and go have fun. and please let us know about your experience.

Thanks

 

[paulm1]

automatic or mt-82?

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

automatic or mt-82?

MT-82

 

[NightmareMoon]

You’ll learn quickly, but high temp and fresh fluids are the critical part. If the fluid boils, you’re trying to clamp down on vapor, not rotors. Fluid, then pad compounds, then everything else.

pad fade is more subtle and a lot less serious. You’ll still have brakes it just won’t be quite as much as you want.

Hard brake usage is opt-in. You can dial it back 10 or 15% and your risk of overheating things goes way down. You can brake like a crazy person late and hard at every corner and cook massive brakes pretty easily. Most novices are doing the former

be prepared to bleed any bubbles out after every day on track. Sometimes you can get through a weekend but don’t count on that. Pressure bleeders are worth it. You’ll be bleeding fluid quite often

I can’t vouch for that fluid. Make sure you find someone experienced who can recommend it for a heavy car or stick to the tried and true options like Motul 600. Fluid is cheaper than ruined weekends.

brake pads are part of the heat absorbtion system. If the pads are thin, the fluid gets hotter, faster. This is why we don’t stsrt track days with < 50% pad thickness left, not because we’ll run lut of pad material (yes that would be bad), but instead because the thin pads will boil the fluid too quickly.

vorshlag is right, the big deflector plates are better than ducting at putting mass airflow into the rotors to cool them, assuming you have a decent way to feed air from the undertray (PP and Mach1 cars have undertray scoops which do that)

have fun and keep the shiney side up

 

[NightmareMoon]

In the long run its cheaper to run different track and street pads. Pads are consumables so yer gonna use them anyway, we’re talking about optimizing lifetime and $$$ spent.

street pads last forever on the street, but if you track them the heat breaks them down and glazes them up. Glazed pad surfaces look like bright shiney mirrors not dark rough grain.

track pads are randomly noisy AF, but they hold up to track temps much better, and can last as long as or longer than street pads when subjected to track use.

so you usually get more lifetime out of your money and a lot better street and track braking experience if you segregate your pad usage to dedicated pads for street and track. If your rotors aren’t too grooved and your pad compounds are compatible, you don’t need to swap rotors to do this effectively.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

In the long run its cheaper to run different track and street pads. Pads are consumables so yer gonna use them anyway, we’re talking about optimizing lifetime and $$$ spent.

street pads last forever on the street, but if you track them the heat breaks them down and glazes them up. Glazed pad surfaces look like bright shiney mirrors not dark rough grain.

track pads are randomly noisy AF, but they hold up to track temps much better, and can last as long as or longer than street pads when subjected to track use.

so you usually get more lifetime out of your money and a lot better street and track braking experience if you segregate your pad usage to dedicated pads for street and track. If your rotors aren’t too grooved and your pad compounds are compatible, you don’t need to swap rotors to do this effectively.

Given that I have the original rotors and they look as though they are thinner on the front (I do not have the car in the air and am not able to measure them, yet) is there a compatible pad with OEM that I can use for track? I understand that metalllic pads are what we are discussing and ceramic pads are off the table.

 

[NightmareMoon]

Given that I have the original rotors and they look as though they are thinner on the front (I do onto have the car in the air and am not able to measure them, yet) is there a compatible pad with OEM that I can use for track? I understand that metalllic pads are what we are discussing and ceramic pads are off the table.

Easy enough to burn down the oem pads and after that buy a track and street set. Glocs/carbotechs have street track pairs. Idk specificallt anything which is cross compatible with stock (not my area). Ferodos might be, and Hawks are abrasive to rotors so they might not care.

 

[galaxy]

Don’t lump two piece rotors into the category like you are for your choices such as drilled/slotted/plain. Not the same thing. Two piece rotors means the disc and hat are two separate pieces. You can have a plain disc, two piece rotor. If you have the funds and are replacing disc anyways, two piece is the way to go. Lighter weight due to the aluminum hat, better heat dissipation, they’re typically floating so the disc will center and sit flatter between the pads, etc. besides cost, two piece rotors are a win-win.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

Don’t lump two piece rotors into the category like you are for your choices such as drilled/slotted/plain. Not the same thing. Two piece rotors means the disc and hat are two separate pieces. You can have a plain disc, two piece rotor. If you have the funds and are replacing disc anyways, two piece is the way to go. Lighter weight due to the aluminum hat, better heat dissipation, they’re typically floating so the disc will center and sit flatter between the pads, etc. besides cost, two piece rotors are a win-win.

Had not looked at it that way. That is what I am after by asking in this thread. Thanks for the info!

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