Quote:
Originally Posted by Dezoris
- Ordering Replacement Brake Rotors and Pads (AGAIN)
- Ordering more tires (AGAIN)
- Order revised belt and pulley for Vortech kit
- Order spare belt tensioner, just in case it breaks at a track or in the middle of nowhere and can't get parts
- Transporting, and gathering all equipment and tires to swap from winter to summer
- Re-installing the summer brake kit
- Bleeding brakes
- Re-installing oil cooler lines for spring
- Removing bumper to look for leaks or damage
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It really seems to me like a LOT more work is being done than necessary.
Point 1: Did you try tracking the car with the stock brakes with good track pads and DOT4 fluid? That would have saved a ton of time/effort/$$$ right there.
$400 *street* pads? For why?
I run low-noise/low-dust inexpensive street pads on the street on my street/track car. Centric Posi-Quiet, $65 all around, no problemo. I even did an unplanned track event with them and they were actually fine (I did lift VERY early on the longest straight to preserve them).
Also, I wouldn't throw away "grooved" pads, especially if they were expensive. I also use rotors to the bitter end (min thickness) and never have them turned. Grooves and all. I haven't experienced warped rotors in forever (not since I stupidly had my old 535i's rotors turned a couple of decades ago).
Do you *really* swap out the rotors and calipers between seasons? Waste of time/money/effort again.
Q: the "cheap Hawk pads" you used, were they HPS? If so, they're likely worse than OEM. Centric street pads are mucho better-o.
2. Tires. Of course tires get used up. I usually *enjoy* the opportunity to buy and try new tires. Getting NT01s for the RX-7 this year after suffering at the track with street tires...
3/4. Revised kit for more power? New spare tensioner because they are known to fail? Of course aftermarket mods are not as well developed for reliability vs. OEM, so some issues are to be expected. Would hope this would become a non-issue at some point...
5. I always ship tires to where I'm going to have them installed. And they keep my winter wheels/tires in the summer and my summer wheels/tires in the winter. Same with parts I know I'm not going to install myself, I have them shipped to the shop. You might see if you can do this with your shop, saves a lot of hassle.
6. Swapping brake systems between winter/summer is, again, IMO, a waste of time/money/effort. I drive on the big brakes all year on my FD, even New England winters (do try to avoid the salt though!).
7. I bleed brakes before ever other track event (of course including the first event of the season). No big deal, especially as the wheels/tires are being swapped for the track event anyway.
8. This also seems a ridiculous waste of time/money/effort. I wouldn't worry about 0W20 synthetic oil not getting "up to temperature" in the winter months. Do you have a thermostat for the oil coiler? Good on you for inspecting, but all this additional labor removing/re-installing the oil cooler and lines is not buying you anything IMO.
9. Periodic inspection is of course a good idea...
TL/DR: You're doing a LOT more work and spending a LOT more money than necessary to run a modded street/track car.