I took my new to me '13 mustang GT to the track yesterday. The car is a CPO and has no modifications. After the first lap the car's brake pedal felt super spongy and dropped to the floor. Also, braking distances significantly increased.

I had to slow down so that I was less dependent on brakes for the rest of the day and also called it quits earlier than usual, but I was quite unnerved by not having functioning brakes on a car this heavy and this powerful.

I also took my drive home at a leisurely pace looking for exits in traffic just in case I had a run away car on my hands.

So the question is are stock mustang brakes and fluid this bad?

Do I need to upgrade to a Ford Racing Brembo BBK if i intend to keep tracking this car?

Or would DOT-4 fluid and upgraded pads be a better option?

The tech at the track suspected that I may have possibly boiled my brake fluid on the first lap which led to the spongy, pedal to the floor performance.

Thanks.

 

The stock brakes do leave something to be desired on the track, the reason I am also looking into a Brembo swap. You probably did boil your fluid over and your pads faded. Putting some good fluid in it will keep you from boiling over, and better pads will help keeping them fade as fast.
If you are going to track it a lot, you should look into a big brake upgrade. Though the fluid and better pads are cheaper solutions that will keep you protected for a bit longer.

 

I simply went to Hawk pads and it was a night & day difference. If you want to go a bit farther, get the slotted rotors as well. The pads alone were more than suffice for my non brembo car. If you track it, then the slotted rotors may be more beneficial to you than me. I'd go that route and save money with better performance than a Brembo swap.

 

Most stock brakes on any vehicle will not hold it to track use. Need better pads and fluid at a minimum.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm thinking better pads and DOT-4 fluid would be good for now. Since going to a BBK would be an investment for me.

Since I'm looking at $1300+ for the BBK and $1K for the new wheels.

I'll try these out for now.

 

I would get the stainless lines as well. That will help with the brake feel. If you should upgrade later then you will already have them. The DOT4 fluid makes a big difference in the longevity of your brakes too. The higher wet boiling point ensures that once some moisture gets into the system that you can still maintain good brake feel.

 

Note that even in sport mode the Mustang will respond to slip angle by applying the rear brakes to compensate. A newbie on stock tires can get into rear brake eating slip angles pretty quickly.
The only solution is to turn off the traction control completely. Be aware of the danger in doing so and build speed and skills with caution.

Correct to replace brake pads with track capable pads and change the fluid to high quality track fluid like Motul or Castrol SRF. If you go with Carbotech pads you can use a track pad like the XP 8 or 10 in the rear and just leave them on for track and street. Then for the front use the XP12 to drive to the track and back then switch over to the Carbotech street compound front once you get home.
Don't forget you need to remove all the prior pads compound from you rotors before switching to a new compound.

Stick with high quality street tires. Stepping up to sticky tires bring more dollars for thing like shocks, sway bars, brake cooling ducts, etc. Stainless lines will give you a firmer pedal. My track pack car has the Boss brake lines and I have not had any issue with those firmer lines.

 

I used ATE Super Blue Race fluid which incidentally has the same performance as the regular ATE but it's blue and not legal in the states. Stoptech makes some good fluid too now. I have the Track Pack as well and I'm still going to upgrade the lines. I ran into the rear brakes tapping when I was on the track sliding sideways at speed on a couple of the short sweepers. It totally interupted the flow and unsettled the car a little mid corner. Be cautious like was mentioned.

 

Good points.

I've had good luck with Catbotech pads. I've used XP10s up front with stock rear pads, and for this season I've upgraded to XP8 in the rear which will reside there permanently to return to proper brake bias.

OP, for track duty ou do have to swap the front pads. You want a good, gripy, high temp pad up front which means the noise and dust and rotor wear won't be acceptable for the street.

I use Motul RBF600 fluid with good results. I've also just switched the lines that came with my Track Pack to SS lines. I don't think the the Track Packs came with Boss lines to be honest with you. I don't think the Brembo package came with Boss lines and the content of the Brembo package is what TP cars come with.

 

Hey Steve, what do you mean by rear brake tapping?

I got my SS lines and XP10/8 combo installed last weekend. My first track day for the year is this Saturday. I'll report back on how the new set-up did under motor-sports section

 

Do you street drive the XP10? If so does the pad need heat before it begins to brake effectively? I ask because I am running the XP6 and even it takes a little heat to get good initial bite.

 

Only the week before and a week after my track weekends. I can't take the noise
The initial bite at cool temps is a little less than the Ferrodo pads that come stock with Brembo brakes, but still plenty to stop the car. They come alive after they have a few hard stops on them like you said.

 

For the street, the stock brakes/pad/fluid are fine. For the track, you'll need some better pads, DOT4 fluid, and steel lines...minimum. I think if you continue to go to the track you will eventually need the 14" 4-pot Brembos up front, or even the 15" 6-pots. I got this Ford Racing kit for my 2011 once I knew I was gonna be a track rat, it includes extras like steel lines and SVT pads, I think it's a great deal:
"Ford Racing SVT Front Brake Upgrade Kit (05-14 GT, V6) #M-2300-S"
http://www.americanmuscle.com/svt-brakekit-0509gt.html
The system works awesome on the track, I have a thread on TMS when I got this installed, if you want to search it. If you go this route, you'll need to ensure wheel clearance. Good luck!
(ps: the link I'm inserting is American Muscle, for some strange reason, TMS converts it to Amazon...?)

 

By tapping I mean the stability control taps the brakes to correct the slip angle I had going during the sweeper. Annoying to say the least.

 

Ah, now I got it. Yes, when you're at the limit this is annoying. I ran into this as well, and when I go to counter-steer stability tries to help me, but with the counter-steer that's a double correction. This is why I switch everything off. All you really need is ABS anyway.

 

I would start with just bleeding the brakes, using a race pad up front and bedding it in properly, and remove your dust shields.

To take it up a notch, add cooling ducts, another yet would be better fluid like those suggested or Brembo 600.

The stock brakes could be that lousy I suppose. But be conscious not to use the brakes unless you need need to. Stock brakes are often more capable than most can get out of them. However, I have seen many getting on the brakes very early and riding the pedal and generating unnecessary heat into street pads that can't take it.

 

Everyone is dancing around the obvious. The stock GT pads are an organic compound. Organic pads are great for street use. They are quiet, virtually dust free, they are gentle on the rotors but don't handle heat well. If you are going to track your car at all, a brake upgrade becomes necessary as everyone else has stated. How much you want to upgrade depends a lot on how much you want to spend. Good luck and have fun on the track!!!

 

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ummm...no I'm not dancing around anything, it's the first sentence in my post...

 

I swapped to Stoptech Street Performance pads and DOT4 fluid for now.

The pedal feel is much better but not ask good as the pedal feel I get with my VW GTI's Stoptech BBK with the steel lines.

I am going to run this setup until I have enough money saved to buy a BBK and wheels.

Student loan debt is really killing my mod budget on this mustang

 

There's nothing you can do to the OEM brakes that will make them suitable for more than one lap around a road course. You absolutely need something better - 14-inch rotors, and at LEAST 4-piston calipers. Vorschlag sells a Brembo kit for $1400. If you add brake ducting and such (recommended), it's about $1600.