JMon

After a brake fade experience at Sebring a few weeks ago, I started thinking about all these people who review cars professionally. They take the cars out to the test tracks and hammer them, and record their track times. I have to imagine that they deal with brake fade issues on many of these cars, but rarely mention it in their articles. Is it just a part of the experience of testing out the car and they just deal with it somehow, are most cars holding up well on street pads, are the professional drivers that much better on the brakes?

yakisoba

Many variables. I can tell you that I was harder on brakes in my second year of DEs than I am now, just one more year on. I can imagine that in ten years, it'll be different still. The length of time between runs and the length of the runs themselves also dictates how bad the brakes can get. I can run most any pads if I only take five laps...

Tintin

It is a lot easier to hammer a car if it isn't yours..

Also, they do not get fade because they only need to do about 3 laps to get a time with a pro racer on a track he knows. I have tested cars in the past and we didn't have the time or inclination to do "Enduros" with them. All street cars handle so poorly compared to race cars that it is uneccessary to spend a lot of time looking for the last couple of tenths and all the times are only relative to the other cars on that day at that track with those weather conditions. ..

Olitho

Your brakes will also fade a lot quicker if you are running with Active Handling on as you get brake activation not only in the braking zone, but mid-corner and corner-exit, too, if you are pushing hard.

quick04Z06

Since car mags are paid for by advertising--automakers' adverstising--sometimes you have to read between the lines to really understand what is going on.

For example, in the new CD comparo, the Z06 gets fourth place behind a Porsche GT-2, a Viper ACR and a Nissan GT-R. The author hammers the Z06 on handling, and then sneaks in a comment that some of these issues may be the Goodyear EMT tires. Clearly, the author is not worried about GM's viewpoint; the editor appears to have added some language in the intro paragraph of the Z06 section to smooth out the criticism and presumably placate GM; and someone added the EMT tire comment, which is the most accurate comment in the package--we all know the car's handling improves dramatically without the run-flats, as they are a compromise kind of tire.

RT did a recent comparo and criticized the Z06's handling vis-a-vis a Porsche Turbo and a GT-R and never mentioned the run flats--a major error in reporting, IMHO. Since they had the Z06 in second place, ahead of the Turbo, maybe they figured they'd done enough to salve GM's wounds.

Other times, you'll read nothing in the text about brake fade--your example--and then you'll find buried in the test data a comment about brake fade being "moderate". Hmmm. I would take that to mean the brakes fade, but they were being nice to one of their adverstisers and burying the data. They didn't lie, but they did some spinning.

That said, brakes have improved dramatically in recent years. Man, the brakes on my 1973 Trans Am would be outlawed today....

That is how I see it; 5 out of 10 surveyed may disagree.

Tintin

Anyone who thinks that the buff magazines are anything but an extended manufacturer's brochure is kidding themselves. The carfax ads on tv are close to the philosophy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI0JKYj0Tt4

For true reporting try Top Gear, the show or the magazine...

mousecatcher

Top Gear may be entertaining, but true reporting??? lol

tjZ06

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHz6HSiMFts (skip to about 5:30 and watch if you don't want to see the whole thing).

-TJ

AU N EGL

Test drivers have brakes fade all the time. That is what their pit crews take car of between test sessions. changing brake fluid and brake pads as needed.