Apparently my "Track ready" 1LE has a weekness...me?

[cornerspeed92]

So as you guy's know i did Fontana again last Sun.When i got her home i just put her to bed in the garage.I took her out Wed.to make her museum() quality clean again,and noticed this.So i took her to the Dr. and apparently i am too hard on the brakes. I got my brakes so hot that i cooked them,and made them do this to my rotors,those are gouges in the rotors.As well, the dust boot on the strut that was just replaced collapsed,and the round(technical jargon) thingie that holds the dust boot up in the tower was down on the strut.They said it just had to be reattached.The whole reason my calipers were changed/warrantied was cause they leaked fluid,well nothing as bad as the new ones.Now granted, i admit i was brutal on them as i wanted to see them glow.


The video of them glowing was on the drivers side which didn't leak as much,can only imagine what the passenger side looked like.In my opinion Brembo is a major player in slowing us down.This is a "Track ready"car and i cant imagine GM/Brembo not working the brakes as hard as i did.Although this was just a track day and NOT a race,the racer in me,well, im in character,on a race track,and the point is to go faster then the last lap,lap after lap,after lap.Im not knocking this car,i love it!!!!! Im thinking though, i might need to take it down a notch.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Hmmm, my brakes are doing well so far. I upgraded to Hawk HP + pads, stainless lines and Dot 4 fluid, but my rotors have been healthy so far, after 10 track days. I boiled the fluid on three different Grand Sport Vettes at Ron Fellows (all of which had stock pads) so I tend to be hard on brakes myself. The instructors at Ron Fellows told me that they have been switching to the HP + pads and see less brake issues with those cars.

So far, my stock Brembos on the Camaro are doing very well. I've tracked at Buttonwillow, Thunderhill and Willow Springs with R compounds and a big wing and splitter.

[cornerspeed92]

Hey Todd,now these are the stock pads on them with several track days on them,but still.I will be switching to Hawks,that i will just put in for track days.I never had one issue with the stock pads. I should of obviously changed them earlier.

[tw78911sc]

I've run normal pads at the track before in other cars and literally baked the resins out of the pad, and the material could be knocked off the backing plate with my fingers and trashed the rotors . It sounded like the Flintstones. I've never gone back to the track with a OEM pad since although the BMW Jurid pads are pretty good.

With those pads, the rotors were so hot the cheap plastic center cap on the wheel ignited after I stopped in the pits.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

Hey Todd,now these are the stock pads on them with several track days on them,but still.I will be switching to Hawks,that i will just put in for track days.I never had one issue with the stock pads. I should of obviously changed them earlier.

I'm pretty lazy so I just leave my HP+ pads in all the time. This way, I don't need to sand the compound off the rotors or flatten the pads when switching between stock and HP+ pads. They are a track/street pad, they work well on both. Good initial bite even when cold, and are rotor-friendly. They squeek a little on occasion on the street. If I re-bed them with a few hard stops from speed, the squeek goes away.

Good to see you are working those brakes! Driving that bad boy the way it was meant to be. I would imagine Fontana is very hard on brakes with the speeds you hit on the high banks. I bet it's harder on brakes than the tracks I've driven, so maybe that's why I haven't seen any issues.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by tw78911sc

I've run normal pads at the track before in other cars and literally baked the resins out of the pad, and the material could be knocked off the backing plate with my fingers and trashed the rotors . It sounded like the Flintstones. I've never gone back to the track with a OEM pad since although the BMW Jurid pads are pretty good.

With those pads, the rotors were so hot the cheap plastic center cap on the wheel ignited after I stopped in the pits.

Holy crap, hope you got that flame job on film, LOL. That must have been quite a sight.

[STI_TO_SS?]

Instead of taking it down a notch (giving up speed) you might try a slightly different driving style. I understand the overwhelming urge to apply brakes at the last possible millisecond in order to extend maximum velocity, however....you might find there is an alternate approach which works very well. You may have noticed sudden maximum brake inputs result in an equally dramatic reaction from the car (recall for every action, there is a reaction) in addition to slowing. Even a nicely setup car like a camaro (although I have not tried out the 1le on the track yet) will go through a set of recovery reactions from harsh sudden inputs. A more measured and refined input will let you achieve your goals, IMHO, and not force the car to react so much, plus conserve your brakes. I find braking earlier, ensuring the input is gradual, increasing the pressure carefully, and then lifting off the brake equally tenderly works very very well. The goal is to apply your brakes in such a manner that no time is wasted by having to wait on the car to recover from a harsh abrupt input. As the car recovers more quickly from the braking phase, it is in turn ready to accept your next input (turning). But if you just wanted to see glowing rotors, your way probably works very well.

