JackOlsen

To paraphrase S2K driver Doug Hayashi, brakes that don't squeak are girly-man brakes.

I wouldn't worry about this at all. I leave my track pads on sometimes for weeks before I get around to changing them back. Aside from a little more noise, there's really no issue at all.

(R-compound tires are a different story -- you want to run them on the street as little as possible.)

bridow

i just got an air ratchet and can change all 4 pads now in about 20 minutes. maybe thatd be a better option than running pure track pads. this might not be an option, but just an idea.

124Spider

Thanks (and to all the others, also).

I will be driving to and from with the snow tires, since snow is forecast for the mountain pass between here and there (someone else is taking the track tires/wheels, saving me the hassle of trailering them). I'll drive to a local event in my Michelin PSC tires, but I wouldn't want to drive that far on them, especially over a snow-covered mountain pass.

124Spider

The tools are not the issue at this point--I've got a great lift and electric impact wrench. My competence at changing pads is still suspect (having only done it a few times), and I'd rather make my mistakes at home, where they can be remedied, than at the track, 300 miles from home, where I'm screwed if I make a bad mistake.

Triple-H

Two things

1- I now go out of my way to swap out the street pads and put in the track pads before I drive to school, about 90 miles. I have found this helps the pads mate up to the rotors because they get some use before they go out on the track to be hammered on. I'm using the Cobalt spec-VR and spec-C and they perform fine on the street, they just sound like I have sandpaper on instead of brake pads.

2- Really take your time working on the rear pads! Once you start putting things together and you are placing the caliper over the pads that are just sitting there, it is real easy to cock the caliper because it is back weighted with the cable and all the hardware for the e-brake. If you push the caliper into position and it is not perfectly perpendicular to the rotor you can cock the inner pad. You can bolt the whole system back together nice and tight and the brakes will work fine but when you take them apart you will discover the inner pad has worn at a wicked angle, thus reducing its life span. Just take your time to be sure that inner pad is in the holder straight and the whole pad surface is flush to the rotor before you tighten everything down.