Quick and dirty guide to track prepping your car

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Luckrider

It is that time again... I'm in the process of preparing for my next HPDE day. This one is at the brand new Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park and is happening in less than 2 weeks. This time I'm not being silly by trying to drag e85 out to far East Connecticut (although it did mean almost 10mph on the front straight of Lighting at NJMP).

I am getting ready to do my brakes, but I am struggling to choose brake pads that will be sufficient for my use of the car as a daily driver. The factory pads honestly did me very well and I am really only swapping because they now have 20,000 miles. The only aspects where I want the brakes to be comfortable is on my wallet and not biting too hard on the street, otherwise, they can be as loud and dusty as they want. Also, what brake fluid comes in this car DOT3 or DOT4? Can I use a good brand DOT4 synthetic over the race brands like Motul? Any suggestions @CSG Mike? I wouldn't mind going more aggressive in the rear as it felt like the bias was a little far forward.

@Kido1986 Why running the AC over something like running the heat? Is your main goal solely to get air on the oil pan and not worry about the coolant?

Edit: The more I read and the more I see people complaining about oil temps. The last trackday was 90+F and my temps never went up to 210. It usually hovered between 203 and 206 hitting as high as 209 while on the track. This was with Mobil 1 5W20 from Sam's Club (6 quarts at $36 is pretty decent).

Are you driving with the aids on? I'd recommend you try the pedal dance before you start playing with brake bias. EBD will throw off your perception of bias.

You're probably watching coolant temps, not oil temps. I guarantee your oil temps are well over 209.

Race pads all start at roughly 200 per axle, no matter the brand. That being said, you won't be fading them like you do with stock pads. In fact, you may discover you can brake later and harder, when you have more confidence in the brakes. Same with the fluid. The cost of labor is FAR higher than the cost of the fluid itself. Get top shelf stuff. Boiling your fluid is the last thing you want on track.

[Alan]

Luckrider - If I am correct, you said you wanted a pad that can also be used daily. I did Ferrodo 2500, Goodrich stainless lines and Stoptech fluid. On Thunderbolt and Lightening have had zero issues, good pedal feel, good wear (still plenty of pad) and little to no fade. This is my first year really doing HPDE, so I consider myself a novice. This setup is also a noticeable improvement on the street. The 2500s are pretty easy on the stock rotors and work well enough cold.

[Luckrider]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

Are you driving with the aids on? I'd recommend you try the pedal dance before you start playing with brake bias. EBD will throw off your perception of bias.

You're probably watching coolant temps, not oil temps. I guarantee your oil temps are well over 209.

Race pads all start at roughly 200 per axle, no matter the brand. That being said, you won't be fading them like you do with stock pads. In fact, you may discover you can brake later and harder, when you have more confidence in the brakes. Same with the fluid. The cost of labor is FAR higher than the cost of the fluid itself. Get top shelf stuff. Boiling your fluid is the last thing you want on track.

I was watching brake and coolant because the brakes were a big concern to me. Traction control is always fully off, I don't use it on the street, but I haven't done the pedal dance yet. I'll try that for Thompson which also looks to be mostly sweepers. It doesn't scare me because I have learned to ride the edge of braking in my Jeep in snow, gravel, dirt, and dry pavement and that doesn't have ABS (a 2004 vehicle with no ABS... who'da guessed?).

I'm not looking for race pads at the point because this will probably be the last event I do this year. I am just curious if the is a good street product that will prove better than the poorly reviewed (on this site) EBC Greenstuff pads which apparently crumble on the track. The brakes stayed cool because NJMP is not hard on the brakes. In fact, coming into turn 7 was the only place I really needed them much and that came out to a short straight that shot you into a bank >180° Turn one off the front straight was long and fast enough that I was only doing 115 down to ~85 where I was dropping to 3rd and preparing to get back on the gas. I'll see if I can quickly cut some video from one of my laps.

Edit: I'm an idiot... it was oil temp, not brake. I was wrong... I checked my notes. They still never broke 240 which is lower than what people were experiencing.

One Last Edit with a clip of the laps. I wasn't pushing the brakes hard into turn one because there really was no need. That's why it is two spaced shifts to third. At this point in the day, I was back to 93 from e85 and I was down on power. I lost ~10mph on the bake straight. I've got another video of 2 laps of chasing down a Miata on 225 Ventus RS3s.

[ame]http://youtu.be/k4x5fBveNRI[/ame]

Meh... I'll post the Miata video. It is processing now.

[ame]http://youtu.be/dH65JAcKSO0[/ame]

[CSG Mike]

@Luckrider if you're planning on doing at least 5 more track days, and are comfortable swapping your own pads, I'd still recommend race pads. Put them on for the track day, and then take em off and put em on the shelf till your next track day. They won't go bad on the shelf.

