Autocrossing in '96 Cobra, looking for brake advice

[BlackCobra96]

I'm taking my car autocrossing in a few weeks. I'm not being doing anything super competitive, but I have the factory brake shoes and rotors which have about 40K miles on them. Although the brakes seems to be working perfectly, I think I should replace them (correct me if I'm being premature). I don't want dusty, squeaky high performance pads. For the rotors, I'd like to go with something with an Aluminum hat, or at least a hat that doesn't look like ass and rust out. I also want to avoid drilled rotors if the holes do little to improve performance and start to crack. The car is more of a weekend toy and not a track warrior. Suggestions?

 

[bumsoil]

Raybestos r300 rotors and OEM Ford pads.
Get the rotors on amazon for cheap.

 

[crazycarlo]

Stainless brake lines which reduce flex and good pads and fluid will add the most performance to your brakes.

 

[SVTCOBRA9629]

^^ Plus one on the Brake Lines, I am running the Russell Stainless brake lines. Love Them!

 

[DVJ38]

If you've never run your car on an autocross track before I would just see what happens without replacing the stock brakes. If the pads get messed up and mess the rotors up somehow it isn't a big deal since you're replacing them both anyways. I would go with a coated rotor so that the hat and inside veins don't start to rust. I use these: http://www.speedconcepts.net/product_info.php?cPath=21_172_201&products_id=787

You could also get these for the same price: http://www.speedconcepts.net/product_info.php?cPath=21_172_201&products_id=252
I don't think you will heat the rotors hot enough to crack them just doing autocross. Guys usually crack them doing road racing and building up a lot of heat.

I'm using these pads next time: http://www.speedconcepts.net/product_info.php?products_id=853

 

[MARK C]

Flush out your brake fluid. I had my brakes fail on the track because of water in the brake fluid (overheated), lucky I felt them start to fade, and I exited the track. Bleed out the brake in the hotel parking lot and was good to go for racing the next day. Have a shop do a flush for you, or DIY, get some good dot 4 synthetic fluid.

 

[MysticChaos]

Raybestos r300 rotors and OEM Ford pads.
Get the rotors on amazon for cheap.

Are these what your running for rotors in your close up pictures on the other thread?

 

[bumsoil]

Yeah. They are pretty much the best single piece rotors you can get.

 

[BlackCobra96]

Thanks for the feedback. I do have SS front brake lines, and when installed, the systems was flushed. I think I'm just going to trash the brakes that I have and replace them when done. Lot's of good suggestion here.

 

[cbrown9064]

Stock brakes are just fine. You will be torturing your tires more than brakes. Road racing eats brakes, autocrossing eats tires...

Go there and learn. If this is you first time autocrossing, you will have a lot more on your mind than brakes.

 

[ColorMatched]

Stock brakes are just fine. You will be torturing your tires more than brakes. Road racing eats brakes, autocrossing eats tires...

Go there and learn. If this is you first time autocrossing, you will have a lot more on your mind than brakes.

Probably the best advice.

 

[Murder Snake]

EBC pads.

 

[theDRIVER]

PFC 2 piece rotor and hat, PFC z-rated pads front and rear, stock rear rotors, and russell ss brakes lines all around. once you get heat into them the braking is phenomenal. well worth the money i spent. if you're going to do a brake job do it right the first time and spend the extra money to get quality parts.

 

[Blown_By_You]

Stock brakes are just fine. You will be torturing your tires more than brakes. Road racing eats brakes, autocrossing eats tires...

Go there and learn. If this is you first time autocrossing, you will have a lot more on your mind than brakes.

This.. It's a ****ing parking lot, not Laguna Seca lol

 

[Low Class Yuppie]

Are these the brake lines you guys are talking about? Might be a good option for me, my brake pedal feels a bit "spongy." I've been meaning to bleed the brakes for a while now.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rus-693400/overview/year/1996/make/ford/model/mustang

 

[theDRIVER]

yes they are. they make other similar sets for other cobra's but with different mounting brackets. just make sure you grab the correct set for your year of car.

you'll definitely feel the difference in pedal feel.

 

[Low Class Yuppie]

Thanks for the advice! As far as rotors, I heard that NAPA Reactive One rotors are the same as Raybestos. Is this true? I get a pretty kickass discount through NAPA so that would certainly help when it gets time to do brakes. My brakes are fine now, but if I want to flush the system and upgrade to stainless lines, I might as well do the whole shebang...

 

[SKMCOBRA]

Thanks for the feedback. I do have SS front brake lines, and when installed, the systems was flushed. I think I'm just going to trash the brakes that I have and replace them when done. Lot's of good suggestion here.

If you already have SS front brake lines and new fluid, you are 3/4 of the way there.

Stock brakes are just fine. You will be torturing your tires more than brakes. Road racing eats brakes, autocrossing eats tires...

Go there and learn. If this is you first time autocrossing, you will have a lot more on your mind than brakes.

Auto crossing you don't heat up your brakes very much due to lower speeds and shorter sessions. Most road racing pads work best when they get hot, thus why they squeal when cold. I suggest you try Hawk's HPS pads. They don't dust too bad and are good for street/auto-x. You also will benefit from a tire which doesn't need to heat up before becoming sticky. I would think the very expensive Michelin Pilot Sports would be a good tire for auto-x.