Am I choosing the right brake pad?
 

Have a stock FRS I am planning on taking to the track. Stock tires and suspension, at least for now.

Tracks would be Streets of Willow, Big Willow, Buttonwillow, Fontana, Chuckwalla, etc.

I figure any sort of hybrid street/track pad isn't good at anything and a full on track pad is the way to go. Planning on flushing with motul rbf600 (works amazing for my supermoto race bike) and a set of race pads. Right now I am thinking Project Mu Club Racer front and rear from my research. Plan on swapping the club racers out with the oem pads for track/daily driving. Only other mod I am thinking is a master cylinder brace.

If anyone things there is a better alternative to the club racer for track days please let me know.

Also, best place to pick them up?

Thanks!

Alternatives include Winmax.

Moto Miwa gives a comprehensive rundown of the different tiers:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68486

Club Racers will work just fine :)

I use club racers, they're good stuff. An alternative I see a lot of people here use are Carbotechs (xp10s? I think)

I plan to get Club Racers for my first track day coming up in October at Road America.

I've been down this rabbit hole before, so maybe this will help. Just spend the money on a big brake kit. I started off tracking my car bone stock. My local track has some serious braking zones (MMP outer loop is very hard on brakes). First track day I pretty much ruined my pads and boiled my fluid. So I went to Torque RT700 fluid and Winmax W3 pads. This was ok, the pads have good modulation, and I just wanted something that I could drive on the street and track, but what I found out was that I wanted a track pad and a street pad, not a compromise between the two. So I then stepped up to the Winmax W6 pads. These are great pads. I just switched out pads on track days going back to stock pads for the street. However, I was going through front pads fast (rears last about 3-4 times as long as fronts on stock braking system for me). I was also having to flush my fluid very often. I was also seeing heat stress cracks in the rotors, so had to get new rotors. Needless to say this was becoming quite expensive and time consuming. After a few friends I track with who also drive FR-S/BRZ's went to a BBK I saw that they had much more consistent braking, very long pad life, and much less frequent fluid flushing/bleeding. So I pulled the trigger. I considered the AP Racing kit (which my friends run and say good things about), but ultimately I decided to go with the RR Racing kit (you can read all about it here http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90379
I will have my first on track experience with the kit later this month, but so far the kit is very impressive. I would talk to the guys at RR Racing and also the guys at Counterspace Garage. They both can help you out.

Thanks for your input. I've raced supermoto at millers kart track, was there just recently during the national mx weekend. Awesome facility. Particularly since im planning on running slippery tires, and since my braking zones probably aren't as gnarly as MMP's i think I am going to give the stock calipers a shot. If that doesn't work out I will certainly look into the BBK option.

Did you just get a front kit or all around? I looked at that thread and it seems odd the rear kit is quite a bit more expensive than the front. I suppose its the unavailability of a low cost rotor option for the rear?

I went with the stage iv front and stage 1 rear (pricing was very reasonable compared to other front and rear kits). Rear kits are expensive, but I wanted to try something different than what the other 86 guys were running. I would check out the Counterspace Garage website. They have quality stuff and are really nice guys that are knowledgeable. Yeah, MMP is a great place, the new owners are putting in around 8 million dollars in improvements next year including a rally course. I watch the supermoto guys on the kart track and it is intense!

I've had my PMU Club Racer pads with stock rotors for about 1.5 years. I've done 8 track days (SOW/Buttonwillow/Chuckwalla) and countless canyon runs. It's been awesome. I have another set of PMU CR pads to be installed after the first set is done.

I heard Winmax W6 is equivalent to PMU CR pad. I'm sure you can't go wrong with either choice.

The PMU CR and the Winmax W6 operate differently and require a different set of finesse. The different types of bite and modulation between the XP10, XP12, CR, 999, W5, W6, etc, require the driver to adapt accordingly. When used correctly, they will perform optimally and very intuitively. :thumbup:

Now that you have mentioned it. I don't have a problem getting on the brakes very hard and very quickly and probably prefer a bit less initial bite than others. I prefer a very linear braking force in relation to pedal pressure.

I sure it is. I was just talking about the aggressive level of the pads. Believe it was CSG who told me they are about the same. haha

I realize in the long run a BBK is very likely cheaper and less time consuming but in lieu of going BBK, do you think going to aftermarket front rotors would have solved the cracking problem on the stock rotors?
tks

I went through 2 sets of XP10s and a couple bottles of rbf600 before I stepped up to AP racing sprint and project mu fluid. In retrospect should have done it from the start.

If you plan time trial check your rules, "BBK" may cost points.