pfb

Yea, I use a file too. One of my pistons is just a bitch to retract, though. Probably needs to be rebuilt, but it brakes fine, just a pain to retract, so I keep putting it off...

TrueDrezzer

My brake strategy is to go for whatever pad compounds I can use that are least harmful for the discs, as discs are astronomically expensive here in Germany. Just over US$210 each for a front disc! Talk about $tealers....

How quickly are you fellows going through discs in relation to pads?

///Robin

krazik

Uhm if your pads aren't bedded right you can seriously decrease your brake performace.

Changing at the track isn't likely a good idea, -unless- you have a track set of rotors that only see the track pads and you swap them both out at the same time.

And LudeDude: Bedding brakes is to get the pad surface and rotor surface to mate up, for optimum contact.

If you change your pads in the AM, you can give up most of the first session bedding the pads.

-Rylan

rlaifatt

Ry, I would think that once the race pads are bedded once (i.e. appropriate heating and cooling first time), they don't need rebedding, and putting them on at the track on rotors that were used with street pads should burn/wear off and replace the stock pad material with the race pad material pretty quickly after a few hard brakings and things heat up. So I would think that performance is up to optimum in a lap or two. (All IMHO of course). I have never had a performance problem with changing pads at the track routinely, and the street pads work well (even seem grippier) on the rotors after a track event.

Truedrezzer, you might want to try an endurance pad like the PFC 97. These pads last 2-3 times longer than non-endurance pads, maybe more, they operate at a lower temp., and seem relatively rotor friendly. Front rotors last about 12-15 track days (100-150 miles per day) before seeing cracks (not outright failure), in my experience.

krazik

they should need rebedding every time. like I said if you want performance and not to run race pads on the street you should run 2 sets of rotors.

Yes it will work to do it otherwise, but its not going to be optimum.

I did it enuf times, but if you glaze a pad because of poor bedding you're gonna have trouble with those brakes and possibly ruin a set of good pads. Not to mention pads are going to last a lot longer if you don't force them to waste material to re "mate" with your rotors every track day.

And it takes alteast a session to bed in brakes, I've never done it in much less. Definately not a in "lap or two"

TrueDrezzer

One reason I am inclining towards the pad swapping is that it seems the sport/race pads I've tried aren't too rotor-friendly when driven on the street, plus very dusty (the kind that's nigh impossible to remove).

I've noticed that driving a few weeks on the Ferodo pads on the street results in uneven pad deposits and "vibrating rotors" and another bedding-in is needed to return them to normal.

I've successfully bedded pads in on 1-2 laps of the Ring (which of course takes 20 min!) The Ferodos are designed for relatively quick bedding in. I normally do 1-2 laps of scouting around at lower speeds anyway before turning it up.

///Robin

EFFECT

Just a Note I used the Ferodo 3000 pads on my race car and they would last me 1.5 days. I switched to cobalt pads and now they last a good 3 days maybe even a bit longer, and they stop just as well if not better then the Ferodo's. No more Ferodo's for me!

Voodoo_S2K

I was doing the swap pad thing for a little bit but found that my braking performance was getting worse and worse. I think it was because of two different kinds/type of brake pad material getting deposited on the rotors. I recently switched over to using seperate pads and rotors for the track and found this to be a much better combination.

TrueDrezzer

Ferodos DS2500 all round lasted me around 10 track days. Rears actually had plenty of life left. Obviously the Ring has more cooling straights than a short circuit.

I've got those miniscule cracks on my discs over the middle sections. Thickness is still good. At what point do you fellows decide to chuck out the discs?

///Robin

krazik

when you can feel, a tick,tick,tick in the brake pedal at low speed. Then it will become a vibration at speed if you don't replace them.

The hairline cracks are fine, but mean you're getting near the end of the life of the rotors.