Hi,

I was wondering how the stock brakes are on the S2000 for ocassional track days. I know I would probably have to get race pads and race fluid for brakes but is that enough? Are the stock rotors and calipers sufficient enough for me? Thanks for any help.

 

Yep! Stock brakes work well. Even krazik is still using stock brakes.

 

Get some GOOD racing fluid though. I use the blue stuff.

 

Work for me

 

 

Upgrade your brake fluid and go with an upgraded brake pad and you should be all set for a long time. Once your skill sets begin to grow you may need to do additional upgrades based upon the tracks you do, but these two simple things are a great way to start.

This is where I buy my fluid, and have used this stuff for a decade.
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com

Do a search for SSB High Temp Racing Brake Fluid or the part number
P/N SSB-012 - 12 oz. Bottle $8.99
Dry boiling point of 570 deg. F (299 deg. C). Although the wet is lower than many other fluids (sorry not listed on their site and I can't remember it), my brake fluid is never in for very long because I do a good bleed/flush before every school. I buy this stuff because of the 12 oz. bottles. The greatest brake fluid in the world is not much good if you have this quart container sitting around half open.



Enjoy and be safe!

 

As others have advised, definitely upgrade your pads & fluid. I used Motul RBF-600 w/ the OEM pads for a couple of track events last season, but the OEM pads didn't stand up very well. They were glazed after about a session & a half. Granted, I am relatively hard on brakes, but still... you don't want to find out the hard way that you are hard on brakes, too! I was advised to order a set of Cobalt Friction Spec VR pads for the fronts and using OEM or trying some Cobalt Friction Spec C pads for the rear, so I'll be trying that this season.

As for the rest of the system, I haven't found a reason to upgrade calipers/rotors/brake lines yet.

 

All of the above advice is well founded and worth listening to. Upgraded fluid is essential. Upgraded pads aren't strictly necessary for your first day or two, I'd imagine, but I'd still recommend doing it, although they aren't cheap. I think the stock rotors are great and very inexpensive to replace when you wear them out. I've also ducted my front brakes, but it's certainly not necessary unless you're running your brakes very, very hard (although it does reduce pad wear enormously, for which I'm grateful).

CB

_________________
C. Bender
2001 Silver/Black
AEM EMS, Fuel Pressure Regulator, and Wideband O2 Sensor; RC Engineering 550 Injectors; Turbonetics TO4B 60:1 Ball Bearing Turbo; Tial 46mm Wastegate and 50mm Blowoff Valve; GReddy EGT and Boost Warning Gauges; Auto Meter Oil Temperature Sensor; Holly 250 Forced Induction Fuel Pump; CM 6

 

Depends on your track. Shorter circuits with lots of braking and few straights might overcook your brakes faster than say, a 21-km fast race course in Germany with lots of cooling straights. Then again, you might brake in such a manner that they'll still overheat anyway.

What you can do is put some of that temperature sensitive paint on the outside brake pad and check them after each session. You'll know if you've exceeded the pad's operating temperature and need brake ducting.

I used stock brakes my first track day and they started to fade after a few laps. The next season I went with ATE superBlue fluid and upgraded pads which worked out much better. Now I've got a set of stainless steel brake lines and the car feels great on the drive home from the track, no bad fading.

Depending on your pad, if you overheat them, they might leave deposits on your rotors, giving you that "warped" feeling.

///Robin

 

stock pads suck. If you are any serious about going fast, get an extra set of race pads.