What pads is anyone using on the track for HPDE days. I have been using EBC green stuff but my last instructor said I need to take the next step up to some pure race pads.

 

Are you using a BBK or standard MINI brake parts.

 

assuming you are on standard brakes.. ferodo ds3000 is a great track pad, although i was told they do run down very quickily...

true race pads can be noisy and can be somewhat overkill in our cars... i run wilwood A pads on the track and i find the car stops too well in the front that the ABS kicks back on the braking....

 

I am running standard mini brake parts. I will just install race pads on new rotors about a week ahead of track days to let get bedded in.

 

That could get expensive...

 

True race pads will eat you rotors and make noise like hell. Hawke HP Plus are good along with the ferodo ds3000. Check out Carbotech pads also. If you track your car a lot I would look to TCE for a BBK kit. Have you added braided lines and High temp fluid.

 

What tires are you running?

Pads are only as good as the tires that are making contact with the road. Brakes stop the wheel, but tires stop the car.

On the Runflats, the DS2500, will go out just as the tires do in most cases. The DS3000 will take it a little bit further. Using the stock caliper pad shape, the next step would be Hawk HT-10. This would be the same pad/caliper that Nuzzo uses in their Grand Am cars.

As for the burning through rotors, ALL race pads are aggressive on rotors when they are cold. When they are at operating temperature, they do not attack rotors that much.

Hawk markets the HP+ as a track pad, but it is not. The MOT (Maximum Operating Temperature) is around 1000 degrees F, which is in the neighborhood of most high performance street pads.

Also mentioned, was brake fluid. If you have not boiled the fluid, just give it a good bleed, then if it boils at the track, you found a weak spot. Then I would replace it with something like Motul RBF600. And if you have the money, then lines would be easy to replace at the same time. The lines will firm up the pedal and make it easier to modulate.

And I will say it again, look to your tires first.

 

Hello haji3,

Your instructor might be right, but make sure you take a look at the complete system.
For the track, you should use stainless steel lines, with some high performance brake fluid (like motul RBF600, or something similar)
As for the brake pads, I use Ferodo DS2500 for our street/track car, the DS3000 is a full race only pad, not to be used on street cars, (as per Ferodo).

the combination, SS lines, High Performance Brake fluid and High quality brake pads, performs almost as good as any Big Brake Kit. (I am going to get in trouble for this one...)

Hope this helps
Victor

 

We'd expect nothing less Victor.

 

I agree with Victor... although I haven't done the brake lines yet.

Another option is to just show up with what you have, knowing that it will not be enough, but use the first time out to gauge how far you need to go. On some tracks, a pad like Hawk HPS / Ferodo DS2500 and ATE Super Blue fluid will be plenty. On other tracks, you'll need something like Ferodo DS3000 pads at Motul RBF600. If you budget is big enough, go right ahead and start with something high end. If not, figure out if you need the really good and expensive stuff, or if "middle ground" is good enough.

My experience with Ferodo DS3000 pads was that the pad got used up pretty quickly. Other have said that they eat rotors. Perhaps my cryo-treated rotors held up better than stock-ish rotors and the wear wound up happening to the pads? In any case, you would not want to run the DS3000 pads on the street. They do grab well enough when cold to not be completely useless, but they make so much noise and dust that it would be emberassing to use them on the street.