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      09-02-2014, 04:17 PM   #1
brother i
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Question Brake pad wear expectations: ~7.5k street miles, 5 track days: normal?

Hey all!

During the track day last Friday my brake wear warning light came on. By the time I got home (140mi drive) from the track, I could hear the brakes give a consistent rubbing noise (even when not braking), and a noticeably louder abrasive noise when braking. Also, when coming to a halt the brake pedal feels sort of.... grainy?

Looking at my receipts from the shop, I can see that I got about 8k miles after replacing pads & rotors. Since then I went to the track 5 times, so about 500mi or so are track miles.

The rotors were Zimmermann, and pads were Ferodo DS2500.

Just curious, is that kind of wear normal?
Should I try different pads?

I know eventually I should probably get dedicated pads for track days... But alas, currently I don't have time to learn nor tools or a place (just the driveway, which is slanted) to perform brake pad swaps before the "fun days".

Just for reference, here are the spots I bought the parts from:
Rotors: http://bit.ly/1rLovBK
Pads: http://bit.ly/1BahXO1
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      09-03-2014, 02:41 AM   #2
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I'm not sure there is a "normal" when it comes to pad wear and track days. Depends on driving level, style, and the track. Make sure you check pads before events. I see from 1 to 2 mm of wear per day. I replaced my last pads after 4 track days. Opinions vary but my rule is min thickness for track is 6mm which is slightly less than half. I'll go to 5mm in the rear since wear rates are lower.
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      09-03-2014, 06:57 AM   #3
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From what I could glean from a quick search on your Ferodo DS2500 brake pads, you had the type of wear I would expect from a 'street and light track' pad. That is the company’s words, not mine...

In my experience, the 'street/track' pad I favor are the CoolCarbons... I ran them for two years before I went with a dedicated track pad setup (PFC-08’s). On one set of the CC's, I did 15 track days but only changed the pads because CC sent me new experimental’s to use and evaluate. They were only have used. Some people will have other recommendations.
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      09-03-2014, 12:10 PM   #4
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Wow that's pretty good. I got 5 sessions (1 day) out of a set of NISMO "track" pads on my 350Z. Drove to the track on newly bedded-in pads, had to cut session 5 short when I noticed a grinding noise coming from the rear in the paddocks, removed the wheel to find the backing plate grinding on the rotors. The worst part? The brake fluid low light keeps coming on on the drive home because both the front AND the rear pads were nearly completely gone, and the volume displaced in the calipers were enough to trigger the low fluid light when going down a 5% hill.

Imagine driving 120 miles home and trying not to use the brakes to further damage the rotor. I think the entire trip back from the track, I used the brakes maybe no more than 6 times to pulling in the garage.

Of course, that was on the 350Z...A 3,500lbs, 300+ HP "beast" with a 11.8" rotor. The amount of heat generated at one of the most brake intensive tracks out West basically disintegrated the pads, even though they were marketed for "track use."

I'll leave the "YMMV" and "the faster you go the less brake wears" comment. But 5 days and 8,000 street miles isn't out of the real of possibility. When you "track" any consumable wear rate goes out the window. You can drive super fast and not wear your brake/tires much, or you can drive equally as fast and go through a whole set within a handful of sessions. It really depends.
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      09-03-2014, 01:21 PM   #5
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Cool, thanks for the feedback!

From what I read these pads were comparable to Hawk HP+, but less noise. I saw some obnoxiously loud videos of HP+'s, and have been pretty happy with these - so just ordered a new set for this time.

Thanks for the tip on Cool Carbons Shipkiller, I'll try those next time.

Hopefully this set will last me a bit longer because I'm going to slow down my track visits - I went way more times than "usual" because I'll be taking part in a Lemons race in a few weeks, and wanted to get as much experience as possible on that track (Thunderhill).

Thanks again!
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      09-03-2014, 03:26 PM   #6
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Just remember,

The Cool Carbons are not a dedicated track pad. They are a very good Street/Track pad, so they work well in lower temps (below 40') on the street and they work well on the track, but they will never work as well (on the track) as a dedicated track pad like the PFC's. There are pro/cons to every type of brake pad. Just be aware of them.
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      09-03-2014, 10:23 PM   #7
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IMNSHO there are street pads and there are track pads; there are no street/track pads. If you think you are ready for competition track pads and you are running R-compound tires and you are ready to spend big bucks then it's time for real track pads. Like Shipkiller I'm now running the Performance Friction PF-08 with good results. Braking performance is your first priority then brake pad wear then rotor wear. Brake pads and tires are your most important safety items when doing high performance driving events.
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