Kit is done , coming out party getting ready . Full kit -25lbs of unsprung weight .

brad

 

Be aware that drilled rotors are more prone to cracking under heavy use than solid or slotted rotors. One race mechanic told me that he recommends slotted rotors for that reason, and another told me to stick with solid rotors for their greater mass, contact area and warp-resistance.

I'll just reiterate what cdelena said in case you missed it - powder coated calipers will not hold up well if used heavily on the track. The powder coat may turn black and peel. I've left my calipers stock and cdelena has a beautiful cadmium plate finish on his.

I've been very pleased with the greatly improved over stock braking performance of my car with Valvoline synpower brake fluid and Porterfield R4S pads

 

Zot,

http://www.speedbleeder.com/

I got mine just the other day.

/Rog

 

Zot, I had my stock rotors drilled and cryo-ed. The drilling was as much for appearance as anything. The cryo makes the rotors harder resulting in less wear, less pad wear and resistance to cracking or warping. You might consider it.

 

Yowwzah! Well done!

 

The cadmium looks like a nice alternative but where the hell do you do it? I drive my car daily and cannot have them sent out somewhere. A core exchange like what RIck has is good and again I wont be doing HEAVY tracking. Just a few events a year.

I dunno, I seem to get more confused as I go

All this info is so good I can't make up my mind but I do like the slotted rotors.

 

Eazy Zot, get a paper bag if necessary. Just start out simple like get new pads or fluid. If you are thinking about new calipers then hold off on the pads. You could even put it all off for a few months or years and enjoy the car as it is until you really know what you want. As your driving improves your wants may change. I'm not saying "don't change it" but rather, "theres no big hurry when it's this good."

 

Zot,

did your brakes fade at all during your track day? Do you want improved stopping power? Are you planning on more track days?

Or are you just looking for a cosmetic upgrade?

If you want performance improvement for the track, DOT 4 fluid (Motul or ATE SuperBlue) will prevent brake fade from boiling fluid. The only downside is the need to change fluid more often due to water absorption (once every six to twelve months vs. every two years for stock fluid). But in reality you should probably at least bleed if not flush your brake fluid after each track day.

Then consider rotors. Either a dedicated track pad (Porterfield R4, Hawk Blue) if you will swap pads for the track and street, or a street/track pad (Porterfield R4S) or track/street pad (Carbotech Panther Plus) if you want stronger braking and heat resistance all the time, and are willing to put up with more dust and possibly noise.

As for cosmetic upgrades, I would only consider Cad plating the calipers and rotors if you plan on track use. Otherwise, powder coating the calipers and drilled/slotted rotors might be OK. Aftermarket rotors with cast holes should also be OK for the track.

Just my humble opinions...

Ted

 

Tedster, no, no brake fade for me but then it was my first track experience and I did not push it nearly as hard as others did.

Yes, I am looking for track performance but again 3-5 track days a year for me is about all I will probably do so it wont be heavy track use. I am looking at good/heavy street use and track use on the days i am there.

The cad plating on the calipers looks nice and seems more durable but I have no idea where to have that done, and the powder coating may be enough for me because I don't push it hard on the track.

So I think slotted rotors, upgraded pads, ss lines (and I saw what seems to be a good group buy on some of those) powder coated calipers, (to bad the wait from Ricks is like 4 months) and upgraded fluid should do it for me

I am interested in more info on the 'noise' from these upgraded pads though. Is that generally a problem with regular street use cuz I will not be switching pads in and out for track days.

 

I'm currently using Porterfield R4-S pads as street/track pads.

For me, the only negative compared to the stock pads is quite a bit more dust. My wheels are dingy gray after about 300-500 miles. The dust is harmless, though, and washes off pretty easily, no corrosion.

I haven't had squealing, but some others have. I reused the stock backing plates, which still had grease.

The other main option for street and track is Carbotech Panther Plus. There are a couple of active threads on these, you can do a search. I'm thinking of switching to them after my R4-Ss run out.

I wish Rick would offer a Cad plated caliper exchange program in addition to the powder coating. Maybe even rotors, too.