RedACR Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 What are you guys with S197 Mustangs running for brakes in HPDE? I am putting my 3rd set on the rear as the rears keep burning up. The front brakes still look great. My current setup is EBC Yellow Stuff pads all around, Ate Blue DOT4 race fluid, and dimpled/slotted rotors. I don't put the e-brake on after sessions either. Is there anything else I should be looking at? You would think if it was my driving style that the fronts would be burning up first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebit Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 You would think if it was my driving style that the fronts would be burning up first. Unless you're driving backwards! That's very odd, I can't help you there. When I first started I ran Powerslot rotors, and cracked 2 sets in 2 weekends. Switched to solid Brembo's and no problems since. I use Hawk HP+ pads and usually get 2 weekends front and 4 weekends rear on my 97 Cobra. Here's a thought. Does the S197 have traction control? Is one of the steps in traction control to apply rear brake? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedACR Posted November 15, 2008 Author Share Posted November 15, 2008 Yes, it has traction control. I didn't evn consider the computer cycling the brakes. Maybe next time I will run with it turned off and see if that helps? All of the brakes looked almost brand new until Infineon this past weekend. I burned the factory rears off in one track day before I even had license plates on it last Novemeber. I may have my Neon completed by February anyway for track use, money permitting. If so, I probably won't use the Mustang much anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swhiteh3 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 This wear pattern is very typical. When I was with Ford (I was in charge of the 4.6L 3v in the Mustang), I would regularly take Mustangs to track events to demonstrate their capabilities. From Gingerman to Sebring, I would take a STOCK car and give demo rides all day long. It's brutally hard on the car, and is clearly a level of performance these brakes would never be asked to replicate during legal on-road maneuvers. No matter how good your fluid is, you WILL boil the front brakes FAST if you're driving it hard. When I was driving it, I'm up to speed on the first corner, because my intent was to impress people with the cars capabilities enough to get them to buy one. Slowly building up to speed is not as alarming to the senses as tossing the car into T1. What typically happened was within a lap or two, the pedal got long and soft. That's the front brake fluid boiling. However the rears are still relatively efficient and generally don't OVERheat. Instead the braking zones get longer, and the cars gets less stable on entry as the bias moves backwards. Now nearly all the braking is being done in the rear, and despite the fact that miraculously the rear fluid never seems to boil, the rear pads get seriously hot and wear FAST. Yes, having TC on will accelerate this even more. I could easily go through a set of stock rear pads in 15 minutes. When I started using GOOD rear race pads, I could get a weekend out of them - that was it. Even with freshly bled fluid, the stock front pads would still look fine at the end of the weekend, but the fluid was hopelessly mangled - to the point where I usually bled the brakes in the paddock before driving home. By the way, an S197 can be DAMN fast with nearly no brakes, and a whole lot of fun. And it's damn good experience to practice driving a car with nearly no brakes all day long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almost heaven Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 +1 - Traction control "on" is a big part of your problem. I forgot to turn it off during my 1st HPDE with high temp fluid and all else OEM, and had no rear pads after 1.5 days; front pads were less than half worn. Switched off TC thereafter, used Hawk track day pads (Hawk Plus I think?) and had no further problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chim-Chim Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I use the EBC Yellows and am happy with them (Nitto 555RII, 275's). Any stickier a tire and they probably wouldn't be enough pad, though. Brake ducts up front and Motul-600 fluid does wonders for the boiling problem. I boiled the Valvoline synthetic last year and switched to Motul, which holds up great. I'm going to try and back off to ATE fluid this year (~50 degree difference in DBP), as the Motul is about 4x more expensive and tougher to locate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 do you have dust shields on the front brakes? if so, take them off. I noticed a huge improvement when I did so. It's a good idea to get some heat reflective gold tape and wrap any sensors and/or lines that are located in the vicinity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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