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Track and Street brake options?

Euro Tech

Ready to race!
Location
United States
Hey guys, my stock PP brakes are totally inadequate for my local track, braking from 146mph to 35mph and I am no slouch so I need to upgrade pads. I need to know what is out there that is still livable on the street. What options are out there and specifically looking for people with track experience where they are very aggressive about braking late from high speeds like I am. What's out there? What works for you?

Too see my brakes light up, check around the 7 min mark and on in this video. Corner worker said he saw them on fire.

 

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion
I have extensive experience with Stoptech BBK both on road and track.

I had a 2006 BMW 330 (e90) that I drove daily and would track anywhere from 10 - 25 days a season. I had the 6-piston, 355mm front and 4-piston, 345mm rears.
It took literally 5 minutes per corner to swap over to track pads and the compounds that are available are endless. I ended up really loving Pagid pads for the track. I ran a harder compound so it wouldn't chew up my rotors and quickly, plus, my car only made about 265HP, so it wasn't the quickest car down the straights.
On the street, I'd run the standard Stoptech pad. Plenty of stopping power and quiet.
I literally had them on my car for eight years, put about 55,000 miles on them and NEVER had an issue.

The car that I ended up racing was a 2008 BMW 335. It had a Dinan tune, so it made about 390HP, which doesn't sound like a lot, but in SCCA or AER Endurance racing, it had more HP than most every other car out there.
We ran the exact same setup as I had mentioned above. The Pagid RS29 pads would last a full 12 hour endurance race without any issues. We'd hit about 140mph down the front straight, every lap (we'd run around 426 laps in the entire race). Again, we NEVER had any issues with brakes. The stopping power was incredible. We ran at Mid-Ohio and I hit 155mph on the back straight, slowing down to about 45mph. Never any issues slowing down a 3200lb race car (I know, it was a fat pig, but we got it to work).

The wear on the rear brakes was kind of funny. We could probably run two 12 hour races and still have pad left over.

The nice thing about Stoptech is they aren't super expensive compared to other brands and a big deal is the size of the caliper. They have a pretty low profile, which gives you a little more freedom with wheels.

The pic below is of me at the 12 hour Devil in the Dark at NJMP. We started 49th and finished 5th. Yes, the brakes basically glow like that on every lap and there is never any issues with brake fade or a soft pedal.

LMK if you have any questions.
 

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flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
I ran StopTechs "Street Performance" pads with their OE style rotors, never tracked them so I can't speak to their stopping power (though it's the same compound their BBKs use) BUT they did chatter cold and dust bad. I think that's something you're going to have to accept to improve braking. 2 cents for the "street" part of your question I suppose.

If you're getting that much heat, you'll definitely need a thicker rotor'd BBK for heat dissipation, no question about that. You should probably think about cooling ducts or flaps like these: http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26005
 

Euro Tech

Ready to race!
Location
United States
For now I have ordered Clubsport S rotors, not that I expect too much from them but I figure they must at least be better than stock, It's just the pads that I don't know which brand to go with in the interim before I can afford a good BBK.
 

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion

TecklenburgVW

Go Kart Champion
Location
Saint Cloud, FL
I have extensive experience with Stoptech BBK both on road and track.

I had a 2006 BMW 330 (e90) that I drove daily and would track anywhere from 10 - 25 days a season. I had the 6-piston, 355mm front and 4-piston, 345mm rears.
It took literally 5 minutes per corner to swap over to track pads and the compounds that are available are endless. I ended up really loving Pagid pads for the track. I ran a harder compound so it wouldn't chew up my rotors and quickly, plus, my car only made about 265HP, so it wasn't the quickest car down the straights.
On the street, I'd run the standard Stoptech pad. Plenty of stopping power and quiet.
I literally had them on my car for eight years, put about 55,000 miles on them and NEVER had an issue.

The car that I ended up racing was a 2008 BMW 335. It had a Dinan tune, so it made about 390HP, which doesn't sound like a lot, but in SCCA or AER Endurance racing, it had more HP than most every other car out there.
We ran the exact same setup as I had mentioned above. The Pagid RS29 pads would last a full 12 hour endurance race without any issues. We'd hit about 140mph down the front straight, every lap (we'd run around 426 laps in the entire race). Again, we NEVER had any issues with brakes. The stopping power was incredible. We ran at Mid-Ohio and I hit 155mph on the back straight, slowing down to about 45mph. Never any issues slowing down a 3200lb race car (I know, it was a fat pig, but we got it to work).

