What causes brake fade and what can be done to minimze it? I dont have alot of money to put into the brakes. Would cross-drilled or slotted rotors help? I experience most brake fade in heavy usually stop and go traffic (MY CORVETTE IS A REAL DAILY DRIVER!:D ) Nearly rear-ending a Suburban got my on this topic. :eek:

:flag

 

heat. the coefficent of friction is dependant on temperature. cross drilling does not improve rotor cooling significantly. it just lightens the rotor a bit and looks cool. :cool:

slots are for scraping the pad clean during braking. they won't help fade too much.

it really comes down to rotor design/material, brake pad compound and air ducting.


[Modified by Turbo-Jet, 11:54 AM 10/23/2001]

 

Buy better pads, cheap pads don't work well when hot, racing pads don't work well when cold, high performance pads work well both times but not as good as racing pads when hot...

 

Turbo-Jet is correct! It's heat that causes 'fade'. If you haven't done so, recommend that you completely replace your brake fluid. If using DOT 3 or 4 fluid, which is hydroscopic, it will absorb water over time, that's why manufacturers recommend changing brake fluid every two years. Once water is absorbed in the fluid you will have more brake fade, since water has a lower boiling point than the fluid, and boiling cause bubbles, and bubbles don't compress as well as the brake fluid. (Or something like that) Also may find that semi-metalic brake pads will work longer/better than organic pads, under extreem / hot braking conditions, but be aware that semi-metalic pads may have a tendency to sqeak more than the organic pads.

 

Brakes work by converting the energy in motion (momentum) to energy in heat, via the friction caused by rubbing the rotor with the pad. The more heat you can create (and dissipate) the faster you will decelerate. Brake "fade" is the common description of what happens when your rotor/pad combination can't create and absorb or dissipate any more heat.

The whole cross-drilling/slotting thing is about giving the rotor more surface area and opportunity for ventilation, thereby greater cooling, which translates into more heat dissipation which in turn means the pad can create some more heat. The holes/slots/grooves are also supposed to provide gas relief, which is intended to keep the pad in more direct contact with the rotor rather than "surfing" on hot gases.

Your stock Corvette rotors are ventilated via centrifugal force (essentially, they are a radial fan), and I think cross-drilling would make the ventilation work less well, besides making them more prone to cracking.

I'd probably just do an old fashioned brake job, having the rotors turned get rid of any glazing (which you probably have if they've gotten hot enough to fade noticably) and get a good set of performance pads.

I've been reading some good things about HawkBrake pads - their HPS (hi-perf street) pads are supposed to be very low dust, silent, high friction, and "rotor friendly". VetteBrakes sells them. But I haven't used them yet, so I can't say much about them. I've used Performance Friction pads and didn't like all the dust they made. Went back to Raybestos OEM type organic pads. And slowed my azz down a little! :eek:

Good luck! :seeya

 

Some excellent info above. Not to pick nits, but it is hygroscopic not hydroscopic (not a recognized word).

Now back to your regularly scheduled program...

 

If you didn't like the dust of Performance friction pads then you DEFINITELY wont like the dust of the hawks. I have PF on front and Hawk on back (don't ask :rolleyes: ) and after one run thru the canyon my back wheels are WAY dirtier than the front. So much so that it is plainly visible.

New high quality pads will make a lot of difference. Organic pads are not known for their resistance to fade, quite the contrary!

gotstaget them wilwoods on...

 

I would take a good look at your brake system. Stop and go traffic shouldn't cause enough heat to experience brake fade. I have a stock brake system and I have never had brake fade . I sometimes drive in crazy Boston stop and go traffic and I experience leg fade from pushing my clutch.