desert tortoise

I am a new member to the board and have tracked my S2000 15 times in my first year of ownership. I'm spending a fortune on Porterfield R4S brake pads, which seem to heat up and crumble. I'm more concerned with economics than performance, but I thought that going to a hardened rotor and putting in race pads each time I go to the track and then putting stock or R4S pads back on for the street might ultimately save me money despite the added cost of the race pads. Naturally I intend to add ducting to the front brakes. Does anyone know of an aftermarket cryogenically treated rotor for race pads fit for the S2000 front and rear?

cdelena

Sounds like an excellent plan. I eventually want to do the same thing; get some cryo treated rotors and use R4 on the track and stock or R4S on the street.

The reports are generally for more than four times the rotor wear and more than double the pad wear after the rotors are treated (no reason to treat the pads).

I have corresponded with Diversified Cryogenics and they will obtain stock rotors and treat them. Drill or slot them and plate them if you want. Although not real cheap the savings in rotors and pads should be better than what you are experiencing now.

Take a look at http://www.frozenrotors.com/. I talked to Mark Link there about a year ago trying to get a group buy, but he wanted seven buyers to get a decent price break so I let it slide for awhile. There are other shops that offer the service but I have not priced them.

Here is an old thread about ducts:
http://www.s2000online.com/forums/showthre...p?threadid=3073

Report back on what you decide to do and how it works out.


[Edited by cdelena on 03-15-2001 at 06:04 PM]

mingster

have you ever considered Endless brake pads?

cdelena

I bet few here in the states have. Without a good english description of the compounds and references from street and track users most won't take a chance. I won't when there are known choices at a good price available.

If they were serious about marketing the product in a area they would make an investment spreading some product around for review and getting information out.

Having their name on the side of car competing in Asia and pictures of cute girls on their website will not compel me to buy product.. the tobacco companies can do that too.

mingster

Yes, I do believe they have a website now: http://www.endlessusa.com

The Endless pads were featured a while ago on SCC (i think) along with Jun's yellow/green drag Civic.

mingster

And I think Chris has a point too in regards to pricing and availability, I was pretty surprised when I got the pricing. For the top of the line NA-M or CC-X pads, you're looking at $400 a set!

GTRPower

Hey guys-

I've used them. To be quite honest I thought Winmax pads in general were better. Hawk makes a similar product- and they're US local, so supply is never a big a problem.

I'd use them again- if there was a decent supply, backed by a reputable distributor, and if prices were within the price ranges of the US competitors' equivalents...

Right now there's no reason for me to do that. Brake pads, rotors, fluid, oil, tires, and the such are consumables, and I rather have a good solid supply of those items that a poor supply. Just ask the Performance Friction customers about that one, or the people who actually liked the BFG G-Force R1 tires...

I've said it before- believe it or not, USA brake pad manufacturers are actually ahead of their counterparts in technology in other countries...

mingster

[QUOTE]Originally posted by GTRPower
[B]Hey guys-

I've used them.

GTRPower

mingster-

Actually, supply is a problem with many Japanese parts, including Endless products. Up until about 6 months ago nobody could get Endless in the USA- their products were a special order item. In fact, they still are unless you are CA local. Just because someone says they are available doesn't automatically mean that there is a supply of the ones you need. It's pointless to have a "steady supply" and have to buy 10 sets to ensure you have some when you need them!

Endless does not have a foothold in the US racing market. I wonder if the US distibutor does have real intentions to become a steady, stable supplier of race or high performance oriented brake products if they don't market their products to that sector. I know that they are trying to rely on their Japanese racing efforts and import enthusiast magazine articles to market the parts here, but I have perfectly usable brake consumables here that don't rely on a production supply from 7000 miles away- they will have to be more aggressive to get my dollar again. This reminds me of the EBC fad last year- when a bunch of local compact car guys went ga-ga over them, and promptly took them to the track where the EBCs didn't hold up. Not that EBC doesn't make a good product, just that I've been using stuff that works for me, so it'll be hard for me to trust other pads, especially ones that don't have to care about their reputation since they're so far away from the home market, and that their distibutors don't have a clue as to what to recommend here because they don't have good, real world experience...

It just seems like a very half hearted effort to me- mostly marketing to JDM fanatics and marginal bit players. At least, that's my opinion...

mingster

Nick, I was assured by my supplier that it will not be a problem, who knows? Volk's Japanese rep told me face to face that "we will ship you the wheels if Mackin doesn't have them within 1 month". You call up Mackin and they're still saying 2-3 months, sometimes more.

Yeah, if Ken (Endless USA rep) wants to wholeheartedly do this, he's gotta put a lot more efforts into USDM racing and stuff. In that case, I think Mugen and TRD are doing a great job on at least USDM support for customers.