brake & tire question for HPDE's
 

I'm about to do a two day HPDE @ Shenandoah next week and I'm not sure if my tires & brakes will last both days. I'd rather not buy new pads/rotors & tires if its not needed so I was wondering, does anyone have a ballpark average of how much pad life and tread depth one should have prior to an event? Or what is a normal amount to consume in a day of 4 - 30min sessions for someone in the green group?

My pads are Ferrodo DS2500, and they have a little less then half their pad material left when I switched them a couple months ago. I've only done 1 autox since that time and wasn't hard on the brakes at all so I believe they still have close to as much material left as when I put them on. the tires are RE-01R's, and they are about half way to the treadwear indicators.

Hope thats enough info for someone with experience to form an opinion.

A lot of DE group want you to have at least 50% of your pad life. They usually are a bit more strict on the color (ie freshness) of your brake fluid.

For a DE; 50% of your RE01's is more than enough.

fluid will be flushed prior to the event, I'm not worried about that. Just the tires and brakes were a concern.

I have an extra set of rims/tires I can bring along incase I cord these and also some pads so I guess I'll be in good shape.

I would bring an extra set of good pads. It sucks to duck out of an event early because you were not prepared (especially knowing in advance).

I have a set of project Mu pads with half the material on them. I only use them in the winter, not sure how good they would be on the track but there is only one way to find out. :D

nice avatar btw

The Ferodos should be fine as long as they haven't 'chunked' at all. Typically green groups run exercises and don't open lap, but if you do, don't stab the brakes or overly ride'em and you should be fine.

You could focus on momentum driving which will put the least stress on your car, but may not be as fun depending on how you like to drive.

Considering your pad/tire choices, I'm guessing your choice of fluid will be on par and you'll have somevery good fluid.

Enjoy!

Temps look to be on the cooler side for Summit - Been monitoring the weather there for this coming Thursday's Seat Time :D

- you seem to be in good shape with your components

Listen to what 4cdndctn said about your braking {thumbup}

for the fluid I've got 600 RBF from Motul. thanks for the tips guys.

Which school are you doing? I'm doing a TrackDaze weekend at Shenandoah next weekend (5/17-5/18). Shenandoah is pretty hard on brakes compared to other tracks because you are on the brakes frequently but you aren't going all that fast most of the time to get good air flow over the brakes. If you are starting with half worn street pads, I would bring an extra new set. In fact, it's just always a good idea to have a new set with you, just in case.

The tires will hold up. You have enough brake pad material, but depending on how hot it is, and how much heavy braking there is, you might get pad material transfer onto the rotors and end up with the pulsating pedal. Definitely bring some spare brake pads in case the DS2500s crumble.

DS2500 love airflow...ie they need cool air to keep the temps down, If your at a track thats hard on brakes I would suggest removing the dust plates and leaving them off.
It help get air into the rotor area reducing the overall temp in that area.
After two 30 minute sessions my 2500s where showing bad transfer on a 70* day.

thats the same one I'm doing. :D

I'm picking up a backup set of DS2500 pads from evo8dad tonight so I should be good to go.

Excellent! See you there!

It should be easy to find each other, we have the same good taste in cars, lol.

Say hey to Jon Felton for me if he's there. I suppose he's driving an M3 and he's some sort of official there. Never driven Shenandoah myself. You guys should all make it out to Hyperfest on Summit main though! I'll be working grid.

http://www.nasaracing.net/Hyperfest08/event.htm