question on brakes

[crc91]

To get my car ready for the road NCM road course at the Fest this year, i'm putting on some higher speed rated tires as well as getting the limiter removed ( i have the 1LS). I'm also replacing the pads with something that will handle the track better. A hawks employee sent me a recommended list of front and rear pads and fluid to use for the drive up there and back as well as the track day. it must be some pretty versatile pads and fluid for both street and track driving. This is my first track day so i most likely wont be going 10/10ths just learning. I wanted to replace my rotors with something better resistant to heat but again something i can drive on to the fest on my stock 1ls size rims. I'm even open to installing stainless lines. what do you guys recommend?

I want to do it safely but on a budget with a good bang for my buck. If i get addicted which i think i will then i will upgrade rims, go to brembos as well as other things.(planned on it anyway) but to start i want it to be affordable safe and fun.
help me out guys! all advice welcome!

[Destructo09]

No need to replace rotors, it won't gain you anything at all. Pads is probably a must on a 1LS since you don't have brembos and obviously fluid is a 100% must change for track. I personally use Motul RBF600.

What did the hawk guy recommend? Also, it's tough to find a pad that is any good for street and track. Good track pads don't stop well when cold and usually make some horrendous sounds on the street and destroy rotors.

Fluid will work for both track and street, there's not really any difference for fluid.

At a minimum I would probably use these:

http://www.hawkperformance.com/perfo...ce-street-race

I'm not sure how fast the track group at the fest will be but I suspect it might not be super fast, so it's possible the Street 5.0 Pads might be ok.

My best advice though if you plan on doing real HPDEs would be to have a separate set of track pads for the track. There is no perfect pads that can handle both street and track. I really overheated a set of Hawk HP+ pads at VIR North a couple weekends ago, and they are terrible on the street, so I run some stop techs for street and autox and going to buy something better for the track.

[habunow1]

If its in the budget look for a set of used brembos on the forum and upgrade them. It is worth the time and money. It might take some time to find them for the right price. I got everything for $600 after looking for a few months and missing some by hours because they go so fast. Takes about a half day to do the entire swap.

[crc91]

Originally Posted by Destructo09

No need to replace rotors, it won't gain you anything at all. Pads is probably a must on a 1LS since you don't have brembos and obviously fluid is a 100% must change for track. I personally use Motul RBF600.

What did the hawk guy recommend? Also, it's tough to find a pad that is any good for street and track. Good track pads don't stop well when cold and usually make some horrendous sounds on the street and destroy rotors.

Fluid will work for both track and street, there's not really any difference for fluid.

At a minimum I would probably use these:

http://www.hawkperformance.com/perfo...ce-street-race

I'm not sure how fast the track group at the fest will be but I suspect it might not be super fast, so it's possible the Street 5.0 Pads might be ok.

My best advice though if you plan on doing real HPDEs would be to have a separate set of track pads for the track. There is no perfect pads that can handle both street and track. I really overheated a set of Hawk HP+ pads at VIR North a couple weekends ago, and they are terrible on the street, so I run some stop techs for street and autox and going to buy something better for the track.

It looks like he recommended hps pads for the front and hp+ pads for the rear, as well as fluid with a part number of AP600 the part numbers he gave me for te front and rear pads and the fluid aren't showing up in my search so I'm only assuming those are the right pads

[crc91]

Originally Posted by habunow1

If its in the budget look for a set of used brembos on the forum and upgrade them. It is worth the time and money. It might take some time to find them for the right price. I got everything for $600 after looking for a few months and missing some by hours because they go so fast. Takes about a half day to do the entire swap.

I know I've been keeping an eye out for brembos. But even if I scored some I probably wouldn't have enough cash for new 19 imch wheels and tires to be able to run them. I want a set of 19x10 forgestar cf5v badly! However if I do score some brembos I might pick up a set cheap niche wheels or something. They are cheap but as heavy as 2010 ss wheels. So I'd probably sell those with tires after

[markgws6]

Originally Posted by crc91

It looks like he recommended hps pads for the front and hp+ pads for the rear, as well as fluid with a part number of AP600 the part numbers he gave me for te front and rear pads and the fluid aren't showing up in my search so I'm only assuming those are the right pads

This makes no sense at all. HP+ pads are higher friction. HPS never should be used on a "road course" track IMO. They might be okay for the auto-x, if the speeds are lower than say 45mph with no longer straights. You'd want a higher friction in the fronts and lower in the rears (i'll explain why below).
(street5.0 pads are also not designed for the track, basically they are similar to HPS.)

Since you have a V6 Camaro, it will not weigh as much as the SS, but it still is a heavy car, especially in front. I know that in an SS, if you use a higher friction pad in the rear than the front, your ABS will go crazy in the rears. I even had this happen using the same race pad in front and rear. So I suspect this will happen in your V6 too.

Dot 4 fluid is a must for any aggressive track driving and some tracks will not let you run without it. Stainless lines are optional but can help with pedal feel if you are serious about your track driving.

[markgws6]

More thoughts: Use the stock pads and rotors your first time out (assuming they have half or more left on them.) and see how you do. If the brakes don't feel right, or they get spongy, or you can't stop quick enough, change them next time out. Get a feel of your driving style first and then make small adjustments, not the other way around. :-) Tire temps and pressures can play a bigger part on how well you stop too.
Do change the fluid still. Also, if you go often and get hooked, make sure you change the fluid more often too. You can use dot 4 on the street fine.

[crc91]

Gotcha so the stock brakes will be good? I have 13k on the car probably gunna be 14-15 by the time the fest rolls around. I'll have a shop check out the brakes before I go. Can I use stainless line with the stok brakes for an improved feel? I'm at work I forgot the name of the tires I'm switching to. They aren't all seasons I believe they are a higher rated summer performance tire rated to 168. So if I don't have to change brakes. I'll use that money on some lowering springs, bushings and sways instead. Sound good? I know I don't need any of that stuff but I've been meaning to upgrade the suspension for a while now.

[Destructo09]

Stainless lines will be an upgrade regardless of what pads you go with.

I suspect since this is your first time out, you'll have plenty of fun even with the stock brakes, just back off on the speed a bit if they start to feel funny and they'll cool off.

Do you know how long the sessions are or how many sessions they're doing? If they're short then stock brakes will be fine I think. You're probably going to be out there with plenty of other drivers who aren't skilled on track either, so I doubt it's going to be super fast.

Just to get you a bit excited about track time, here's my last sessions of 8 (25 min each) at VIR North easter weekend.

[Jenner]

I think stock brakes will bro be for your first time out there, they may take a beating though. I used my stock brakes at auto club speedway and by the third session the petal started to feel funny and mushy so I just slowed down a bit.

[markgws6]

OP, How did it go??? Have you been back since and did you upgrade the suspension too?