Track Brake Pad Discussion Thread

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by GotMunchies?

Does anyone have a preferred source for OEM rotor blanks? Would be nice to find a cheaper alternative to running down the local dealership.

RockAuto.com
Amazon.com

One of the best OEM blanks you can buy and look.. it's a prime item!
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Centric-Parts-120-47021-Premium-E-Coating/dp/B000IY4A0Y/ref=au_as_r?ie=UTF8&Make=Scion|91&Model=FR-S|21599&Year=2013|2013&n=15684181&s=automotive&veh icleId=6&vehicleType=automotive"]Amazon.com: Centric Parts 120.47021 Premium Brake Rotor with E-Coating: Automotive[/ame]

[milanojess]

i am casual forum member and don't normally have luxury to be here...
I do happen to have been running with HC+800 on bone stock FRS and have been thru laguna seca and thunderhil.

While I have used porter fields, carbotech, fedora's before, they were on different car so i wouldn't compare them apple to apple

On this car
Brake Pad Manufacturer (F/R): Project Mu
Caliper (F/R): stock/stock
Rotor Size: stock/stock
Compound (F/R): HC+800/HC+800
Tires: stock primacy something
Fluid: Motul 600.

I know I know, i haven't been doing competition driving for some time so this is a toy car just for fun and it's completely stock for now. I got these pads because of their ability to be driven on the street and on the track.

Feedback:
I think stock tires have so little grip that I had to break more. A few laps at laguna seca and I could tell that brake was getting soft particularly at turn2 and 11.. I just extended break zone there and the rest corners were fine.

On the other hand i was impressed by the chassis that got a lot out of those tires

I think the slight fading came from the temperature spike of stock brake system that may had cooked the fluid a little and not from the pads. The pads maintained integrity with smoke and orange rotor discs.

IMHO, stock car, with stickier tires, HC+800 would be just fine. I am quite happy with this dual role pad.

Since I don't have any in comparison...

Scores:
Dusting: unknown
Cold bite: 7
Hot bite (1=low-10=high): 7
Modulation (1=low-10=high):
Noise (1=extremely loud-10=quiet): 9
Pad Lifespan (1=short-10=long): i got 3 track days and about 15k miles daily out of front pads. Rears seem to last 2x longer
Brake ducts: (Y/N) N

[GotMunchies?]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

RockAuto.com
Amazon.com

One of the best OEM blanks you can buy and look.. it's a prime item!
Amazon.com: Centric Parts 120.47021 Premium Brake Rotor with E-Coating: Automotive

I've seen those centric's around (everywhere) and kept thinking, "Too good to be true!"

Would they hold up to a track pad and some occasional HPDE abuse?

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by GotMunchies?

I've seen those centric's around (everywhere) and kept thinking, "Too good to be true!"

Would they hold up to a track pad and some occasional HPDE abuse?

Considering that's the exclusive rotor I use for the race car in which I run a brake compound so aggressive that everything else will fail before the pad does (and has)..

I'd say you're good to go.

Centric on top vs "no-name parts store brand" on bottom:


You can see the cooling gap is better and the cooling veins are "symmetrical" meaning they are the same thickness where they meet the blade on each side whereas the standard part store rotors have uneven cooling veins that do... well.. uneven cooling.

The runout and metallurgy is superior as well.

[GotMunchies?]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

Considering that's the exclusive rotor I use for the race car in which I run a brake compound so aggressive that everything else will fail before the pad does (and has)..

I'd say you're good to go.

Centric on top vs "no-name parts store brand" on bottom:


You can see the cooling gap is better and the cooling veins are "symmetrical" meaning they are the same thickness where they meet the blade on each side whereas the standard part store rotors have uneven cooling veins that do... well.. uneven cooling.

The runout and metallurgy is superior as well.

That's all I need to hear! Thanks for the tip, ordering 'em up now!

[milanojess]

Hi there, I just spent a day at laguna seca, this time trying out the W5 from winmax and i think they are quite impressive. Car is still completely stock.

Brake Pad Manufacturer (F/R): Winmax
Caliper (F/R): stock/stock
Rotor Size: stock/stock
Compound (F/R): W5/w5
Tires: stock premacy something a.k.a prius tires.
Fluid: Motul 600.


Feedback:
The increased overall friction vs HC+800 was very obvious. The stock tires had so little grip i could trigger ABS shortly after start braking into turn 2. No fading of any kind throughout the day. On the other hand i didn't want to overcook stock rotors so i wasn't smashing brakes.

I can see this compound eats rotors a bit, but I drove to track and home and even to work for a day thereafter and the cold bite was very good and better than stock pads.

Scores:
Dusting: unknown
Cold bite: 7
Hot bite (1=low-10=high): 8
Modulation (1=low-10=high): 8
Noise (1=extremely loud-10=quiet): 6
Pad Lifespan (1=short-10=long): haven't looked, will report back
Brake ducts: (Y/N) N

[Cartman]

Brake Pad Manufacturer: Project Mu
Caliper: OEM
Rotor Size: OEM
Pad Compound: HC+800 (F/R)
Tires: 225/45/17 Cooper RS3-S
Brake fluid: Motul 5.1

Feedback:
I'm a novice driver and this was my first set of street/track hybrid pads. I was disappointed with them, they have great initial bite, but they taper off soon after. I managed to fade them about 6 laps into my 20 min session. On the street they where great pads, aside from the noise and slight dust.

