First off this will be a long rambling post, and I'll probably repeat mself a few times.

First question: brake pads

I'm currently autox'ing the car of course but I've signed up for my first track event on July 11th. I need to get something done about the brakes on the car as they're not yet ready for the event. Assuming someone buys my ecu I've got for sale I'll have the money to get what I need, but I don't want to buy the wrong pads. I've got my eyes set on something from Hawk right now and they've got a ton of pads to choose from. I've got the 2 piston awd calipers on the car now and the car's about 2600lbs or less without driver. I'll also be getting some braided brake lines from Buschur Racing and some decent brake fluid.

My initial thought was HP Plus's all the way around which would be pretty cheap as I can use my Tire Rack discount on Hawk products. But then I noticed they've got some more heavy duty compounds available as well. For the fronts I have a choice of their Blue 9012, HT 10, or Black compound pads. For the rear I've got both the Black and the Blue 9012. My research has me leaning towards the Black's out of the race pads due to pricing and heat ranges. Your thoughts?

Second question: Brake ducting

I know some of you here have it, I'm looking to get it. The car's light and with 16" wheels and tires I'm limited to little brakes so a good duct setup could go along way to help keep these little guys nice and cool. I've seen setups on Greg's Laser and some other setups, but the more pictures the better.

I'm planning on ducting the center of the rotor similar to this picture of Greg's old brake setup.


and a duct built with the stock dust shield similar to this.



and I intend to feed them with a 10.5 x 6.5 Naca duct on the sides of the front bumper similar to the RRE car (their ducts look smaller than that) as I don't have any more room upfront with the oil cooler, fmic, and the new bracing I'm constructing for the upcoming chin spoiler.



Third question: Brake fluid

I've got valvoline synthetic in there now, but I'd like to get something a little better in there without getting to the stupid level. HRP World sells about every kind under the sun, but I can't decide which is best for me. (without just picking the most expensive)

http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?form_cat_id=92,49,363&action=category

What are your plans? just auto cross or road racing? And why do you want to upgrade? Brake fade or lack of braking? Do you have braided lines to your calipers? I only ask because i am not aware of your set-up/goals with your car.

Motul 600 is what a lot of people are using in various cars at Road America. As for pads my personal recommendation is Porterfield R4 or R4E (endurance) compound. RRE sells both, and speaks well of them. I've got E's in my rear calipers for now and there is no visible rotor wear, unlike my Polymatrix H's in front. A friend, who has quite a few laps at R. A. in a VERY fast Supra, swears by P'fields. I've personally seen his F40 Brembo rotors glowing going into turn 5, and he has NEVER had to manage his brakes. He also says rotor wear is very low compared to a lot of the other pads he's used. He has been using R4's btw. If you are set on Hawks, I'm between Blues & HT-10's, leaning towards HT-10's. You found Hawk pads for the rears? Maybe when I checked, our local place just didn't stock 'em. Just for my info, what track are you running? Oops, almost forgot, I don't have any ducts... yet. (Someone tore off all of my dust shields!)

The car will eventually be a HPDE / Time Trial / PT car in NASA, maybe an autox or two for fun but only at the larger venues.

The Porterfield's are great pads, and I've read alot of the same things you've had to say about them Jim on other sites. Of course with everything being on a budget though I'm able to get a pretty hefty discount on Hawk products through Tire Rack (my buddy's $80 pads cost me $50) so I'd like to make use of that if at all possible.

The car's never really seen a track day yet, but I know the pads I have on there aren't really suitable for the autox'ing I'm doing ($20 autozone specials) much less a track day. I will be getting the pads first, then the lines as I figure I'm better off with good pads and fluid, than just lines and fluid. Stock brake lines are in good shape so if I have to I feel safe using them.

First track I'll be running is Gingerman raceway in western Michigan, but I'll also probably see events at places like Putnam, Mid-Ohio, Autobahn Country Club, and possibly Road America if I can get the car there.

Jim : HRP World carries multiple compounds for both front and rear calipers from Hawk.

Kyle,

I use the Motul 600 with braided lines, and I'm still running the Hawk blacks for now. They are super agressive, we turned the rotors down defore the last event with plenty of meat still left on them, and I just replaced the rotors a couple of days ago, they were toast from that last event. I'll add some pictures of the rotors later, if I can remember to take them at the shop. This will be the second set of rotors for these pads. At my level, at this time, rotors are much less expensive than pads. I get a pretty good deal on them from one of my sponsors.

As soon as the pads go I will replace my setup, and switch to Portefield R4E's. I've also, heard lots of good things about these pads.

mavisky said:

Jim : HRP World carries multiple compounds for both front and rear calipers from Hawk.

Click to expand...

Good to know, thanks. A side note, you may want to bring a spare set of rotors to the track, you know just in case, especially at R. A. That track is murder on brakes, Scott (Archer Bros. Talon) is using a similar setup to yours, & had some issues. Also, like Tom says, Hawk pads destroyed the aforementioned Supra's rotors in 2 weekends if I remember correctly.

Well the rotors aren't too bad and I get a healthy discount on them through the local NAPA as well (god I love knowing people in the industry ) so I may go with those Hawk Blacks for now and see how they go.

I imagine most of my stuff will be on the lower speed courses like putnam and gingerman for the most part. Although going to Mid-Ohio will probably put some serious heat in them as well as it's got a couple bigger straightaways.

Thanks for the feedback Tom and Jim.

Oh and Jim, here's the actual link to those pads.
Front
http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?form_prod_id=471,162,49,363_2749&action=product
Rear
http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?form_prod_id=471,162,49,363_2853&action=product

And if I'm not mistaken this is the brake pad for your new TCE setup.

http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?form_prod_id=469,162,49,363_2662&action=product

Kyle,

The Hawk Blues are pretty aggressive and pretty hard on your rotors. I'm running the Porterfield R4-E's again this year. After racing California Speedway in March under extreme speeds and heavy breaking the pads look consistent. Porterfield has come out with a new R5-E that I hear is even better. As a member of NASA you get a 20% discount through www.porterfield-brakes.com if that's any help?

I've been using the Motul religiously with excellent results. I had a small leak last year where I lost about a half bottle of fluid without fade... knock on wood!

The NACA ducts on the old RRE car should work great including the dust shield duct application (it's on my list of to-do's). It's definitely a pain with all the coolers filling up the front orifice of the car.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'll have to call up and see just how big of a discount I really get on the Hawks since you guys are all pretty pro-Porterfield. I didn't know that about the NASA membership discount, but then again I'm not yet a member either. Have to get that taken care of as well.

My R4-Es held up to some serious abuse at the Autobahn Countryclub last year. I would also like to throw in a vote for Porterfields.

I am also running Motul RBF600 with good results thus far.