rayk

Moved to the darkside from a mustang setup for HPDE's.

Looking for recommendations.

Brake Fluid? - What works for high temp?

What pads and rotors do you recommend?


Thanks!
Ray

The Panther

This doesn't answer your questions, but that car looks BA.

rayk

Thanks. Had it at BIR and it corners better then the stang. I think I overheated the brake fluid as the brakes faded on the short course where you brake a lot. Then I read in the owners manual I need to put in high temp brake fluid for track days. The interior rocks and it gets twice the mpg on the track the mustang did.

Trying to get up to speed on corvettes now.

Bill Dearborn

Sort of depends on how experienced you are. I and some others I know have had good results with Wilwood 570 or 600+ Brake Fluid and Hawk HP+ pads. Running on street tires I tend to overheat the pads in long sessions as I have to slow more for corners. Cobalt CSR pads work at a higher pad temperature and do better than the HP+ but they are a lot more expensive. Using that combo I get about 5 track days out of the stock rotors both front and rear. That is with both TC and AH turned completely off.

So far I haven't seen real issues with the stock rotors. Pricing from forum GM parts vendors are about $86 each compared to others at twice the price that last one or two days more. Two piece rotors may be more cost effective and I am trying some right now but at $1500 initial cost and $220 per ring replacement cost they are going to have to last at least 20 track days per rotor to show any real cost benefit in a short enough time frame to make it worth investing in the set to begin with.

Bill

crimlwC6

I've used porterfield rs4 with good results. A lot of vette guys use carbotechs. Good fluid and pads are a must. Thumbs up!

rayk

Thanks for the info. Not a fan of drilled rotors and was thinking going to solid and Hawk Blue's. I'm used to replacing rotors once or twice a year. If I get cracking, I'll go to solid rotors. Might look at the Carbotech pads. I forgot about Wilwood brake fluid. I can get that locally.

Thanks again.

rayk

Not sure why chevy didn't put high temp brake fluid in the car in the first place.

How are carbotechs on the rotors?

Thanks.

Bill Dearborn

The rotors will heat check and cracks will form between the inner holes but you don't need to worry about those. You do need to watch the heat checks that will turn into cracks from the outside holes to the outer diameter of the rotor. I replace the rotor when the a heat check gets over an 1/8 in long from the outer hole toward the rotor edge.

Bill

Bill Dearborn

No reason for GM to put high temp fluid in the cars with over 90% not being drive very much and not very fast.

Carbotechs are so/so on rotor wear plus the pads wear out quite quickly and are costly. Set of XP10s in the front were pretty much shot after one day.

Bill

Bill

CHJ In Virginia

There are several good brake fluids available. Dry boiling point is the critical function. ATE super Blue or Gold, Motul 600 are two that you should look into. ATE is good value for the $ Motul has a higher boiling point but is MUCH more expensive.

sperkins

Get used to replacing rotors once or twice a day.

Hawk pads will ruin your wheels.
Carbotech pads will ruin your wallet.

Scooter70

I've never had issues with Hawk pads wrecking my wheel finish. (I've run HPS on the street and HP+, Blue, and DTC60 in the track.) I have gone through a set of Carbotech pads in a day and a half at Watkins Glen though. A set of rotors is cheaper than a set of pads so it's your call on where you want to spend your money.

jaa1992

Hawk Blues will ruin EVERYTHING!
You'll have rust and brake dust concrete everwhere!
You will replace rotors everytime you replace pads (if they don't crack before then)

I hated the blues on my rustang for the above reasons.

Carbotech is my choice for pads on the 92. The wife just daily drives her 04 and we put HPS on her car last year. The HPS is a great street pad.

SouthernSon

Advantage of a good 2pc. rotor:
less jacking and changing rotors at track/losing valuable time
less pad knock back and more positive feel/consistency.
pays for itself over the course of a season.

As far as pads, some have excellent results with carbotechs. I like hawk 70's but they will attack rotors and thus you will really need the 2pc.

ATE 200 fluid is good stuff at the track. When you find brake fade using the above, then go to some really expensive fluid.

As always, BREAK IN the pads correctly. One can't blame the pad for glazing over if not broken in properly. Also, break in the rotors.

For street use, I have hawk ceramic and OEM rotors on my other vette.
You could change your pads/rotors when you get back home using the above recommendations.

BEZ06

What tires will you be running on the track??

Flush in a good DOT 4 fluid with a high boiling point.

Pads - they depend to a great extent on the tires you're running. If you'll be swapping on an R-compound for track events, then you can also swap in something like the Hawk Blue or DTC70, or Carbotech XP12 - the R-compounds are grippy enough to get them up to operating temps. You also may need to adjust alignment for R-compounds, then adjust it back for your street tires.

If you're running a street tire the Hawk HP+ is about the max you'll want to run - and you can drive them on the street, but you'll have a lot of squealing and dust.

So.....a lot depends on how much prep you'll be doing for track events.

BTW, if you will swapping to a track wheel/tire setup, you'll probably need to get the proper tire pressure sensors for your model year, and you'll want to get a TPMS tool to reprogram the sensors every time you swap wheels.

Bob

jlutherva

Assuming street tires:
1A. Hawk HP Plus one-piece pads
1B. ATE Super Blue DOT 4 Fluid
1C. Track insurance (do a search for lotsa info)
2. Quantum Cooling Kit for the front
3. Seat Time!

Have fun!
Jim

StKnoWhere

Lot's of good advise here. BEZ06 is on the money that you want to match the pads to the tires plus your driving experience/style (fun/protect the car vs competitive/drive it like it's your last chance)

How many events have you run and will you run a year? Do you get into the ABS when braking? Do you trail brake?

I don't know if this can happen on the GS but I've hard of something called "snowmode" with the ABS. If I understood correctly, this is where a wheel stops rotating, the ABS thinks you're on snow and reduces braking force 90%. Recycle (double clutch) the brake peddle to reset it.

rayk

Thanks for the tip.
Ray.

rayk

I ran Hawk Blue and Blacks on my mustang with Nitto NT01's. The point of buying the vette was to minimize maintenance between driving on the street and on the track.

Since I haven't ordered another set of wheels and tires, I'm running the stock Goodyear runflats.

I will upgrade the brake fluid for sure.

What type of brake pads are standard on the GS? Ceramic or not?

What pressure should the GYRF's be set at for track use?

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

Ray

StKnoWhere

??? not sure I follow that math...

Carbotech XP 8 will hold up well starting with that setup but depending on your run group, your braking zones might be relatively long compared to others so be nice, watch your mirrors and point anyone by catching you in the turns on the RF's.

Run the Carbotech street pad (Bobcats) off track. The pad material is compatible with their race pads so you don't have to swap rotors.

Start 3-4 PSI above recommend on the tires, watch the wear pattern at the edge and adjust accordingly.

I picked up a used set of used painted wheels for $240, and a set of used TPMS for $120 (shop around). Then put a set of something like RE-11's on the wheels. Best upgrade you can make, and it's like a different car on the street, I have not put the RF's back on since...

B-Safe - Have Fun!