Is brake cooling something to look into for autox? I know it would be a good/necessary thing on a track but is the usually short time of a cross course pushing the brakes heat wise? Base brakes and speaking as if it were on someones car who pushes it hard.

 

I auto-X'ed my car on a very big and very fast course. 70 on the back straight, minute thirty lap times and running 2 laps at a time. I had no brake fade. However, on Laguna Seca, I only made it a couple sessions (20 minutes each) before getting brake fade. You can do what I am doing: roast the hell out of your brakes, find their limit, and then upgrade to Hawk pads with good brake fluid. I'm also doing stainless lines when I swap the pads and fluid in. If that doesn't work, THEN I'll look into ducting.

 

I figure that will be common but was checking. I figure you need the ducting for any decent size track and a brembo equipped car at the least.
Are the hawk pads a decent upgrade on a street set up or would having a dedicated track set be the way to go?

 

For auto-x I don't see brake cooling being necessary.

 

Agreed. Better pads, lines, and fluid is all you need if you have the base brakes.

 

Actually, let me rephrase my last post. You don't NEED anything above the base brakes on the '11, but if you are going to upgrade, get Hawk pads, Goodridge stainless lines, and Motul (or other good quality) fluid. I upgraded to the Ford Racing Brembo kit because I occasionally do some road course stuff. I did 4 local and 1 national SOLO events on the factory brakes. I did one day on the road course and cooked them.

 

Since I haven't installed the pads yet, I won't say if they are good for the street or not. But from what I have seen online, and what Hawk advertises, I think my HPS pads will be decent street and track pads. It's tough to get any component that does everything well. The high performance road course pads will stop like *** when they are cold (street driving) and your car will sound like a bus at every stop light. Good street pads will stop you fast and accurately around the street, but will lose their grip when they get hot. The HPS pads are SUPPOSED to do both well, hopefully they do.

 

Thanks for the info all. I think I will save some money and a couple ponds and stay away from the ducts.