Intense

Hey all,
I'll be doing an HPDE event near the end of the month and I was wondering how the OEM pads and fluid would hold-up in these conditions.

I'm no n00b to track events, I've done several in my (former) WRX. But the S brake systems feels quite a bit more substantial than the factory Subaru brakes on the WRX.

I guess my question is, should I expect either one of these to survive a one day HPDE event? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna swap the brake fluid for the Valvoline Synthetic stuff (tall gold bottle) as I've used that for years and it's done very well for me.

If pads are needed, what are the recommended ones? I've used Axxis Ultimates and Porterfield R4S before and had good luck. I was thinking of getting the R4S' for my S. However, I see that Cobalt is a sponsor here. So, I'm assuming there will be quite a few data points for this.

thanks
mike

cthree

No. Short and sweet. The pads will be shot by the end of the day (bring spares!) but the fluid won't live more than a single hot lap. I boil factory fluid with stock pads on the street let alone the track.

Put in some super blue or motul at least.

cthree

R4S don't hold up well. Grippy but they overheat and crumble. Hawk blue, panther plus or cobalts are my recommendation. You are on a slippery slope. Crack kills.

Triple-H

About the only part of the OEM brake system that will hold up to a school are the rotors...

C3 is right, if you want to go to the school and have fun, get real pads and real fluid.

TubeDriver

I have had no problem running Valvoline Synpower (Gold bottle) in both WRX and S2000 for 2 day HPDE. Valvoline Synpower is about on par with ATE and a LOT cheaper. I often bleed my brakes after each day but have never had an issue with the fluid. If you want to spend some extra cash on premium fluid I like Motul 600 better than ATE. Your OEM rotors will be fine too. Your OEM pads will not handle an HPDE day very well though they may get you through the day (but it depends on how you drive and what track you will be on). I have had good experience with Panther + and XP8s. So my recommendation is too:

flush with Valvoline Synpower fluid (and bring some extra in case you want to flush before day 2)

use OEM rotors

get Panther + or XP8s (or Cobalts but not the GTs in front). Hawk Blue will tear up your rotors and the dust is nasty stuff indeed (for your wheel and car paint finiah).

cthree

Yup. If you want to bleed them every day use the cheap stuff. I prefer to do it once a year so I run ATE Superblue. $12 a can lasts a whole year, SynPower at half the price will last a weekend at the track. Penny wise pound foolish IMHO. Pumping brake fluid in a parking lot at 7AM, priceless.

TubeDriver

No offense but if you track your car with any regularity flushing your brakes 1x/year is INSANE. Almost everyone I know who tracks their car flushes their brakes after EVERY single event (often after each day). I would take the cheapest generic DOT 3 fluid if I could flush it after each day over ATE flushed 1x/year (which in my case would be 30+ autoX and 12+ track days). As for flushing the fluid, it takes all of 10 minutes to do before callling it a day. What does your fluid look like after a year? Finally,, most HPDE inspections REQUIRE a full flush within 1 month prior to event so unless you do one HPDE a year I don't see how you can get away with a single flush per year.

blah

Flush after every event?! Wow, while I don't do as many events (average about 9 HPDE events per year), I use ATE and flush it once a year as well. I've never had any brake fluid related problems. my $0.02.

cthree

[QUOTE=TubeDriver,Aug 10 2005, 07:57 AM] No offense but if you track your car with any regularity flushing your brakes 1x/year is INSANE.

TubeDriver

Here is the universe I live in. Jack the car up from the front side jackpoint (which lifts both wheels on that side). As long as no air in introduced to the system, corner bleed order does not appear to make any difference. I use a 18v impact wrench to remove lugs, remove tires, I have speed bleeders but I almost always have a buddy or my wife pump the brake pedel. Each corner gets 6 bleeds and fluid is topped off between each corner. Wheel is replaced, lugs are hand turned and than torqued to 80 ft lbs. Repeat on other side. It takes about 10-15 minutes. A little more if I take my time and give the suspension and pads a visual inspection.

All that I need to carry is a 10mm wrench, a 19mm Socket with Torque wrench and a rubber tube, 2 small bottles of brake fluid. Fluid is drained in a empty water bottle and discarded at the track fluid disposal area.

I am not that exhausted after a day at the track since I have learned how to keep relatively relaxed when driving. I also keep hydrated.

Doing 15 track days without a single flush is crazy and I can't imagine anyone doing that. Since most if not all HPDE tech inspection sheets require a recent flush with fresh fluid, I imagine you have to just start making stuff up on when you fill out your form? I The clubs I run with include PCA (were I got my National Instructor certification, GWS Mercedes, Audi and BMW clubs). So let me get this straight, you run on the track with cars that have not passed any tech inspection or filled out any form with things like "checked brake fluid levels, fluid replaced on ____? What clubs do you run with? I would have thought that a clubs ability to get insurance for an event would depend on a basic tech inspection but I guess not on the tracks you run? It's great that you can burn through "3 sets of rotors, 5 sets of pads and 4 sets of tires" but are too cheap to flush out $12 worth of old brake fluid. I guess that fact that you are still talking means this works for you, but I'll keep running fresh fluid for my events (whether I use Valvoline or Motul 600).