my first track day was at SOW. The only thing I did was upgrade brake fluid and make sure I had enough oem brake pad.

try ate blue since your stock fluid is likely gold color.

i was totally fine that day and had plenty of brake pad left. and yes, i drove slow/intermediate.

ic i might bite the bullet or try to sell something to come up with the extra cash to buy a set of Hawk HP+'s. i had those pads on my '06 civic si when i competed in the redline time attack earlier this year at buttonwillow and they worked fine (although i found many many shreds of brake pad burnt onto my wheels).

being a new s2000 driver, i should just do my best to replicate the brakes i had before so i have a familiar braking experience.

btw, whats the main difference between the ate blue and the gold? and i can only find ate products online, which all require a shipping fee. are there any stores in orange county, ca that sell ate super blue?

With only 1500 miles on my new 2006, I burn my front stock pads on my first time at the track. That is only 20 minutes session. I agree with CLARK. Slow down on the straight. You can also run as hard as you want for a couple laps then back out and run a couple of cool down laps then back on again.

Also cheap DIY brake duct. I post here somewhere used Home Depot parts.

ate blue and ate gold are different because of color. that's it. makes changing brake fluid easy because you know when old is out.

groupe-s in lake forest (i think) stocks it. autobacs in stanton used to stock it.

keep the stock pads for now if they have enough pad left. Make sure to check the pad on the inside of the wheel that you can't see. That tends to wear faster than the one on the on the outside that you can see.

Also if ATE is expensive, then you can grab a bottle of Valvoline SYN power brake fluid from any autoparts store.

If your brakes start to fade then just brake earlier. No need to pound the brakes over and over in a non timed HPDE.

If you are going to the Sept 18 SoCAl HPDE track day. Then I'll see you there.

I end up saying this again and again, but I think it bears repeating:

Hawk HPS pads performed WAY WAY worse than stock for me at the track the one time I used them. Actually, they felt worse (softer pedal) on the street from the moment I put them on the car. At the track, I got a VERY soft/long pedal after only about a lap and a half. Bled brakes, no improvement. Survived three ~15 minute sessions relying on early downshifting/engine braking to help slow the car. REALLY sketchy, though. After that (~45 minutes track time) the pads were GONE. I threw the stockers back in and lo and behold, I had brakes again!

Stay far far away from the HPS pads! MUCH worse than stock, the worst pads I've ever experienced at the track, on par with some cheap-o parts store specials I had to use once.

The fact that you're asking this question tells me you're new to the track so your stock pads will most likely be all you need. I do recommend ATE blue before your first track day. The blue color will help you (or whoever does the flush) ensure you have all the old fluid out. If a shop does the flush for you they won't be able to cut corners on the fluid flush.

You'll know by how quickly your pads wear when it's time to move up to track brake pads. I'm a big fan of Carbotech pads for full time use (street and track). In your first post it sounds like you're going to pay someone to do the fluid flush and pads. You really should get together with someone that can show you how to do it yourself. It's very easy and will save you a lot of money.

If you start tracking your car on a regular basis and your S is your daily driver you should consider swapping out your pads before and after each track day. You can borrow a jack at the track and do it in about 15 minutes with practice. If you don't want to do that then use Carbotech pads, probably XP8 front and rear and keep them in the car--they work fine on the street without eating your rotors or squealing.

As a "right coaster" I have no knowledge of SOW at all. I will chime in that changing out the brake fluid is not that hard and really worth it just for the safety factor alone. At my very first track day I completely destroyed my stock pads. Chances are you will need new pads any way after the event so get some now and swap them between events and daily driving. Get the factory shop manual and you can learn to do this pretty easily too. Maybe without the labor you can afford both front and rear? I swap mine a night or two before events and swap back a day or two after depending on my time. Running carbotech xp10/8 setup. Feels great. Some squeal on the street. Lots of dust but cleans up easy. Have fun!

This is all great advice and spot on for the OP I think. Get good fluid, ATE is cheap. Run the factory pads and be easy on them, then next time keep the original set of honda pads for that day that the race pads go to the plate.

^yeah all of you have given me great advice. its going to be a blast tracking the s for the first time and its just that money is limiting the number of basic parts i need to make it fun.
and all of you are right, i should learn to change out my brake fluid myself. itll probably be a good experience. the only thing that scares me is that if i happen to leave any air bubbles in the lines or mess up that could result in brake lameness O_o