Ok since the last archive of arguements was lost what was the conclusion about VIR. brake pads and fluid? does and donts????

 

Basically it went like this. I said buy some real racing pads and some good fluid (wilwood, motul, ford HD, etc). Then alot of people said save your money and run some really good street pads with the good fluid. Why dont you price some pads and see what you can get at what price points. I still say get some good racing pads. Its the safest bet and you will never overdrive them. Panther/Hawk/Porterfield all make decent pads. Here is a number for a friend named Matt. He works for Panther just call and talk to him. He has tons of experiance at VIR and can explain things to you a bit. 1-877-899-5024. It's not like he is going to reach thru the phone and grab your wallet. Give him a call.

 

yup....I said a dual purpose pad and ATE superblue was adaquate for me and would most like be for you in addition to working well on the street and autocross couse and wear well, which no track pad will do.
oh, and that cobalt was a good brake company too.....

 

BTW I was wondering about this last time. How big are your stock brakes and how much does your car weigh. Brandon has a ITR with 11 inch rotors that are fairly thick in a 2600 pound car. That makes a difference.

 

I have Porterfield R4S and love them. Not grabby, but there is you really need them. I also run super blue and change it every 6-8 months.

 

ATE Super Blue is the shiznit!

 

I agree on fluid, even though I used the Valvoline Synthetic this past weekend and had no problems. I would avoid the very expemsive stuff (Motul, etc) unless I felt that my car was fast and heavy enough to need it. Whatever you use, empty the resivoir and re-fill with new just before an event.

The big differance in the street and the pure racing pads (especially Hawk) is that you can't drive pure racing pads on the street. A friend of mine chewed up his rotors driving from here to VIR enough that when he got there he changed rotors before he went out on the track. With racing pads, put them on when you get to the track and take them off before you leave. With an HP street pad you can drive with them all the time. You might fade them once at the track, but maybe not.

If you car is fast and heavy (Mustang or Camaro for example) HP street pads will probably not do the trick (even though Dale has had good results with Carbotech's). A Civic with a stockish engine can probably do OK with Porterfield R4S and never need anything else.

Other factors are cooling.... Good brake ducts can go a long way in reducing the need for racing pads; brake size, and driving style.

FWIW Carroll Smith (accepted road racing preparation guru) favors HP street pads for this (I think it is mentioned in this article). He says that HP street pads fade slowly and don't surprise you all of a sudden. Read the article, it is good. I have a GT350 and can attest to what he says about them and the M19 pads.

 

trip i dont know what to tell you. all i know is that everytime i autox, my brakes seem to sqeak a little more after each event.