Brake Pads and Fluid For DD/AutoX/Track Days/HPDE
 

I have read countless threads about this stuff but I am still having a very tough time trying to figure out what I actually want/need. From what I understand, pads and fluid are a must.

Little bit of my driving history. This is my first car and this will be my first summer ever pushing it hard. That being said, I was the main driver for my universities FSAE team this past year and have well over 150 hours of driving time in that kind of car over the last 4 years. My autocross time finished 18th of 126 teams at competition last summer (3rd for cars with no aero). So I do know how to push a car and find its limits.

I plan on doing a few autoX's this summer and at least one track day or HPDE. I also daily drive this car.

Ideally, I want some pads that I can use on the street as well the track. Something with very low noise and not a lot of dust. Cost is also big, don't want to spend more than $150 per set.

Finally fluid - there seems to be a lot of options but I see more people recommending Motul.

Your input is valued and thanks in advance!

PM'd you!

I am interested in this same brake solution as well! Hopefully someone has some good input...

PM'd you too!

Hi Gord. I've been talking with @CSG David the last week and he has convinced me to go with project mu.

The setup I will be going with is as follows:

Project Mu HC+800 F/R Pads
Project Mu G-Four Brake Fluid
Project Mu Club Racer Front Rotor set
OEM style Rear Rotor

I have a set of project mu pads and fluid I'm going to be putting in this week before my trip up to NC for some spirited driving on the dragon and surrounding roads. I'm stoked.

Opted to stay with stock rotors for now just to get the life out of em.

I'm a huge motul guy (run motul tran/diff fluid and engine oil in this car, ran motul engine oil and rbf660 in previous car) but the project mu appears slightly better on paper, even if it's overkill.

Also got my stuff from CSG :cheers:

sorry for reviving an old thread, but what about for someone thats just DD + occasional spirited driving/ canyon. i have the edelbrock s/c with rpf1 17x9 and tein flex Z if it matters.

I run the Project Mu Hc+800 for that use (with auto-x from time to time) I love them as they work great even when cold first thing in the morning. they can get a dusty though if it matter to you (my wheels are black so i dont care lol) It'll be a while but I may try the G-loc R6 next time as its a fairly similar pad it seems.

Those Hc+800 pads has really good cold bite, but drops off when it gets hot (hard braking over 90~100mph) and don't seem to last very long. I went through 40% of a set of new pads with only one track day and a couple hundred commuting miles. And I'm not particularly hard on brakes compared to most people. I guess for the price they are pretty good.

I don't track and mine lasted quite a while (about 40-45k miles front and almost 60k rear). They also are not track pads so I wouldn't expect them to hold up super well to track abuse from someone who knows what they are doing even a little bit.

so project mu? what about winmax W2

W3 is more comparable, but they take a little heat to get working so just watch it for the first couple stop signs. W2 would be a decent DD set-up but I personally want more grab myself

And Carbotec xp8 are too noisy/need heat. thats the extent of my personal knowledge on brake pads lol

Look for a hybrid pad here:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23680

I was looking for something similar and went with Winmax W3's. I should be putting them on Monday. Ill check back in and let ya know how they work out after I bed them in. Ill be DD them along with my monthly autocross.

awesome! yea any feedback would be great !

How are those Winmax W3's working out? I'm going to be installing some myself pretty soon. Did you use the stock rotors?

I've had the project Mu's for the last 2 track days and they are done. They were great for he first day with lots and lots of dust.

2nd day became a "save my brakes" session. Am going to try HP+s this time around, along w Stoptech rotors. Already have SS lines all round.

I have HP+ on mine and they have a great bite to them. They perform really well on the track. The only drawback is after I heat cycled them at the track they bacme very noisy during normal braking ( on the street), but performance is still good. Since the track day i replaced them with stock pads and will only use HP+ for the track.

HP+ is probably a good entry-level track pad. When you start driving the car at its limit consistently you'll want a much more aggressive and heat-tolerant pad that that.

HP+ certainly works and can handle heat better than stock pads, but I would not consider them as having "great bite." Unless Hawk changed the formula on the HP+, it's not something I'd use again or recommend to others.

Haven't had a chance to install them yet. Was going to do it today but realized I wouldn't be able to properly bed them in on a Thursday afternoon, lol.

Im going to put them on tomorrow, Friday, after work and properly bed them in EARLY Saturday morning. I think the streets should be decently cleared at 5am so i bed them in correctly.

I will be using my existing rotors. Should be fine, just have to do a few extra bed in runs to get the old pad material off.

Im also doing my local autocross Sunday so ill check back in after that to let ya know how they did.

Winmax W3 UPDATE:

First of all I would like to say that installing my break pads was the easiest thing I have ever done to my car. This was my first time touching a set of brakes on any car. Just followed the DIY on this site and it was quick and easy.

Upon bedding in the pads, the improvement in braking feel and response is amazing. On my second or third bedding stop I believe I blurted out a "Holy S***!!". Stopping power is way better than stock. In terms of feel, after only driving around on them for 2 days, one being autoX, I know exactly when ABS is about to kick in and much easier to modulate than the stock pads.

There is an occasional squeak from time to time on the pads. Does not happen all the time and is not obnoxious by any means. Dusting seems to be increased over stock but nothing horrible. My wheels were still looking decent after my autocross today.

Hope this helps, I could not be happier with the purchase.

Thanks for the update! I'll be installing mine next weekend.

I ended up installing my W3's tonight and all I can say is wow! My experience was pretty much the same as yours. The overall install was much easier than I expected. After the first few bedding stops the braking power was incredible. I've also noticed an improvement in brake modulation, but need to test that more. Looking forward to having these at my next AutoX event. :thumbup:

In regards to this thread, I have one question: I bought the car with some aftermarket brakes that make a hard groan when easing off the brakes and coming to a stop. I'm getting them replaced at Toyota with OEM parts to eliminate the noise - but is the noise bad to begin with?

Hard to say without hearing it. More aggressive brake pads will squeal or make lots of noise during DD, so it's probably fine.

It's not when driving - when I am about to come to a full stop, or when I slowly ease my foot off the brake after stopping. Anyway I'm getting all 4 brakes, rotors, pads and shims replaced with factory parts. What does that normally cost on this car? I'm going straight through the dealership.

OEM isn't that bad, but you can probably spend less or the same and at least get some better pads. Even if you're not going to be tracking the car you may thank yourself later avoiding an accident with a little more brake bite. Even ceramics can be cheap with more bite and less noise than stock.

The brake parts (rubber guards and shims) aren't expensive at all spare the rotors and pads. I'd be surprised if you actually need to replace the rotors, they just may need to be turned.

How many miles does the car have on it?

I replaced with OEM - brakes feel better. I had some performance aftermarket brakes that I really wasn't fond of. The noise is practically gone now.
The car has 52k on it. I got a good deal because the car is still under warranty.

As long as it's safe and makes you happy it's not a bad decision ;)

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