Ditto that! God, I love T12 and T1 at RA! Hey Seth, when are you next "turning money into noise"? Sebring in March?
we can all agree! Driver education is the key to driving fast! Instead of a brake upgrade hire a driving coach or school.
Headed to Sebring right now for some WinterFest testing. The next Speed World Challenge race will be March at Sebring and I can't wait!
Good point, easy to check on the street just riding around with an IR temp gauge and shooting the rotors after 10, 20 and 30 minutes after using them hard initially and riding around after that. If they're sticking, they'll stay hot or get hotter. Or, ONE will be hotter than the rest, substantially (several hundred degrees). If not, still think it points to a hydraulic problem in the BMC. The failure is not a loss of fluid, it's a failure of the one-way valve preventing brake fluid from being fed back into the reservoir under pressure. Cars that haven't had their fluid changed in a long time and then changed often suffer from this because it dislodges the build up and causes the rubber "flapper" to stick in the open position. Fluid boiling is nearly impossible to create on the street. BMC's that are seven, eight or ten years old are more likely to fail. Especially intermittently. FWIW.
Good luck! I'm going to take a pass on HSR and the 12 Hours this year. Maybe headed to PBIR for the Targa 66 in February, then back again for the SVRA race at the end of March. Too much GOOD work going on at VIR in February and March! We'll be cheering for you! BEAT those bad Acuras! BEAT those bad Mazdas! When are we going to get Matt back out?
The correct way to brake in a car W/O ceramic brakes is to apply the brakes then apply the pressure. I have no experiance with ceramic brakes, so no advice
Castrol SRF brake fluid has the highest boiling point of all, use that and Ferrodo DS2500 pads and you're good to go! I ran my 360 hard on the track that way and it never boiled the fluid.
I respectfully disagree. You will find Castrol SRF is used by more professionals than any other fluid on the planet. I've tested every fluid on the market and nobody can stand up to it....period. Its what we put in any serious track car. Its pricey but there is a reason why, it works.
You have a problem with the brake system! It sounds like the brakes are dragging, causing them to overheat and boil the fluid. You need to address the problem, not upgrade the brakes or change the fluid. It is possibly a bad master cylinder. Put the car on a lift and see if all of the brakes drag, or if the problem is limited to one wheel.
Is this really true? I put some in my car because I was told it's an upgrade (by the company selling it )
Its just an average fluid but it has a huge advantage for an occasional once a year fluid flusher person. You buy ATE super blue and the gold. Then once a year you suck out all the blue and pour in gold. Bleed your brakes until you see gold. Next year bleed out gold until you see blue. It is great for rookies who's mechanical limits are mostly fluid changes. This way they will know they got a good bleed/flush. For a pro mechanic or for a clubracer there are many better fluids. Frequent clubracers never worry about wet boiling point because we are bleeding our brakes all the time. My fluids are so clean and bleed so often I never change them because there is never any old fluid in there. If you are a casual 4 time a year HPDE occasional trackday guy then you should worry more about wet boiling points. But really for most casual trackdays guys who are boiling brakes and wiping them out yet only going 7/10ths of what the car can do really need a lesson on braking. Even for me as a licensed clubracer going to race school does more for me than all the shocks, coilovers, 100hp, or the big brakes I can buy. Equipment bandaids just help me make mistakes faster!
A wet boiling point below 400 isn't the worst in the game but there's certainly others that do better. Ferraridriver's chart is fairly helpfull. Castrol SRF at its worst rates higher than Super Blue at its best!
I'm not sure if you have solved this problem yet. I'd start with the easy and cheap items to check/fix. I'd change/renew your brake fluid. As you probably know, brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air. That water lowers the boiling point. it should be changed every year regardless of miles driven. It should be replaced with fluid from a bottle that has never been opened. After that is done, and the problem still exists I'd take it to a pro. I've had the same issue on the track. My fluid was 13 months old. I had just upgraded pads and the issue did not slowly happen over time. One minute the pads were fine, the next, gone. It took a few minutes to get the brakes back. I shortened my sessions for the day and changed the fluid by the next event. Please let us know what the fix happens to be. Best of luck, Trevor
Fellows, the OP said that not only did the brakes get soft at the track but they suddenly went "long" on the street with no stress beforehand. This really points to a brake master cylinder failure rather than a thermal problem. And while I appreciate Brian's unjaundiced eye , many people use Ate Blue and Super 200 effectively on the track when changed regularly. Treat the disease, not the symptoms...