[Alan]

Luckrider, took a look at your vids. One thing that worked really well for me on the lightbulb was to be higher on it. 2/3 of the way up then as the apex comes into view cut down towards it and track out. I had higher entry and exit speeds with that combination. Stock suspension, 245/40-17 Hankook RS3. I still overbrake for turn 1 though. Hope to see you at NJMP sometime.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

@Luckrider if you're planning on doing at least 5 more track days, and are comfortable swapping your own pads, I'd still recommend race pads. Put them on for the track day, and then take em off and put em on the shelf till your next track day. They won't go bad on the shelf.

Like I said above Mike, I'm using Ferrodo 2500s now because I drive my car to and from the track. Otherwise, it sees very little use. Maybe an occasional run to the grocery store. Do you have any suggestions for a better pad? If I go to a track/race pad and swap for the drive home, don't I have to bed in everytime?

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Alan

Like I said above Mike, I'm using Ferrodo 2500s now because I drive my car to and from the track. Otherwise, it sees very little use. Maybe an occasional run to the grocery store. Do you have any suggestions for a better pad? If I go to a track/race pad and swap for the drive home, don't I have to bed in everytime?

Yes, but the pad will naturally bed during your first track session.

[Luckrider]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

@Luckrider if you're planning on doing at least 5 more track days, and are comfortable swapping your own pads, I'd still recommend race pads. Put them on for the track day, and then take em off and put em on the shelf till your next track day. They won't go bad on the shelf.

I definitely think that will be my plan for next season. I think for now I am going to get some Hawk street pads and do fresh fluid. I actually just got back from a short little test of the pedal dance and I am impressed. The car pushes a little more, but it is very controlled. I did back to back runs on this tight S where the speed limit magically kicks to 55mph. I was trail braking on all runs and after running with the pedal dance, I could feel the car pull the inside just a tad (more of a drag than a pull) on the inside. The brakes felt more reactive and balanced with the dance than the 3 second hold.

Originally Posted by Alan

Luckrider, took a look at your vids. One thing that worked really well for me on the lightbulb was to be higher on it. 2/3 of the way up then as the apex comes into view cut down towards it and track out. I had higher entry and exit speeds with that combination. Stock suspension, 245/40-17 Hankook RS3. I still overbrake for turn 1 though. Hope to see you at NJMP sometime.

By that point in the day, I was trying not to cook the tires too too much. One of my instructors, Myron, (who happens to have been the Blue BMW mentioned) pointed me there a couple of sessions prior. I was starting at two thirds, but we determined that with the low horsepower of the stock car, I could maintain velocity and cut the corner more and get back on full throttle faster. It improved exit speed and brought up my speeds on the front straight. I would love to see you at the track some day. Just point me in the direction of an even you are running.

[BadHabit]

Great thread! Just picked up an FRS and brought it to the track last weekend down here in SoFla (PBIR). I didn't see this info before I went, but will help out for the next time out. I did change out my brake fluid to Motul RBF600, and installed speed bleeders. Thanks!

[Luckrider]

I would like to once again thank you guys for all of your advice. Thursday was a ton of fun and I learned a lot about lines at Thompson. That is a deceivingly tricky track. Lots of off camber roadway and a couple of slight bumps where you least expect it.

The Akebono PROACT pads I went with (couldn't get the HAWK street pads) performed flawlessly and never experienced fade with full threshold braking, even in the 30 minute sessions with the 3 heaviest braking zones leading right into each other (fastest was ~105-50). Lesson learned, 150 miles on a new set of tires makes them VERY greasy on the first session. Also, the stock 200hp is NOT enough when the next slowest car is probably the 270whp Rotex supercharged FRS. Despite that, I was able to keep up with everything from M3s, a Spec Miata, a prepped S2000, a GTR, and even an instructor driven Spec Atom (okay... I was able to keep within 5 car lengths for all of the track till we hit the straight after I learned the line). I was passed by ever car in Intermediate 2 every session due to straight away speeds until the last session where I was actually able to pass an M3, the supercharged FRS, and one of the Porsches. The class room discussion and instructors I forced along really helped dial in my line some. I want to go back there and get a lap time and some video next time. I can think of two corners where I can nab some speed.

[M23]

Great thread!

Exactly what I was loookin for!

[Quentin]

Great thread. Looks like I'll need at least fluid before driving school at Mid Ohio.


Sent from Tandy 400

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by PMok

I was told that engaging the parking brake while hot right after a track session, would possibly lead to warped rotors.

Typically pad deposits on the rotor which will make it pulsate and feel warped.


I come off track, put it in neutral, then roll it to move what part of the rotor is on the pad after a minute or two. Never had a problem with it.

[Junkwipe]

Great thread! But I have not figured out an advice, the first few times it is better to brake down until you activate the abs?