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Decent, cost effective brake setup.

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Hi temp brake fluid and brake cooling are a must for the track ! Air deflector plates or cooling ducts.

Are you doing lapping sessions or full on racing? Whats your experience level on the track?

I might also suggest pads for street and track, way better route than one set of pads that compromise for both.
 
Thanks for the add in tsi. That is a good benefit LOL. If I was a cop I would be like Wtf is this guy doing?

I think I will definitely go with those pads and just get some decent street pads as well. I think you are right about it being less of a pain to just swap pads vs cleaning the rims every few times you drive.

Brake cooling sounds like it is going to be fun... You'll see me again when I am trying to figure out how to duct some air there I bet.

I think I am going to work on my oil cooling first. But I will definitely save all this stuff for when I need it. Thanks.
 
Just to chime in here with my experience on the Carbotech pads (granted, on a 3S)...

The 1521's are the new Bobcats. If you just street your car they're a good choice albeit pricey. I actually run these in the rear.

AX6's are a solid Auto-X pad and for beginner road course and "slower" tracks. They have decent cold braking capabilities (important in Auto-x) and will take a beating before they start to fade. With that said, I mistakenly ran these at Watkins Glen once (they were fine on another road course) and just about shit my pants when they stopped working about 2 laps in. I was running these on the street in between track days. Dust was fairly bad but with how often I washed the car it wasn't a huge deal, especially with gunmetal wheels.

The XP series (start at 8 and go to 20) are what you want for road course events. I run XP8's and have yet to get them to fade even on a power track like the Glen. I'm actually running these on the street right now as my AX6s are shot. They're noisy and rather dusty but it's something I can deal with. Once you get more serious or are starting out with brakes a bit to small for your power you can move up through the XP's.

They also have an RP2 line with is for endurance racing. I have a friend that swears by these as they last longer and offer braking equivalent to the XPs. They do tear through rotors like crazy though but using cheap rotors still makes it more affordable I guess. They do sound like a train when stopping while cold though.

One important thing to remember. Carbotech states that you can't use a differen0 companies brake compounds on the same rotor....you have to use a CT pad (regardless of compound) or they won't bed right. I haven't tried it without doing so but I tend to believe what they said.

I'm also going to disagree with the bedding stuff that TSI said. I've never heard of them bedding the pads for you and frankly I don't see how that's possible as the whole bedding process is to get the compound on the rotors. Yeah, it sucks to have to do 80-20mph stops on the street but you can also do it at your track event and just cut a session short. The thing with the XP line is you'll have to rebed them occasionally as street driving will strip any previous bedding you've done. I typically just romp on the brakes pretty hard on the way to the track. If I'm trailering the car I'll take it easy the first session and bed them in on the lats few laps...gives me a chance to get into the swing of things and then bed them at the same time.

Another suggestion is to buy cheap parts store rotors. I'm currently rocking $50 ones from AutoZone and haven't had issues. They will occasinally crack but I've had $120 high end ones do the same. Blank rotors are where it's at (stay away from cross drilled/vented) and just take an extra rotor to the track with you and keep an eye out for cracks.

Phew...sorry for all that, ended up being longer than I expected.

I should probably also throw in a shameless sales plug and mention I do sell Carbotech pads: Brakes - Maximal Performance
 
I get all of my AX6 pads pre-bedded from Carbotech; the problem I face is a non-streetable dedicated autocross car - I can't do bedding-in runs. The first set - bought without pre-bedding - never worked properly, they glazed and wouldn't stop the car, they were no better than the useless HP+ they replaced.

If you can't follow the bedding-in procedure, buying them pre-bedded is definitely worth the money.
 
One important thing to remember. Carbotech states that you can't use a differen0 companies brake compounds on the same rotor....you have to use a CT pad (regardless of compound) or they won't bed right. I haven't tried it without doing so but I tend to believe what they said.

Call Danny@Carbtotech and under the table I'm sure he'll tell you the same as what I'm about to say. You haven't tried it, but I have for many years with Carbotech pads. You can do swap between Carbotech pads and another compound of street pads, and the pads will work very well in their respective environments, but I can't say they performed at maximum. However they performed more than well enough for both environments so I accepted the possible compromise when I was driving a street car.

I'm also going to disagree with the bedding stuff that TSI said. I've never heard of them bedding the pads for you and frankly I don't see how that's possible as the whole bedding process is to get the compound on the rotors. Yeah, it sucks to have to do 80-20mph stops on the street but you can also do it at your track event and just cut a session short. The thing with the XP line is you'll have to rebed them occasionally as street driving will strip any previous bedding you've done. I typically just romp on the brakes pretty hard on the way to the track. If I'm trailering the car I'll take it easy the first session and bed them in on the lats few laps...gives me a chance to get into the swing of things and then bed them at the same time.

You can disagree all you want but you're wrong here. Pre-bedding is an option Carbotech offers (as far as I know only directly from them as I have to request it) and is usable only for folks that are already using their pads. The material transfer to the rotor is irrelevant in this scenario and thus you only need to prepare the pad surface, which they can do on their manufacturing floor. You're disagreeing with someone who is sponsored by Carbotech AND has used these procedures with complete success. I don't know what you're talking about with re-bedding the pads either, that's never been necessary for me. The pads come back alive immediately on-track after warm up.
 
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I did some research on the pre-bedding and I do see where it helps. They do mention still needing to get the film of pad material on the rotor which takes a couple laps and is less susceptible to the whole cool down thing. I can see where it would be a benefit but I do think it's better to bed them yourself. Of course if you don't have that options it's an alternative. I stand corrected..to a point. ;)

As for the different brake pads, especially with using cheap blank rotors, I'll keep them on Carbotech used rotors only. Of course that's all I use now so it's not really an issue.
 
Scott McIntyre runs AX6 for autocross and I believe AX8 for road course - if he ever come out of hiding perhaps he can confirm this for us :D
Ha ha! I just started up the Talon last week for the first time in 2 years. OMG

I run Carbotech AX6 front /rear on the street & autox, and Carbotech XP16 front / XP12 rear on the track.

For brakes I have TCE Wilwood 4-piston calipers with 13.0" rotors up front and EVO8 Brembo 2-piston calipers with 12" rotors in the rear.

As other have said, the great thing about Carbotech is that you can swap between their brake compounds without re-bedding them in each time. Save's a lot of headaches for someone like me who was swapping pad compounds twice per week.

Plus the Carbotech's have been the best brake pads of all the manufacturers I've tried!
 
I did some research on the pre-bedding and I do see where it helps. They do mention still needing to get the film of pad material on the rotor which takes a couple laps and is less susceptible to the whole cool down thing. I can see where it would be a benefit but I do think it's better to bed them yourself. Of course if you don't have that options it's an alternative. I stand corrected..to a point. ;)

As for the different brake pads, especially with using cheap blank rotors, I'll keep them on Carbotech used rotors only. Of course that's all I use now so it's not really an issue.

It would be best to rent a dyno to burnish the rotors. AP Racing has a setup to do this for racers specifically so it can be done in a controlled environment.
For a better understanding of this process, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi4BAuMjpbE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
I know this is not the norm but I have a 4g Mirage hatch that I autocross now. I have the GSX caliper upgrade up front (wagner thermoquiet's for the win! LOL)

The car weighs in at around 2200lbs soaking wet. I have been trying to find a Wilwood based kit that clears 15's which is not drag oriented but that is proving a fruitless search.

Has anyone come across anything like that or am I going to have to buy some radial mount Dynapro's and get a bracket made to slot them over the AWD rotors?
 
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