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Track day brakes


vroom811

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Have to agree that bit by bit just sends the whole system out of balance. Tried Oulton with a stock set up and it simply didn't cope. The state of my Potenza RE040s showed that i was pushing maybe too hard for a stock setting- can't afford the R888s as I've just received my brake lines and will upgrade with racing brake fluid with a 320 deg boiling point coupled to new DS2500 pads and EBC turbo grooved and dimpled discs. I hope this will give me more confidence going down to Cascades and Druids.

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post-18175-0-34902700-1362737487_thumb.jpg

 

Re040 are shocking tyres! Get them changed as soon as you can and you'll notice a hell of a difference.

You can see the state of one of the fronts in the attachment- there was so much spare rubber that the wheel went out of balance when it was cold on the way home. Had to scrub them in again to remove the excess to bring them back into balance. R888 or Yoko's are on my shopping list but i needed to kill the Potenzas before justifying the spend.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am looking at upgrading my brakes for a couple of upcoming track days, looking at getting the Motul RBF brake fluid and Ferodo DS2500 pads but i was wondering how important it is to change the brake lines too?

I ask because i will be moving to Germany later in the summer so unfortunately have to sell the car (Not happy about it) so I want to do enough so not to suffer the brake fade issues but also I do not want to spend a fortune on parts i won't see the benifit from.

 

If anybody has any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

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Charlie,

 

If your brakes are not in top tip shape then there is a very good chance that your track session will be prematurely cut short by either brake pedal fade or pad fade which are two completely different things.

 

For the sake of £300.00 why take the risk in spoiling your trackday?

There is nothing worse than getting in a few laps and your brake pedal sinks to the floor.

 

When selling your car, new brakes will also be a good selling point, however you will not get any more money for your car but it will make it easier to sell with now pads, lines and fluids fitted.

 

In answer to your specific question Charlie, I would advise you to definately change the lines as well, and at £72.00 it is a no brainer.

 

Alex. :)

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Charlie,

 

If your brakes are not in top tip shape then there is a very good chance that your track session will be prematurely cut short by either brake pedal fade or pad fade which are two completely different things.

 

For the sake of £300.00 why take the risk in spoiling your trackday?

There is nothing worse than getting in a few laps and your brake pedal sinks to the floor.

 

When selling your car, new brakes will also be a good selling point, however you will not get any more money for your car but it will make it easier to sell with now pads, lines and fluids fitted.

 

In answer to your specific question Charlie, I would advise you to definately change the lines as well, and at £72.00 it is a no brainer.

 

Alex. :)

To back up Zmanalex- i did have to keep coming back into the pits with only 3 or 4 laps at a time before the brakes were cooked- bought the lines from alex now and looking forward to my next track day to try them out with racing fluid and ferodo pads too

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You will definitely need decent fluid and pads. Braided lines aren't really great when it comes to the old cost:effect ratio. i have some installed and would recommend them if you were doing a lot of track work but if your selling the car in the soon i wouldn't bother with them.

 

If you have crap pads fluid, like Alex said, you will spend most of your day waiting for everything to cool down. or even worse you may get to a high speed corner and find that you have no brakes :scare:

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I've done Bedford before on stock brakes in a HR coupe and it was fine. Okay, ultimate stopping power wasn't as good as my ragtop with the PF stuff all round, but I didn't get close to boiling the fluid or overheating anything. It's all about being sensible and knowing the limits of your car, and admittedly I'm very easy on brakes anyway.

 

For doing two trackdays and then selling the Zed, I'd rather keep the money in my pocket.

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I've done Bedford before on stock brakes in a HR coupe and it was fine. Okay, ultimate stopping power wasn't as good as my ragtop with the PF stuff all round, but I didn't get close to boiling the fluid or overheating anything. It's all about being sensible and knowing the limits of your car, and admittedly I'm very easy on brakes anyway.

 

For doing two trackdays and then selling the Zed, I'd rather keep the money in my pocket.

 

You must drive like a Granny out for a Sunday hoon on her way to the local church coffee morning: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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I've done Bedford before on stock brakes in a HR coupe and it was fine. Okay, ultimate stopping power wasn't as good as my ragtop with the PF stuff all round, but I didn't get close to boiling the fluid or overheating anything. It's all about being sensible and knowing the limits of your car, and admittedly I'm very easy on brakes anyway.

 

For doing two trackdays and then selling the Zed, I'd rather keep the money in my pocket.

