Input requested: Brake pad for HPDE & street

[GyroF-16]

Thanks, guys.

Yes, I just re-discovered a series of posts on the brake duct flaps that I half-remembered. So no additional cooling to be gained there...

As to the fade... pedal travel didn't change noticeably, just the required pressure, so I'm thinking very hot pads, not boiling fluid.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by dc_wright

If the pedal height was staying constant but it was taking more pressure, then yes, you were getting above the upper temp limit on the pads. If it was taking more pedal travel, then you might need to look at the brake fluid you're using.

+1

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by GyroF-16

Thanks, guys.

Yes, I just re-discovered a series of posts on the brake duct flaps that I half-remembered. So no additional cooling to be gained there...

As to the fade... pedal travel didn't change noticeably, just the required pressure, so I'm thinking very hot pads, not boiling fluid.

Sounds like. See my post linking Hack's classroom session. No matter what pad or fluid technique helps, and seriously, the lap time side effects (better control and smoothness) are great as well.

[GyroF-16]

Quote:
[\QUOTE] With little to go on I'll venture you'd benefit from working on braking technique vs. ducting. Lots of friends I've driven with have managed fade and learned to manage brakes better through technique. This has yielded fantastic results, and faster lap times too due to the "side effects" on balance and weight transfer going into corners.

If you've mastered technique, then you need ducting or larger rotors (greater thermal reserve). Note: if you're noticing fade, applying more pressure and accommodating through force isn't recommended. Sounds like the brakes were saying "cool us down", best to listen. The next step after that isn't good.

If there's some room for technique upgrades, then this "classroom session" by The Hack is most helpful. Have a look. It's even more helpful with a good coach--can't tell you how many folks I've drove with swore they were doing X but doing Y, or doing X but adding in Z. Oh, and that applies to me too! "But I'm not re-stabbing at the pedal at the end of the braking zone/cycle!" Sure I wasn't!

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...46&postcount=7[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the link! I heard the term "regressive braking" for the first time in drivers school classroom last weekend, and spend the next three sessions trying to apply it. Releasing the brake quickly to go immediately to the throttle is a hard habit to break. That will be a significant focus area at the next school in September.

Gyro

[Finnegan]

You're welcome! Great stuff. You can practice that braking technique on the street, but make sure you don't have anybody really following close behind you. Most street driving is done by lightly applying the brakes and ramping up pressure, then off. Completely the opposite of what you want to do on track. But if you're applying track technique, and the person behind you isn't paying attention ? ? well you can figure that out.


Let me add one more. If you don't have this it's the best $9 or $10 you'll ever spend. It's the kind of book I keep rereading, because as I get better, I finally grasp something else. There's so much here you can go back to it time and time again. Book is Speed Secrets by Ross Bentley.

[bananabun]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

You're welcome! Great stuff. You can practice that braking technique on the street, but make sure you don't have anybody really following close behind you. Most street driving is done by lightly applying the brakes and ramping up pressure, then off. Completely the opposite of what you want to do on track. But if you're applying track technique, and the person behind you isn't paying attention ? ? well you can figure that out.


Let me add one more. If you don't have this it's the best $9 or $10 you'll ever spend. It's the kind of book I keep rereading, because as I get better, I finally grasp something else. There's so much here you can go back to it time and time again. Book is Speed Secrets by Ross Bentley.

+1 on Speed Secrets. He also has a great online resource if you prefer another means of ingesting all that information.

https://learn.speedsecrets.com/

[GyroF-16]

Originally Posted by bananabun

+1 on Speed Secrets. He also has a great online resource if you prefer another means of ingesting all that information.

https://learn.speedsecrets.com/

Thanks- Yep, bought it last year. Always worth another re-read in the weeks leading up to another drivers school..