miamirice

for sure, every car has a diff pedal feel. The same pads can also feel very diff on 2 diff cars. The Hawk blues are very "grabby/initial bite" on the s2000. The same pad on a spec miata feels totally different.

takchi

Hawk does not have the manufacturing capability to provide a consistent compound. While they increase the thermal capacity and friction coefficient, the compressibility and how it bites will not be consistent throughout the temperature range. That is really just the downside of the pad. The only upside is it has a significant amount of bite and thermal capacity to hide its downsides. Carbotech and G-LOC pads have its own set of characteristics and should be paired accordingly to how the car is setup as well as what courses the brakes will be subjected to. Project Mu is in the same realm and has a manufacturing capability that allows for a more consistent pad compound to be pressed, however, the majority of the off the shelf stuff (and readily available pads) is for the regular track enthusiast with a novice level of driving skill. The CR Advanced is a strong step forward for a low price point for Project Mu to appeal to the budget minded individuals. Most people on S2ki are far above this level already.

For reference, I am currently using Brembo RE10 on stock brake calipers and Brembo OE rotors with no ducting.

gptoyz

I've gone through a ton of fluid on various platforms.

Almost all the 600 class fluid is all the same and it comes out of the UK.
This includes:
Brembo LCF
Stoptech
Motul RBF
Maxima Racing
and a host of other 600s
They are fairly competent fluid for the price, but they are all pretty compressible.

The 3 fluids that are vastly different from the group are:
Castrol SRF - this is the best, but it costs a pretty penny
Torque RT700 - very very good and a fraction of the cost of SRF, if you are able to bleed brakes on your own then and you don't mind the frequency when compared to SRF, this fluid is the way to go

and Motul RBF 660 (in a bad way, this stuff is terrible) - complete waste of time and money, take RBF 600 over this, has a higher wet boiling point.

To me, endless and project mu fluid were a royal waste of money, overpriced JDM nonsense. ATE is something many people start on, but once you make it to Motul RBF 600 - there's no turning back. This was my brake fluid gateway drug.

As far as brake pads:
My take on carbotechs are that they were fine in the beginning. Logistically they are a pain in the ass to obtain and they are irritating to drive locally on. Price wise, they were middle of the road. But the brake pedal was most compressible with this pad so the brakes felt the "squishiest"

Project Mu 999s were great, but not sustainable in terms of pricing and they are a huge pain in the ass to get.

There are a ton of racing pad options out there including Raybestos, porterfield, PFC, pagid, endless, ferrodo, but in the end, I am firmly happy with hawk dtc 60s.

So far:
-they are easy to acquire
-they are affordable
-they have superior pedal feel to carbotechs (not hard to best)
-insane heat capacity, never ever fade for me on EHPs, but then again mostly I drive on momentum tracks where braking is really to move weight around or setup for a turn. I've never had an "oh shit" car's not stopping moment.

warmmilk

Castrol SRF and Torque RT700 are pretty much the same price, give or take a few bucks. The difference is SRF sells in 1 liter bottles and is 60 something and RT700 sells in half liter bottles and is 30 something.

Amsoil DOT4 fluid is another one to look at. I haven't touched my fluid since early last year and still not a hint of fluid fade as of last Thursday at the track. But to be fair I have a 150whp NC Miata and a Wilwood BBK, so I'm a bit overbuilt in the brake department. I've also only done about 10 track days in that time. But on the up side, it actually is cheaper than SRF and RT700, 12oz (~0.35L) is 15 bucks. not much cheaper, but it is cheaper... and easy to buy locally (for most people) if you're in a jam...

