Let's get serious about track brakes

[MikeR397]

^^^ what tracks did u run for the 20 days? Would you characterize them as easy on brakes?

Over the past 2 years at grattan (10-12 days), Waterford hills (6-8 days) M1 concourse (5-6 days) gingerman 1 day and Pitt race 1 day. I may actually be closer to 25 days, not sure. Waterford is easy on brakes, grattan is middle of road, M1 is horrible on brakes. I’m at 140 at the end of grattan straight.

Front pads last me 5 days, and I’m on my 5 or maybe even 6th set of them currently, so ya maybe 25 days (a few in rain so that doesn’t count though).

Oem pads are very easy on the rotors but it’s annoying to change brakes and check on them so often. Rear pads last me 7-8 days, but rear rotors have zero cracks and look perfect which makes sense.

for reference, I’m not easy on brakes but not a yahoo either and try to be smooth. Still, they smoke from time to time, especially if brand new:

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[Norm Peterson]

I read the holes help with cooling. Just weird track cars still come with them

Don't think I'd count on them providing much help. The vanes inside any vented rotor basically turn the rotor into a low-pressure centrifugal pump, which is always trying to sling the air radially outward. Which is by far the path of less resistance compared to having to make a 90° turn just to go into the holes. Actually, I'd be more concerned if the immediate vicinity of each hole actually was a relatively cool local region, as this would increase the severity of thermal transient loading (which is what braking amounts to - a sharp rise in temperature followed by some amount of cooling . . . significant cycle after significant cycle after significant cycle in track driving). I used to do thermal transient analysis for power plant piping back when I had that thing called a day job.


Norm