Track pad selection.
 

Hello. I have done several autocross events on my stock brakes and they performed fine.
I am going to venture out to the track for the first time. I would like to correctly match the brake pad to my cars setup.
Car has 300 wheel hp.
Lowered 1 inch on tech flex Z coil overs, TRD sway bars.
245/40/17 RE71Rs tires. Front end is at least 40 lbs heavier due to turbo kit.


I have read the track pad post that's stickied in this section. Based on what I have read I am leaning towards XP10/XP8 on stock rotors.
Would you recommend a different setup ?
Can I get away with using stock rotors with these pads ?


The car is not daily driven. I am an amateur, doing this for the thrills.
Thank you for your time.

Yes you can use stock brakes and pads. Many people have. Zero problems.... well noobs usually wear out their brakes cause they forget to turn off the nannies ( aka, no pedal dance)

But if you feel that buying track pad would do you good, there is no harm in that too.

Were you braking hard enough to activate ABS at the autox course? If yes go for the pad upgrade to XP10's, if not it might be a waste early on but you'll be able to grow into the pads, maybe XP8's will be a better place to start if you're not comfortable braking at the limit yet. Hell my first ever track day was fine on a totally stock brake system, I faded the pads and boiled the fluid on my second day.

I switched to XP10 on my third track day and I think they're a great starter pad. Get the same pad front and rear, measure the rotors, if they're above minimum thickness you'll be fine, if they're close to the limit order a new set. So that means measure them in time to get a replacement for the track day. But the rotors are stout as fuck, don't be surprised if there's lots of life in them, especially on a newer car. Don't worry about swapping rotors specifically for pads and all that other stuff slap 'em in and go run 'em, they'll stop just fine to get you to the track, they'll be loud but on the way home they'll be great until the transfer layer wears off. I swapped back to street pads after the event because I couldn't keep the XP10's bedded in, others can but I was fine with the extra work and did not track enough to justify leaving them in.

Do a brake fluid flush as well, Motul RBF600 or 660 to be safe.

Im on XP10s front and back with stock power and 215-45-17 300tw tires, so I'd say go with XP10s at least, but it all depends on the driver.

I'd say for track use, stock rotors + XP10 pads + RBF600 is a good starting point.



Edit: Aaaand everything I had to say was already mentioned. Oh well:)

Thanks for your response. I don't think my stock brakes can handle the current power level. I am doing pads and lines/fluid at the least.

Based on your response I think I will go with the xp8. I am not after setting personal records yet. I want to get acquainted with the cars setup at the track. I won't be driving the car in the limits until I can dial in the suspension and alignment a bit more. I am starting from scratch. Thanks for your response.

There's nothing to dial in on the suspension and alignment if you're not driving at the limit.

You shouldn't be upgrading the brake pads because of the car, you should be upgrading the brake pads based on your skill level. Drivers who are fast and use the brakes hard will be on XP12's on stock power while you're not even using XP8's to their capacity with whatever horsepower you have.

The XP8's sound like a good fit, maybe a bit overkill but you'll hopefully grow into them. Get a baseline setup, a sport-street alignment from a reputable local shop, ask some local track day goers where they take their cars, have the dampers set to be comfortable during street driving and don't touch it while you get maximum seat time, if you're having problems have someone experienced ride with you or review video and ideally data if you have it before you go changing the car.

What us amateurs 'feel' is the problem is typically not the problem.

Read this if you haven't, if you have read it again.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25485

Post future questions here and if you have the time read as much of this thread as you can, there's lots of great info in here.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38926

Starting from scratch every single lap has the opportunity to be a personal best ;)

A big part of the problem is that autocross doesn't call for having to slow down from high speeds. Stock brakes are sufficient for 50-20 but I will most certainly cook the pads at higher speeds.

Depends on how fast you're trying to go, I've faded street pads on an 86 and boiled OE fluids on a Mini while autox-ing.

What??? Zero problems?

My first time as the track I faded the pads in 2 laps... I would not advice stock pads at the track, ever.


In regads to OP, you could try ferodo DS2500, they are a street/track hybrid pad and good for begginers.

Yeah I thought stock pads are a no-go for any track use, with or without the pedal dance?

Power Stop Track Day pads are an affordable solution. I haven't used them, but I've heard good things. I've got a buddy who ran Road Atlanta with them on his relatively stock twin and they held up fine, and RA is a fast track. Corvette guys seem to like them too.

Have you... driven a car with 71R?

300whp and 71R? You definitely need race pads, even for a first day.

Don't stagger the pads. All you do is shift your bias unnecessarily, making the braking system work harder.

Stock rotors are fine.

Go with G-loc R10 front/rear. Same as XP10, but cheaper.

PM me to order.

Many track newbs don't even get the brakes warm on their first day. And if they never go past 2-3 events it'd be a waste of a few hundred bucks. And that's in anything from an '89 Miata to a C7 Corvette.