Dead Serious

S2K has sliding caliprs compared to what may be fixed on your 911. Knock back causes a desd zone in the first part of pedal travel. Fix for this is a quick pump oc fhe pedal on straights. Cobalt pads have the highest initial bite of any pad ive tried and carbotech have the lowest. Go with the XR3 as long as your on street tires.

takchi

Every brake manufacturer has a different method of producing the brake pads. Each formulation from each manufacturer has its unique properties including compressibility, how the pad ramps, how the characteristics change dependent on the pressure, how the pad responds to temperature, etc. When using the pads, one must learn to drive to the brake pad, which has to be dialed specific to the vehicle. A generic XP10/XP8 is such a novice pad, it's equivalent to a DTC-30 in the Hawk world. It's a great start, but again, S2ki members are at a much higher level in terms of driving skill so the setups must be catered in that realm. Personally I felt the Cobalts to be in the same category as Hawk. My current preferences are catered to race specific compounds of Endless, Project Mu, Pagid, PFC, Brembo, and the G-LOC/Carbotech pads. Also noted, every driver has a different idea of how brakes are configured. From this thread, it sounds like people are really into conservative setups, but consistency and fade prevention can be extracted when using all 4 corners properly on the proper compound type.

djsilverjohnson

Wife and I do mostly autocross, but we ran CMS, AMP and MIR in Nashville last weekend with SCCA Targa Southland. We run Hawk HP+ pads. They're nasty dusty but have great grip. The car was due for brake maintenance with the Targa coming up. I did Centric Cryo rotors, SS brake lines to replace the 14 yr/old rubber lines, fresh HP+ pads and the best brake fluid available at the local parts store. The pedal is so solid it doesn't even seem to move, just brakes harder the more you push on it. I was braking hard enough to get into ABS at the turn-in to the infield at CMS, AMP has multiple braking areas and MIR is a drag strip straight connected by a few turns and I never felt any fade. You really have to take your time bleeding the brakes. I do it by myself with a 15' section of clear hose and a cup. I can sit in the drivers seat with the door open and watch the cup while I pump the brakes. That, and don't bother with the FSM instructions. Always start with the caliper farthest from the MC and work inward; Right rear, left rear, right front, left front.

Xene

Thanks for all the comments. I think I am set on the Project Mu Club Racer pads fased on the good reviews. If they don't satisfy then I will try out PFC11 only because it is more expensive. If I want even better brake performance I will opt for the GiroDisc 2 piece rotors which dissipate the heat better than solid rotors reducing the chance of brake fade but it is an expensive upgrade as well. Will take baby steps.

Only question I have is whether I should keep the XP8 in the rear and swap for Club Racer in the front. Since I did the staggered brake compound setup (XP10/XP9) after experiencing rear instability in rainy conditions to improve front brake bias. I run in the rain and would still like the confidence at end of straights to brake hard without rear end tailing. Just a little hesitant about front and rear Project Mu club racer pads unless anyone has experience with the pads in the rain and not problems (assuming they are same compound)

8kGoodENuff

I thought I was the only one. Great (or not great) to see that we have similar setups and experiencing the same symptoms, difference being I have a 245/255 tire setup, no cooling ducts, and use Prospeed RS683 fluid, which apparently is a rebranded Torque RT700 bottle. Previously, I was using ATE Type 200 fluid, which was giving me the 'brake to the floor' symptom (so scary), and using DS2500 pads, which provided amazing initial bite, pretty good consistency until only about 10 min of a 20 min session, at which point they were fading from the heat, and also rock solid brake pedal feel.

With the new setup, the pads are taking a bit to heat up (I do about 2 laps of 80% driving to heat up the pads) and the brake pedal is so mushy. They also have an inconsistent feel where at the start of the braking zone, there isn't much braking power and then about halfway thru the brake zone (without any pedal modulation), they bite hard. Another inconsistency I actually experienced again this past Saturday, brakes will be fine and out of no where, there will be brake fade on the next turn, which actually made me go off-track twice due to the inability of the brakes slowing me down.

I initially wanted to try the Ferodo D1.11 pads, until I saw the price (OUCH!!) and also reviews that they eat up rotors very quickly. So the remaining choice, based on the amount of research I've done, have been Hawk DTC60s or 70s, PFC08s, Project Mu Club Racer, or Cobalt XR2/XR3. Important to me are to have good initial bite with consistency throughout the braking zone, and also solid pedal feel.

freq

Andre, why haven't I seen once this whole season or last season? Who are you running with?