65sohc

I'm curious as to what people's experiences have been using totally stock brakes during noncompetitive track days. Speedventures has an event coming up at Buttonwillow (CA) next week. I ran my Z4 very hard there several times with no problems and had plenty of pad left. However I've never had the Mustang on a track and with it being 500 lbs. heavier and with very little antidive built into the suspension I'd like to know what to expect. If it's just a matter of wearing out the front pads, I don't mind that. On the other hand, should I anticipate serious fade after a few laps and/or frying the rotors? I don't plan on doing it often nor running it as hard as I ran the BMW and I really don't want to change brake components if I don't have to.

Original Sin

Don't worry about serious fade after a few laps, I ran Shannonville here in Ontario last month and lasted just about 2 days before 1) my brake fluid boiled and 2) one of the rotors decided to turn blue.

The SVTOA instructors looked at the car before we started, made note of the supercharger and the stock brakes and said I wouldn't last the day. So I proved them wrong but the brakes do have their limits. After the 1st day I was just fine. And to give you some idea of how hard I was pushing it, 1 full tank of gas took me a whopping 70 miles in total !! I was bone dry by the end of Day 1. Things ramped up on Day 2 and I ran into problems late that afternoon. But....it was still driveable and I've made the necessary upgrades. The pads by the way were just fine for some reason but I replaced them anyways, added high temp brake fluid and new OEM rotors (front only) that were cryogenically frozen. All told, about 1/3 the cost of a set of Brembo's or the Roush kit.

I have the full FRP suspension kit in the car and some upgrade/tires & wheels which allowed a little more speed, about the flattest cornering I've ever experienced and therefore an overall reduction in braking requirements. But you'll probably be OK. One of the instructors used a rental GT and pushed it fairly hard (but wasn't on the track as much as us) and had no problems.

Have fun !!!!

Hubec

Original Sin didn't have big problems but I definitly did, it just depends how hard you're going to push your car. As an indicator; he only when through 1 tank of gas a day whereas I went thorugh 4(!). Coincidentally I was also at Shannonville (fun, safe track). The single biggest problem is the rear brake pad material is very soft, I wore thorugh the entire stock rear pads during my a single track day (the car only had 5000km on it and I don't do brake stands). This meant I also ended up destroying my rear rotors... I definitly recommend upgrading your brake pads to a quality set of aftermarket street/sport pads.

Of course I also ended up boiling my brake fluid, it would be a good idea to flush your brake system with fresh fluid just prior to going to the track. I'd also recommend taking off the front dust shields while you're at it to try to get a bit more air into the front brakes.

Road coursing the 'Stang is awesome, I wish I was able to get out more than once this year... Have FUN!!!

Original Sin

What the h.e.l.l. Hubec, did you have a hole in your tank????? Couple of the guys in our group with the "close to race spec" cars went through 2 tanks of gas but 4???? Yikes.

Anyways, our SVTOA group is going back to Shannonville next year again, shoot me a PM if you're interested and I'll point you to the club president if you're interested in joining. They're a fantastic bunch of people.

Mark

KrisHorton

I took my Mustang out to Buttonwillow last August and ran it all day long with no fade or any other problems. This was on stock brakes, stock motor with maybe 7K miles on the car.

Hubec

I'm not hijacking the thread, but my PMs are turned off. Original, I'll definitely check out SVTOA next year. The high consumption was due to the fact that we got a lot of track miles that day, 'cause we were on the "Pro" track which is the fastest with big straights and we were in 2 run groups so I got over 4 hours of track time! It was pretty kickass.

Stoenr

A lot of variables to figure in really. I did not want to take the chance of sitting in the pits on race day watching everyone else drive, so I went with Hawk HPS pads all 4 corners, higher boiling point brake fluid, and stainless steel hoses on all 4.
Stock rotors held up fine, a little discolored, but I don't see any heat/hard spots, or notice any warpage.
I think if you got a warm day, and drove aggressive you might have some fade after a while. Also pretty worn out pads. If your going to need brake pads after the track or soon after, why not upgrade the pads before the track event?

My event was ran on a 3.5 mile 21 turn track on a pretty warm day. We got to run for 20 minute sessions, for 5 times. I went through a 1/4 tank each session, was crazy, lol. So was the gas prices at the track!

Lots of brake dust that day, and my center caps are loose, I can spin them in the wheel.

Red-06-GT

I have a track day coming up this coming weekend. I installed some Hawk HPS pads this past weekend based on the recommendation of a friend who races (not a Mustang or a Ford for that matter). The additional grip is impressive. However, I am not certain what to do about brake fluid. It’ll be in the 60’s this weekend so the ambient temp is working for me.

What type of brake fluid did you use? The manual says to use only dot 3 all over the place. Is there a wide range of temperature ratings for dot 3 fluids? There didn’t seem to be a very wide range during a quick scan at Pep Boys last weekend. What about synthetic? I saw some Valvoline “synpower� that claims to exceeds dot 3 and dot 4 standards (dry boiling point up to 480 deg F and min wet boiling point of 330 deg F) and compatible with conventional brake fluid. I was not planning on changing out the fluid, just adding if I need to bleed the brakes. I’m open to suggestions.

Stoenr

I used ATE type 200. I would recommend the Super Blue tho, only difference is the color. Makes easier to see when you got the old stuff all out. Bleed until fluid is blue.

http://www.raceshopper.com/ate_brake_fluid.shtml

05Stang_WI

My experience at SVTOA Autoban in Illinois(nice track). My front pads were fine, (Hawk Performance Plus which I really like by the way), but I burned up my stock rear brakes in the middle of the 2nd day. Replace those stock rear pads!
Stoenr, +1 on that 'Super Blue' fluid - pretty

M3hunter

Interesting!. How did you remove the front dust shields?

Sabre

There are lots of variables to consider....the type of track you're on, how many braking points on the track, how hard you're going to run, how long your time on the track is, what tires you are using, etc., etc., etc. So, it's hard to say if you will experience brake or pedal fade. I did during the last session of the day....on my first time at a track. By the last session, I was getting more confident in learning the track, the car abilities and my abilities....so I was pushing it harder. I experienced pedal fade and thankfully was smart enough to do one cool down lap right away and then quit.

PLEASE remember to turn your traction control OFF before going onto the track....you WILL wear out your rear pads in no time, if you leave it on.

With some upgrades, the stock calipers will do very well on the track. Pads made for tracking on the front and rear, stainless steel brake lines, high temp brake fluid....I use Motul. You can replace the stock rotors with slotted rotors and even install a brake duct cooling kit if you wish.

It does cost a few buck to do brake upgrades, but it is money WELL spent and can make your track days a much more pleasurable experience!

Sabre

Removing the front dust shield is pretty easy. Remove the rotor and you will see that the shield is held on by 3 ( if I'm remembering correctly ) small bolts. Remove the bolts....dust shield is off.

M3hunter

Great Suggestions Sabre