I've personally never known anyone who's had success with ATE on the track. That stuff just can't seem to take some serious heat cycles. For me it held up ok, but I'm not nearly as hard on those brakes as some of my friends. It's fine for the street, but depending on what kind of track duty you're looking for I'd suggest some alternatives.

You might want to look into Ford's high temp brake fluid or the SSBC high temp DOT 3 fluid. The Ford stuff has a great high temp rating dry, but breaks down quick once it gets wet. It's really cheap so if you don't mind changing it a little more often it may be worth checking out.

A lot of my friends have had success with the SSBC fluid in their track cars. I've personally never used, but it is next on my list of fluids to try. From what I've seen, it's not as good as the uber expensive stuff, but for the price it can't be beat.

 

I prefer Motul myself, and run it in the s2k as well as my track bikes. I also ran it in my previous cars that frequented the track regularly.

 

Ok guys good info, I will add that I wan't a fluid that is long lasting that I don't have to flush often. I want the higher boiling point/reliabilty for hard use when I need and cost withen reason that makes the most sense. Is there any one definitive on this? And can I use it in the clutch as well? I will also be flushing the clutch. What can I expect to pay for the brake fluid? Is $10-20 reasonable per quart? I need a full quart to do a flush and refill correct?

Thanks again.

 

What issue are you really trying to address here? What "upgrade" are you looking for? You are not being very clear.

Based on your requirements (don't want to flush often, want to use it in the clutch, want it to be inexpensive), perhaps the Honda fluid is the best choice. These racing fluids are designed to be flushed fairly often, while the OEM fluids are designed to sit in the car for a few years.

A full flush takes more than pint and less than a quart of fluid.

 

I agree w/ Mike that it sounds like the Honda fluid would be the best choice. The recommendations that have been offered are more hygroscopic in nature than the Honda fluid so you will need to replace it at a much more frequent interval.

 

His question makes sense to me.. but maybe I'm just being too presumptious.


Honestly if you want something that's good at the track, but will still work fine for an extended period time I would recommend you look into the SSBC high-temp DOT 3 fluid. I've seen the stuff go through several track days no problem and still not need replacing for the street. It doesn't have the highest dry boiling point, but it's wet boiling point is relatively high so it will hold up over time. No matter what you use, I'd still recommend flushing your fluid out at least once a year. It's cheap and easy insurance.

The SSBC fluid also fits well into your budget. If I remember correctly it retails for 10-20. 1 quart will be plenty to completely flush the system... you should actually end up with extra. Just remember, tho, whatever you do have left over, don't leave it on the shelf to use next year. Once it's exposed to the air it'll start accumulating water, which will start degrading the fluid.

As for the clutch fluid, I would stick with the Honda brake fluid. I tried using ATE in my clutch and ended up having problems. I switched out to Honda's stuff and immediately started getting much more consistent pressure. It may have just been my horrible luck, but the clutch system uses such little fluid (and doesn't see the same kind of heat cycles as the brake fluid) that it's just easier and safer to pay the stealership prices for a bottle of Honda DOT 3

 

Mike I have experienced some gradual brake fade before on some aggresive runs and I plan on doing a couple track events this year. Now i have had the Honda dot 3 in for ever. i don't think it has ever been changed as well as the clutch and the car has 110,000miles on it, so this could be part of the problem with brake fade that I have experienced, I don't know. I figured since I am changing the fluid I would upgrade to a higher temp to help give me some more headroom to work with the brake reliabilty durring hard use, clutch as well. Do you think fresh Honda dot 3 is going to cut it? I have my doubts and yes I do like the idea of not having to flush once a year. And can I use in the clutch or do you recomend something else? Honda recomended not to use any silicon based fluids, I have no idea what is or isn't of the suggestions provided so far. Thanks!

 

Oh Ok, thats really good to know.... thanks for the info!

 

I use Motul 5.1. Granted I don't drive an S but I track my car often, as do quite a few friends of mine. Many have tried RBF600 from Motul but have found it too either have too short of a lifespan (it changes colour quickly) or the operating temps to be too high for it to be a good fluid between tracking and DD.

I've used 5.1 since I've got the car together with a set of steel braided hoses and they've been totally awesome. I change my fluid about every 30,000km's or so. Service life might be longer than that as it looks and still feels good between changes but I just change it since I normally change everything well before time.

 

Brake fade is a pad issue. Boiling fluid is something different.

If you want to put one of these fluids in, that's fine. But I would suggest flushing them at least every year. With the OEM stuff, I would suggest flushing it every other year.

FWIW, I generally use the Motul RBF600 in my car. No problems with it.