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I had my first car track day at California Speedway last Sunday, and had LOTS of fun. The S2K is just so tossable, and seemed to make monkey meat out of the WRX's and even M3's. I was in the Green group, only because I've been on the track before on my motorcycle.
One real benefit I noticed was my StopTech BBK. After about the fourth lap, other cars seemed to be braking earlier on the straights or were more tentative--I had no such problems.
HOWEVER, I checked the brake temperature after coming in, and it read 225 front and 625 rear.
Is that perfectly normal? Should I change to Cobalt rear pads and/or vented rear discs? Other options?
Mike, although there is more surface area, there will typically be a greater increase in mass as compared with the increase in surface area - which should make them cool off slower. The flip side to that is it also makes them heat up less quickly to begin with - which is really the biggest benefit to them.
Think about it like a cube. If the cube is 1" on each side, it has 6 sq. in. of surface area and 1 in^3 of volume. A 2" cube has 24 sq. in. of surface area (4 times as much as the 1" cube) and 8 in^3 of volume (8 times as much as the 1" cube). Therefore, you have twice as much volume : surface area in the second cube as you did in the first.
Originally Posted by The Reverend,Mar 10 2005, 03:05 PM
Mike, although there is more surface area, there will typically be a greater increase in mass as compared with the increase in surface area - which should make them cool off slower. The flip side to that is it also makes them heat up less quickly to begin with - which is really the biggest benefit to them.
Think about it like a cube. If the cube is 1" on each side, it has 6 sq. in. of surface area and 1 in^3 of volume. A 2" cube has 24 sq. in. of surface area (4 times as much as the 1" cube) and 8 in^3 of volume (8 times as much as the 1" cube). Therefore, you have twice as much volume : surface area in the second cube as you did in the first.
Yes, a cube has an increasing volume to surface ratio as it scales up. But a thin plate does not. If the rotors only get bigger around and not thicker (or not much thicker) then they actually increase their surface to volume ratio.
The rear brakes on this car heat up a lot more than the fronts for several reasons.
1) Solid, unvented disc
2) Not much cooling airflow
3) Working harder as a result of overheated fronts
#3 is not likley to be a factor with a BBK unless they got the bias all wrong and are making the rears work harder. If this was JDM bling bling brakes I'd say that was a possibility but not with the appropriate StopTech kit for the S2000.
You definitely want a pad with a high enough heat range to deal with the results of #1 and #2. There are a few choices available but the cf has to be inline with whatever pads you're running up front. Since I don't know what pads you're running I can't make an intelligent guess at a rear compound.
Thanks Ludedude. You're right about the StopTechs--they make a big stink about being proportioned/biased correctly to the stock rear calipers. I have 225/40 fronts and 245/35 rear tires, however, and wonder if there is a way to take advantage of the BBK by increasing the efficiency of the rear brake setup.
Reverend, as for you, THANK YOU for making me feel much better about my BBK purchase.
Sorry man, not trying to flame you, but it's the truth.
BBKs are sold all the time to people who want to stop shorter. But think about what the limiting factor is for your stopping distance with the stock brake system - traction. Brake lockup occurs because your brake is exerting more torque than the tire can hold. If you can lockup your brakes, then the brake itself isn't the problem with your stopping distance.
Granted, you can sometimes shorten your stopping distance with a bbk on a car that has poor f/r brake proportioning by using a caliper that fixes the proportioning problem. Also, obviously a larger brake will take longer to heat up because there is simply more mass to heat, so there is some degree of fade resistance. However, brake fade isn't really an issue on an S2000 with proper pads, even under full racing conditions.
What you CAN do to shorten your stopping distance is to maximize traction. Start with grippier tires. If that's not enough, you can get some high-$ shocks and that might shave a little more distance for you.
Originally Posted by The Reverend,Mar 10 2005, 07:06 PM
What you CAN do to shorten your stopping distance is to maximize traction. Start with grippier tires. If that's not enough, you can get some high-$ shocks and that might shave a little more distance for you.
Also, you can learn to brake better. There is a lot more skill to applying the brakes than one might think.
03-10-2005, 01:37 PM
First track day at Cali Speedway
