| Re: News to me: Race compound pads for stock C4 brakes. |
Subject: Re: News to me: Race compound pads for stock C4 brakes. by SpectatorRacing on 2008/8/19 2:20:32 If you keep your brakes too cool and run race pads you will never get them up to temperature and therefore never take advantage of your full braking potential. Hawk HPS and HP+ are not race pads. You'll notice a lot of fade if your brakes are overheating. CC, newbs can "overuse" the brakes as stated by Bill. Typically this involves two things: 1. Overslowing the car - not a bad thing but obviously not the fastest way around a track 2. Applying the brakes improperly - this is the most common. Think about how you apply your brakes on the street - you ease into them, gradually increasing pressure as the car gets closer to the stop light. Therefore you have your pads on the rotor for a much longer time, even if the pressure is not as high as near the end of the stop. Hard, fast, "binary" stops slow the car more quickly, in less distance, and generate much less heat. The rotors will have more time to cool between stops as well. Obviously there is a method to this, you can't just stab the brakes or you'll lockup or unsettle the car. Some brake fade on stock pads and rotors is to be expected, but is often construed as brake failure. I took the M3 to the track a few weeks ago on stock brakes, street pads. After about two stops the pedal was soft and had double the travel, but the car stopped just fine. It felt like the brakes were fading, but they just got hot. Compensate in your driving and in most cases you're fine. I ran several sessions like that, and the brakes felt "normal" on the ride home as they were cooler. |