Scores:
Dusting: (1=low-10=high) 5
Cold bite: (1=low-10=high) 7
Hot bite: (1=low-10=high) 6
Modulation: (1=low-10=high) 4, after initial bite, no matter how much harder I pressed the brakes, there was no change in braking force.
Noise: (1=extremely loud-10=quiet) 5, they squeal while street driving them, no noise under track loads.
Pad Lifespan: (1=short=10=long) Front: 3, lasted 6K miles and 3 track days. Rear: 7, still have about 40% life left after 4 track days and 8K miles.
Does the brake dust with this combination damage the wheels/paint if not cleaned immediately? (Y/N) N, left brake dust on wheels for weeks with no adverse effects.
Brake ducts: (Y/N) N

[Mad_Mike]

Brake Pad Manufacturer (F/R): Carbotech
Caliper (F/R): OEM
Rotor Size (F/R - IE OEM or specify): OEM
Compound (F/R): XP10
Tires: 245 RS3
Fluid: Motul RBF 600

Feedback:
Cold bite on the street is much better than stock. Tried these out for my first PDX at Daytona and experienced no fade. Pads felt great for the 3 20-minute sessions. Easy to transition to from OEM pads. These pads create a significant amount of dust.

Scores:
I'll leave the scoring to people with more experience.

[brn12345]

Brake Pad Manufacturer: AP
Caliper: AP front / OEM rear
Rotor Size: 330mm front / OEM rear
Pad Compound: AP S100 (F/R)
Tires: 225/45/17 Dunlop Direzza II star spec
Brake fluid: AP 5.1


Scores:
Dusting: (1=low-10=high) 4
Cold bite: (1=low-10=high) 7
Hot bite: (1=low-10=high) 9
Modulation: (1=low-10=high) 8
Noise: (1=extremely loud-10=quiet) 8
Pad Lifespan: (1=short=10=long) 8
Does the brake dust with this combination damage the wheels/paint if not cleaned immediately? (Y/N) N
Brake ducts: (Y/N) N


Comments:
I have had these brakes for 12 months now and they are still going strong. Have used them on several track days (our circuit is known to be hard on brakes) and many Autocross events. I also use the car on the street as a second car. To be very frank this is how the car should have been sold from the factory. Zero squeal, cold bit is good, they last forever, zero fade on track.

[Lynxis]

Brake Pad Manufacturer (F/R): Hawks
Caliper (F/R): OEM
Rotor Size (F/R - IE OEM or specify): OEM
Compound (F/R): Semi-metallic HP+
Tires: OEM

Feedback:
Upgraded to Hawks HP+ front and rear and upgraded to RBF600 fluid for my first track day. Car is otherwise completely stock. Much better stopping power than stock and completely fade resistant in ~15c ambient temps after a hard hour long track session. Easy to modulate too. Very light braking is silent but they make some noise once you increase pressure a bit but it's not unacceptable. They dust like mad though and screwed up my cheap paint job on my rims by the end of track day.

Scores:
Dusting (1=high-10=low): 1
Cold bite (1=low-10=high): 8
Hot bite (1=low-10=high): 8
Modulation (1=low-10=high): 7
Noise (1=extremely loud-10=quiet): 4
Pad Lifespan (1=short-10=long): (estimate/actual) Can't comment on this yet.
Does the brake dust with this combination damage the wheels/paint if not cleaned immediately? (Y/N) Y
Brake ducts: (Y/N) N

[cab33]

I've read through this thread, what's a good set up that works for both... a daily driver and trackdays?

[the new guy]

Originally Posted by cab33

I've read through this thread, what's a good set up that works for both... a daily driver and trackdays?

I've daily'd my Project Mu HC800+ for over 15k miles with track days and I've been really happy with them. Good initial bite and performance


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[n8dog11914]

Originally Posted by cab33

I've read through this thread, what's a good set up that works for both... a daily driver and trackdays?

I would run either the Project Mu HC+800s, Ferodo DS2500s, Stoptech Performance Street, or Winmax W4 daily and mild track duty.

Also, I suggest running the same pads front to rear. I previously ran upgraded front pads with stock rears and regretted trying to save a few bucks.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by n8dog11914

I would run either the Project Mu HC+800s, Ferodo DS2500s, Stoptech Performance Street, or Winmax W4 daily and mild track duty.

Also, I suggest running the same pads front to rear. I previously ran upgraded front pads with stock rears and regretted trying to save a few bucks.

Good to know, as this is what I'm looking at now. Don't care too much about dust since I have black wheels, and my local track (Hallett) isn't particularly hard on brakes for momentum cars like these (Miatas/MINIs/etc).