The wear on the rear brakes was kind of funny. We could probably run two 12 hour races and still have pad left over.

The nice thing about Stoptech is they aren't super expensive compared to other brands and a big deal is the size of the caliper. They have a pretty low profile, which gives you a little more freedom with wheels.

The pic below is of me at the 12 hour Devil in the Dark at NJMP. We started 49th and finished 5th. Yes, the brakes basically glow like that on every lap and there is never any issues with brake fade or a soft pedal.

LMK if you have any questions.
Running StopTech ST-40's up front and stock calipers in the rear; I called StopTech support to get advice on what pads to run up front when I go to the track. They asked what tires I planned to run, when I told them Michelin PSS they said to stick with the Sport pads as I would see no benefit with their SR 30, 32, 33 or 34 compounds unless I run a track only tire.

Do you agree with that assessment?

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

AR11

Ready to race!
Location
CA
I am starting to think it was not my brakes smoking! But rather the oil starvation as described here. http://www.racingline-performance.com/vwr-oil-catch-can#Oil-Surge-DYK

I think that's definitely a promising theory. If your pads were smoking that bad you'd sure know it from the pedal feel.

That said -- that track (or drag strip with u-turn, whatever you want to call it) looks extremely brake intensive. Oil problems or not, you'll probably want some pads for that.
 
Location
St. Olaf
The Pagid RS29 pads would last a full 12 hour endurance race without any issues.
One more vote for Pagid RS29! :)
I don't think VAG*tech would want to run them on the street though. :(
Honestly I doubt there's any perfect dual-purpose pad out there. I'd swap them
before and after any event. ;)



For now I have ordered Clubsport S rotors, not that I expect too much from them but I figure they must at least be better than stock...
Their biggest advantage is they shave weight. I don't think they run any cooler
and at least I'm not certain if/how much they're less prone to deformation. :confused:

Best bet to avoid costly issues is to keep temperatures low. Ventilation/cooling
is one of the most cost-effective measures. Decreasing temps by say 100° helps
rotors, pads, caliper seals, brake fluid, ball joints and wheel bearings! Lower temps
also mean less rotor deformation, which improves pedal feel. ;)

On a side note: I'm not sure if it helps to start just another topic. We had this
stuff several times and using an existing thread would have helped saving the
information given before.


.
 

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion
Running StopTech ST-40's up front and stock calipers in the rear; I called StopTech support to get advice on what pads to run up front when I go to the track. They asked what tires I planned to run, when I told them Michelin PSS they said to stick with the Sport pads as I would see no benefit with their SR 30, 32, 33 or 34 compounds unless I run a track only tire.

Do you agree with that assessment?

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

You could definitely run the sport pads on the track. I have run them for as an instructor for a competition school and they worked well. I wasn't pushing them super hard for a full day, but they worked just fine.

The nice thing about the RS29 is they're an endurance pad so the grip levels won't overwhelm your PSS. We ran the RS29 in the American Endurance Racing (AER) 9 hour race at NJMP with Dunlap Direzza Star Spec (200 wear rating) without any issues at all in terms of ultimate grip under braking.
The nice thing about this pad is that you can push the car lap after lap and when you have that one "oh shit" moment and have to really lay on the brakes hard, they bite and slow you down without a fuss.
They're also progressive and give you great modulation. It's an absolutely stellar pad. Oh, and there's basically NO pad transfer onto the rotors. I used to run Carbotech in my early track days and they were horrible! I literally had to take sandpaper to my rotors to get rid of the pad material so my brake pedal didn't vibrate my car apart.

OP: We have full cooling ducts running to the race car and you can still see the rotors glowing. Running good brake ducts makes a bit difference too and could help with your situation.
 

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion

AR11

Ready to race!
Location
CA
I don't know if anyone shops carid.com but I've had good luck with them in the past. I noticed that they have ST40/ST60 for 2200/2400 in case anyone is looking for something in this price range.
 

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion
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