I'm making about 565whp and I am looking for a upgrade from the current stock setup. I don't drive the car hardly at all (2003 and it has 25k on the chassis) but I am planning on doing some track events at Watkins Glenn, summit and VIR and was wondering what people would recommend. I've done various searches but don't feel confident enough to drop $1k before getting some more input. I'm on a budget and as I mentioned I don't drive the car a lot but with that said I'm not interested in any ebay crap. I've also consider vent kits but wondered how much they really decreased temps? I don't care if they squeak a lot as I don't drive the car that much so I am more concerned with performance.

Potentially, I am looking at just upgrading the front rotors and get new pads for everything.

Justin

 

PF01 pads are what I use and love. for rotors, if you're only occasionally tracking then some good quality blanks should be fine for you, no need to spend extra on slotted or 2-piece rotors.

 

My suggestion for the average hard driving track day event (proven by me)

Centric High Carbon rotors
Carbotech Pads (XP12 front XP10 rear)
SST brakes lines
ATE Gold fluid or similar spec (i.e. Motul RBF 600)

Joe

 

I know first hand that carbotech pads stop like hell. And aren't expensive at all.

 

I have hawk rotors with carbotech carbon ceramic pads and they stop really well. Very loud and annoying unless being used to stop hard.

 

Which hawk rotors do you have? Which carbotech pads? How is the wear? The pads aren't too aggressive for the rotor? A lot of dust?

Thank you,

Justin

 

Great performance for the money:

Centric premium high-carbon rotors
Part # 125.46076

Raybestos ST43 front pads
Wear forever

Torque RT700 fluid
Costs more than others but lasts longer

 

Carbotech xp pads. Hawk quiet slot rotors. And yes forgot to mention (and this is the huge downside) tons of brake dust. But, they do the job. Just require a little extra washing of the wheels every now and then

 

And no the pads aren't to aggressive for the rotors. This setup has a handful of hard track days on it and some daily driving and it's all holding up just fine.

 

If you're going to be doing more than a couple track days and still wish to drive the car on the street with quiet brakes I suggest buying a dedicated brake rotor/pad set so you can keep your street and track setups properly bedded in. I did my first track day with my street rotors and put quite a bit of heat into them so now there are minor cracks in the surface. I wish I would have bought blanks back before I did the event. I would recommend:

Centric Premium Blanks
Track Pads (I run Raybestos ST43 and love them)
SS brake lines, preferably with DOT approval
High Temp fluid (I run Motul RBF 600)

With your horsepower you're going to be using the crap out of your brakes. You may want to do something about cooling/ducting before finding out that you need it while on track.

 

i use Brembo blanks with plenty of meat on them and either Hawk DTC-60, Hawk DTC-70, or CL pads. Carbotech pads i know work well, but are $$$ everywhere i look. i hear the Raybestos are good too. there are lot of good choices out there.
500whp or more is a TON for a road course, though. do you plan on running that kind of power on track? if so, you will need a ton of stopping power and way to dissipate major heat. sounds fun, though.
i recently added steel lines because i got them cheap. i haven't really noticed if they feel better or not. i use a good fluid and change that out at least once per season.
you may have people recommend titanium shims. on the bright side, they keep the seals and fluid cooler, but the down side is keeping the heat in your pads and rotors. personally, i don't use them.
i daily on the Hawk pads, but only because i don't daily the car much at all, really. they dust like crazy, but all performance pads do. they squeal too but that's okay because i like the funny looks i get because race car. i also don't really drive the car in much rain or cold because of where i live, so stopping power around town is okay.

also never, ever swap track pads and daily pads on the same rotors unless you sand them down in between. mixing the transferred pad material is no bueno. i'm told i can mix pad families (Hawk DTC and, say, HP+) but i didn't like doing that either.

sorry for the novel.

 

I like the novel, I appreciate all of the information. Anyone else running Girodisc rotors? How are the performing? What pads are you running in them? Did you get front and rears or just fronts? How are they wearing?

I know 565whp is on the higher side to be running track events and that's why I really want to upgrade the brakes bc I know I am going to need every bit of them. Honestly, I would like to get a tune for track and one for "fun" and bounce back and forth between the two.

 

I only run 350-400whp on track days. It's fast to me. Any more and I would need to make some drastic changes to the rest of the car. I'm not looking to do that. Yet. Aero, lightening the car, and dialing in the suspension are first on my list and will make the car faster than any more power could.
In the end, it depends on what you want out of the car. I'm going for lap times. If you're just having fun then you're good because you can do anything to make it more fun. The possibilities are endless. and having fun is what it's all about.

 

Thanks kaj, ya I'm just looking to have some fun and most importantly be safe. I have all the aftermarket strut tower braces and sway bars and with the coil overs she is sitting a lot lower and handles really well. Just want to be able to stop or slow down when desired. If I could just turn her down to 400whp I'm sure I'd be safe but if I have 565 I know I'm going to try to use every bit of it. I drive for my job so I really can't afford to lose my license but I love driving fast so I just want to have a place where I can open her up.

 

for sure. we're all the same way LOL. also remember 500+whp = lots of speed on the straights (should) = seat/harness/roll bar/Hans because you don't wanna die LOL. that stuff is always a good idea, but especially so when going that fast. it ain't cheap, though. i'm still working on assembling all of that stuff. sorry. i get off topic a lot. i just like talking about car stuff LOL