[PYROLYSIS]

On my fire engine I have caused the brakes to smoke many times but never to the point where they caught on fire. One time I did manage to get them so hot that they blew a tire, while the truck was parked. It sounded and felt like a car bomb went off. Haven't roasted my Brembos yet, way too expensive. The one track day I went to they performed beautifully. I had an instructor that pushed me to drive faster each lap and I obliged.

[PYROLYSIS]

Originally Posted by STI_TO_SS?

Instead of taking it down a notch (giving up speed) you might try a slightly different driving style. I understand the overwhelming urge to apply brakes at the last possible millisecond in order to extend maximum velocity, however....you might find there is an alternate approach which works very well. You may have noticed sudden maximum brake inputs result in an equally dramatic reaction from the car (recall for every action, there is a reaction) in addition to slowing. Even a nicely setup car like a camaro (although I have not tried out the 1le on the track yet) will go through a set of recovery reactions from harsh sudden inputs. A more measured and refined input will let you achieve your goals, IMHO, and not force the car to react so much, plus conserve your brakes. I find braking earlier, ensuring the input is gradual, increasing the pressure carefully, and then lifting off the brake equally tenderly works very very well. The goal is to apply your brakes in such a manner that no time is wasted by having to wait on the car to recover from a harsh abrupt input. As the car recovers more quickly from the braking phase, it is in turn ready to accept your next input (turning). But if you just wanted to see glowing rotors, your way probably works very well.

I was taught that short, hard stabs on the brakes are easier on them than long presses.

[Firefighter]

Try the ZL1 upgrade?

As for burning up the brakes on the fire truck! Dude use that retarder... lol

[STI_TO_SS?]

[QUOTEI was taught that short, hard stabs on the brakes are easier on them than long presses.][/QUOTE]

I agree short hard stabs work great on the street if you are in panic mode and stopping is priority one. A series of jabs also worked well before we had ABS. But physics bites us if we replace one gentle effective press with a series of jabs. Each jab will elicit the following: nose dive, rear lift, and then the opposite as you lift off the brake: nose attempts to return to normal elevation but overshoots then finally stabilizes, and the rear goes back down. A better strategy might be one efficient quick press and then easing out of it. Press so that the nose don't dive and then release so that the nose don't lift. There is a reward: you take advantage of the normal resonance of the car and you can execute your next step, what ever it is, faster. If you don't have to wait for recovery periods after every brake zone your times should improve.

[STI_TO_SS?]

The one track day I went to they performed beautifully. I had an instructor that pushed me to drive faster each lap and I obliged.

Congrats on getting on the track. I am envious, no 1le on track yet For me(husbands rules ). Your must have inspired confidence in your instructor.

[Msmall143]

You are a services shops dream....covered under warranty again?

[CookieCk]

Originally Posted by STI_TO_SS?

I agree short hard stabs work great on the street if you are in panic mode and stopping is priority one. A series of jabs also worked well before we had ABS. But physics bites us if we replace one gentle effective press with a series of jabs. Each jab will elicit the following: nose dive, rear lift, and then the opposite as you lift off the brake: nose attempts to return to normal elevation but overshoots then finally stabilizes, and the rear goes back down. A better strategy might be one efficient quick press and then easing out of it. Press so that the nose don't dive and then release so that the nose don't lift. There is a reward: you take advantage of the normal resonance of the car and you can execute your next step, what ever it is, faster. If you don't have to wait for recovery periods after every brake zone your times should improve.

I've always been taught to brake hard into the turn and that you want a little bit of a "nose dive", shifts the weight of the car onto the front wheels and helps going into the turn(more traction on the wheels controlling the turn), then as you let off weight shifts back so you can get on the gas coming out of the turn. You just have to get the timing right so the physics works to your advantage.