Critique my Brakes.....what's needed?

Doug1227

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I recently did a 1/2 mile runway dig race and I had SEVERE brake fade at the end of the track trying to slow down. My current brake setup is factory 4-piston Brembos, with DBA 2-piece slotted rotors and Autozone Duralast Gold Ceramic pads. The rear brakes are stock. The fluid is stock. The lines are stock. I'm assuming the next upgrade should be fluid, lines and maybe pads? Slotted rear rotors? Let me know what would have the best bang for the buck. I DEFINITELY want some improvements before running another event like this. I essentially had about 2000' to haul down 3850# from 182mph. It was pretty sketchy. After getting it stopped, I saw smoke come up from my brakes in the front.
 

Doug1227

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Can anyone recommend a fluid, line and pad? My only direction would be that I want a CLEAN pad. I hate brake dust!
 

kdaly

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george.arnold

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Fluid and lines will make a huge difference. You're gonna have to get dusty if you want well performing brakes.
 

r1concepts

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You are using the wrong pads on your vehicle. Ceramic pads are only great if you're looking for a low dust pad. Ceramic pads are also not meant to be used for track use since the temperature range is low. I recommend upgrading those pads to Hawk HPS pads or something a little more aggresive and you'll definitely feel a difference from a ceramic pad to the Hawks. The Hawk HPS pads will give you improved braking & initial brake bite. Keep in mind, going with the Hawks over the ceramic pads will give you more brake dust .
 

Doug1227

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Maybe I should just swap over to Hawks for track days. I REALLY don't like black dust all over my pretty wheels! Lol! Although, I would have traded some dust for some brakes this past weekend!
 

Doug1227

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Cool. Sounds like I need to order about a liter of Motul RBF600 ($40) some Hawk HPS or HP+ Pads ($140), and stainless lines ($100). They'd be the $300 plan. The next step would be to change my stock rear rotors out to slotted ($175), change the rear lines ($80) and change the rear pads ($80) for another $350 total.
 
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kdaly

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Are the prices on the Hypermotive link legit, or do we get an additional forum discount?

You really dont need to touch your rears for your needs. Hypermotive is a great vender, he might give you a discount if you mention a forum discount or may wanna wait till black friday. He always hooks me up
 

F.D.Sako

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If I were you, I'd upgrade to DOT4 fluid, better pads, add titanium shims and add brake lines if you have money left over.

Just a heads up, if you don't like brake dust, you'll hate HPS pads, but dust is one of the trade offs to increased stopping power.

Also, IMO you don't need a big brake kit for what you're doing, unless you're doing back-to-back runs with minimal cool down between runs.
 
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Mark Aubele

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I've had Hawk HPS, they suck but they don't dust too bad. The HP+ dust and squeal like crazy.

Currently run a Ferodo DS2500. Not too awful on dust, great initial bite. Great dual purpose pad IMO.

Pads are your main issue. One stop really isn't enough to cook the stock fluid if it is fresh, but your pads don't belong on a car trying to stop from 180mph.

I would still recommend decent fluid since you are changing it anyway, I use Motul. The stock brake hoses are perfectly adequate.
 
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04sleeper

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KBBoss302

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+1 on the Ferodo 2500s - excellent pads for (fast) street driven cars. Even your OE Brembo pads would be better than ceramic pads.

Heck, I may have a set of OE Boss 302 pads with only a coupe of hundred miles on them if you want them. PM me and I will check this weekend.
 

Paul.

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I recently did a 1/2 mile runway dig race and I had SEVERE brake fade at the end of the track trying to slow down. My current brake setup is factory 4-piston Brembos, with DBA 2-piece slotted rotors and Autozone Duralast Gold Ceramic pads. The rear brakes are stock. The fluid is stock. The lines are stock. I'm assuming the next upgrade should be fluid, lines and maybe pads? Slotted rear rotors? Let me know what would have the best bang for the buck. I DEFINITELY want some improvements before running another event like this. I essentially had about 2000' to haul down 3850# from 182mph. It was pretty sketchy. After getting it stopped, I saw smoke come up from my brakes in the front.

How is that possible? I do the 1/2 mile races three times a year here in Phoenix, and some of those Shelby guys running 160+ are hot-lapping the cars and never have any problem. While my car only does 142 mph in the 1/2, and I have stock '13 Shelby brakes all around, I've done more than 10 passes in a row, continuously, about every 2 minutes and never had even a hint of fade.

You should not have any problems from a single pass unless something is seriously wrong with your brakes. Fade doesn't happen in one stop. Slotted rotors won't do anything to improve your braking. Blanks stop better than anything else.

Paul.
 
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noldevin

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All you REALLY need are better, non ceramic pads. And yes they will dust. BUT you only really need to change out your front pads, and since the front Brembos are stupid easy to change pads on you can do it just for the track event. Don't bother with slotted rear rotors unless you feel like you need to do it for looks. They won't help and will increase dust/pad wear.
Fluid and lines are a solid upgrade for any car, but I don't think you NEED fluid in this case unless you're running back to back passes.
 

Doug1227

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Yeah, it's done. I ended up putting Hawk HPS pads in the front with new SS lines. In the back, I put matching DBA rotors, and SS lines. Swapped fluid and bled everything and she feels a TON better. I HAVE noticed some dusting, but I guess it's the price to pay and will force me to wash my car as much as I probably should anyway! LOL
 

Doug1227

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I appreciate your input. I contribute it to 1.) having a ceramic pad on the car which I understand brakes WORSE than stock pads 2) Going 182mph and 3) having a very short shutdown area at the venue I was at. The brakes were decent until I got down to about 60mph and by then, they were DONE.

How is that possible? I do the 1/2 mile races three times a year here in Phoenix, and some of those Shelby guys running 160+ are hot-lapping the cars and never have any problem. While my car only does 142 mph in the 1/2, and I have stock '13 Shelby brakes all around, I've done more than 10 passes in a row, continuously, about every 2 minutes and never had even a hint of fade.

You should not have any problems from a single pass unless something is seriously wrong with your brakes. Fade doesn't happen in one stop. Slotted rotors won't do anything to improve your braking. Blanks stop better than anything else.

Paul.
 

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