Questions on Brake Upgrades

[Cardude99]

Hey guys. To start I have the base gt/eco pp brakes. I love them. They are great for daily use. Good pedal feel, at least to me, and they handle canyons and autocross well. My buddies are trying to convince me to take it to a track day as well. I've never tracked any car for my own personal reasons, but I am really considering loosening up a little and going to my first track day. It would just be one day and consist of four 20 min sessions.

That being said, do I drive with my stock set up or should I do precautionary changes? There is the camp of people that say drive it as is and upgrade from there once you know what it needs. The other camp says do these couple of things to be safe cause x y and z will happen. I am not certain which is the better route to take and would appreciate some feedback and advice.

Things I am considering, change the brake fluid, upgrade to gloc pads, replace with stainless lines, and 2 piece steeda rotors. I think the 4 pistons are enough and upgrading to the 6 pistons is not necessary as im not looking to compete just have fun but be safe. Is a fluid change and pad swap a good idea? If so what fluid and pads are recommended? Is swapping pads before and after the event okay to do and safe for the rotors? Are new rotors necessary or can those wait? I know they have the backward cooling issue, but how much will that matter for the first few events I do as I learn my car and skill better? If rotor replacement is recommended, is there another rotor set up I should consider? Also how necessary are stainless lines? Anything else I should consider?

I'm not looking to go nuts, but I am willing to spend some money to have a safer and more reliable setup vs bone stock. I've never upgraded brakes before so this is all new to me as I have never been in a position where I needed to or needed to consider it. Btw this is my daily.

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[NightmareMoon]

Which track? Some are harder on brakes than the others, but.. the general line is just replace (flush) the brake fluid if its been more than a year and make sure you have at least half your brake pad thickness to start the event.

Nearly all novices are not aggressive enough to overwork the brakes too badly. Once you get to know the track and start pushing it harder, then worry about brake upgrades. For your first time out most people will be fine on stock hardware. If the brake pads are getting thin, they will overheat faster, in addition to possibly wearing out.

 

[Cardude99]

Which track? Some are harder on brakes than the others, but.. the general line is just replace (flush) the brake fluid if its been more than a year and make sure you have at least half your brake pad thickness to start the event.

Nearly all novices are not aggressive enough to overwork the brakes too badly. Once you get to know the track and start pushing it harder, then worry about brake upgrades. For your first time out most people will be fine on stock hardware. If the brake pads are getting thin, they will overheat faster, in addition to possibly wearing out.

Thanks man. Going to amp (Arizona Motorsports Park). I find myself being pretty aggressive in auto x but for a track day I do plan on toning it down a lot. Not sure how much of my pads are left. I'll need to check. Only 17k miles so I imagine there is quite a lot left.

 

[Flyhalf]

Hey. I'm Competing with my 18.
Man... drive the first time like it is! You won't be faster than your car the first time.
Feel it.
Live it.
After the 1st time
If you like ( and you will...)
You can start the process of upgrading.
Yes fluid ( motul600) and maybe pads.
But...
Your ECO PP COMES WITHBTHE INFAMOUS reverse rotors. Meaning they take air from outside the wheel instead of inside. And they overheat. So no matter what pads..they will over heat if pushed hard. So more than pads (Gloc is valid r12 i would say in the front.) Find "normal " rotors.
One last thing
Be sure to have the right tire pressure. ( start around 30psi. Try to be 34psi hot.
And do yourself a favour a grab a coach for the morning!
Have fun and be safe.
Alex

 

[Bluemustang]

I did basically what you are planning to do. Steeda rotors, GLOC brake pads and for the upcoming season Motul RBF600 fluid. I don't have enough track experience to tell you whether you need it or not. Personally, from what some track Mustang guys have told me, I decided to do it for safety reasons, just in case. I wanted to fix that inverted rotor hat design. The Steeda rotors and good pads and fluid should give you a way better chance at keeping them cool than the OEM base GT setup.

 

[Cardude99]

I did basically what you are planning to do. Steeda rotors, GLOC brake pads and for the upcoming season Motul RBF600 fluid. I don't have enough track experience to tell you whether you need it or not. Personally, from what some track Mustang guys have told me, I decided to do it for safety reasons, just in case. I wanted to fix that inverted rotor hat design. The Steeda rotors and good pads and fluid should give you a way better chance at keeping them cool than the OEM base GT setup.

Thanks man. That is along the lines of what I was thinking. Which gloc pads did you go with? Do you use them on the street or do you swap them out after the track? Have you noticed any benefit to the steeda rotors?

 

[Bluemustang]

Thanks man. That is along the lines of what I was thinking. Which gloc pads did you go with? Do you use them on the street or do you swap them out after the track? Have you noticed any benefit to the steeda rotors?

I have R10 fronts and a full set of GS-1s. Soon getting R8 rears. I used the R10 front and GS-1 rear at the track and amazing stopping power. Easily overwhelmed the Indy 500s. But it will work better balance wise with the R8 on the rear. The GS-1 are not meant for track use. R10/R8 would be plenty.