 

You must drive like a Granny out for a Sunday hoon on her way to the local church coffee morning: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Hehe. My first outing in the Z at oulton the existing fluid was boiled after less than 3 laps. I know when tracking a road car the stints should be kept small, and oulton is tough on brakes, but boiled fluid after such a short amount of time is dangerous in my mind.

 

Don't take this the wrong way but when you say your easy on the brakes, Surely this means that you are braking earlier and not pushing in the braking zones. For me, trying find the latest point at which i can brake is one of the most fun and rewarding parts of the track day experience.

Edited by CrumbMC
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:lol: :lol: :p

 

I have no idea why I'm so easy on the brakes, have been like it with every car I've ever owned so I guess it's my driving style more than anything. Doesn't seem to hamper my driving in any way, I do wonder how much quicker I could be if I was a bit more agressive with it though. :)

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:lol: :lol: :p

 

I have no idea why I'm so easy on the brakes, have been like it with every car I've ever owned so I guess it's my driving style more than anything. Doesn't seem to hamper my driving in any way, I do wonder how much quicker I could be if I was a bit more agressive with it though. :)

 

Well i guess the upside is you will spend a lot less on maintenance. i just can't help myself :lol:

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Wow cheers for all the advise, Well I do really want to get the best out of the Zed before I am made to sell her so think I might have to spend the cash. I did a track day last year and overheated the brakes after a few laps so would prefer more time on the track and less time waiting to cool them down watching everyone else have fun.

 

Alex I did send speak to you a while ago about the brakes etc, have you some still in stock? Fronts and rears?

 

Have looked into Zed prices in Germany and there are 30-40% more expensive!!! couldn't believe it.

 

Any recommendations on the best track days to go for? I'm on the south coast so have plenty of options

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:lol: :lol: :p

 

I have no idea why I'm so easy on the brakes, have been like it with every car I've ever owned so I guess it's my driving style more than anything. Doesn't seem to hamper my driving in any way, I do wonder how much quicker I could be if I was a bit more agressive with it though. :)

 

Well i guess the upside is you will spend a lot less on maintenance. i just can't help myself :lol:

If the back's not lifting and squirming then you're not trying hard enough- although the advice from a 'proper' race 350Z driver at Oulton was 'Don't use a 350 they're too heavy at the front and kill the brakes' :wacko:

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Ha ha awesome mate. Sorry been so busy etc just haven't got around to sorting it out.

 

Will drop you an email tomorrow. Is it still the same bank details etc?

 

Same Bank details Charlie. :thumbs:

 

Alex. :)

 

Alex,

 

Do you pay tax?... and i don't mean roadtax! :lol:;)

Edited by wizard
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Ha ha awesome mate. Sorry been so busy etc just haven't got around to sorting it out.

 

Will drop you an email tomorrow. Is it still the same bank details etc?

 

Same Bank details Charlie. :thumbs:

 

Alex. :)

 

Alex,

 

Do you pay tax?... and i don't mean roadtax! :lol:;)

 

Unfortunately I do pay tax, income tax, corporation tax, value added tax, road tax, community council tax, import duty and tax. etc.etc.etc.

I definately live in the wrong country. :lol: :lol: :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, since i started this thread i thought i'd update it with what i finally plumped for.

 

I spoke with Jez at Horsham Motors and we decided on the following:

 

EBC Bluestuffs Pads all round

DBA 4000 front discs

EBC Ultimax rear disc

HEL brake lines

Motul 600 brake fluid

4 wheel laser alignment

 

All that including VAT and fitting cost £1205.

 

I've been driving on this setup for a few months now and have also done 3 track days.

 

For a track pad the Bluestuffs bite from cold is perfectly fine. No problems with day to day driving.

 

The very next day i was at the track. The pads take a while to bed in. Initially the pedal was quite soft and performace of the braking system not so great but after 20 or so laps of mixed braking to coat the new discs they started working a treat. It took some very aggressive braking to bed them in properly; stamping on them from 80 miles an hour down to 20 about 10 times.

 

With the stock Brembo setup i could only do about 7 to 10 minutes on the track before the pedal went to the floor and I'd have no brakes. Then have to wait 90 minutes for the brakes to cool. This was not due to the fluid boiling as i was running Motul 660. Measuring the front discs when coming in would show 240C.

 

Now I can do 15 to 20 minute stints with only a 30 min cooldown needed between them. I stop after 20 minutes not due to brake fade but due to my lack of talent, i've not tried staying out longer. On coming in, the front discs are 500C but without any fade.

 

If you do uprate your braking system don't forget to ring your insurance company and let them know otherwise you might not be covered. Admiral changed me £17 more with 6 months cover left.

 

v

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