I wouldn't use the R10/R8 on the street though, they'll be loud. Think school bus, no joke. Swap pads day before the track and you're golden.

The rotors work well with the GLOCs and also the current street pads I'm using - Raybestos Element3. Not as much bite as the GS-1s but less noise and better modulation. Better DD pad.

 

[Bluemustang]

Thanks man. That is along the lines of what I was thinking. Which gloc pads did you go with? Do you use them on the street or do you swap them out after the track? Have you noticed any benefit to the steeda rotors?

It's hard to say that I can feel the tangible benefits of the rotors because I changed the pads at the same time. If you believe Steeda's description, there are benefits. Going from stock to Steeda/GLOC GS-1 was a big difference in brake torque and overall confidence. Putting on the R10s was another very noticeable improvement. The main benefit you'll get is from the pads #1 and the rotors resistance to overheating, which will help keep your pads from fading too.

The rotors are lighter than stock. I don't feel it, but I suppose if you've added lightweight wheels, it will add up.

 

[Cardude99]

Awesome man. Thank you. Ya I'm on the fence with the rotors but I am seriously considering pads. Good to know about the r10 and r8 for the track.

 

[Bluemustang]

Awesome man. Thank you. Ya I'm on the fence with the rotors but I am seriously considering pads. Good to know about the r10 and r8 for the track.

No problem, dude. Honestly, my suggestions are as follows:

Option 1:
-Used Brembos. You can find a used set with front rotors for $500-600 shipped. They're out there on Facebook all the time.
The 6 pistons and larger rotor diameter will make a difference. Far better bang for buck.

Option 2:
- Simply change upgrade front rotors and get GLOC pads. I think Baer Eradispeed would work. You don't really need to change the rear rotors.

I ended up spending more money than I should have and it will be bested by Brembos. But the reason why I did it, is because I wanted to retain my stock 18" rims (stupidly perhaps). In retrospect I wish I hadn't done that and just got Brembos instead. Although, I do not think I will outdrive this 4 piston setup I have going on, especially because I don't plan on doing many long track HPDE sessions. Even then I don't think I am fast enough to do it.

As Nightmaremoon said, I don't think that as a novice I would have cooked the Base brakes. I did it for peace of mind.

 

[Cardude99]

No problem, dude. Honestly, my suggestions are as follows:

Option 1:
-Used Brembos. You can find a used set with front rotors for $500-600 shipped. They're out there on Facebook all the time.
The 6 pistons and larger rotor diameter will make a difference. Far better bang for buck.

Option 2:
- Simply change upgrade front rotors and get GLOC pads. I think Baer Eradispeed would work. You don't really need to change the rear rotors.

I ended up spending more money than I should have and it will be bested by Brembos. But the reason why I did it, is because I wanted to retain my stock 18" rims (stupidly perhaps). In retrospect I wish I hadn't done that and just got Brembos instead. Although, I do not think I will outdrive this 4 piston setup I have going on, especially because I don't plan on doing many long track HPDE sessions. Even then I don't think I am fast enough to do it.

As Nightmaremoon said, I don't think that as a novice I would have cooked the Base brakes. I did it for peace of mind.

Thanks man. Ya I have considered the brembos but I don't want the weight penalty that goes with them. Having an Ecoboost I need to keep the weight down due to lower power levels. All my mods have done nothing but increase weight so I want to try and not add anymore if I can help it. Maybe I should hold off on rotors and see how it goes cause you are right $500 is a hell of a lot better than $1400

 

[Bluemustang]

Thanks man. Ya I have considered the brembos but I don't want the weight penalty that goes with them. Having an Ecoboost I need to keep the weight down due to lower power levels. All my mods have done nothing but increase weight so I want to try and not add anymore if I can help it. Maybe I should hold off on rotors and see how it goes cause you are right $500 is a hell of a lot better than $1400

Yeah, honestly if I were you I'd just change the front rotor and get track pads all around. Better pads will give you confidence which is key. At minimum I would do RBF fluid. I cooked my regular Castrol DOT4 fluid pretty easily. As a bonus, the RBF to me, gave me a better pedal feel subjectively. I am not sure, but having bled the brakes the same way with conventional fluid vs. this, it feels much better.

 

[Bluemustang]

Plain Eradispeed 2 pc is $685. Personally I'd skip the drilled option.

https://baer.com/2015-2018-GT-Front-EradiSpeed-Rotor-Upgrade-2261041.html

 

[NightmareMoon]

I would absolutely not put good money towards expensive rotors for the base brakes, that's lipstick on a pig. Any money spent towards your current setup (new rotors, pads) should be weighed carefully against just going ahead and upgrading to the GT brakes.

Being a hard driving autocrosser, the rule about probably not needing that much from the brakes your first time or two out at a track still holds true. As an autocrosser, you'll learn speed on track a bit more quickly, but I still don't think it justifies swapping hardware or doing expensive upgrades before your first event.

If you decide to stick with it, the a brake caliper upgrade is in the car's future, but make sure you're serious about doing more than the occasional track day before spending a bunch of money on it, and make sure you're serious about doing them with your current car too.

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