3500 # US Manufactured Street Ride (Mustang GT -- Well Sorted and documented in the archieves)
Suspension at top end of street ability
Stock Power, new plugs and coils, K&N on Cold Box Air Intake
92 Octane tune
13.7 Baer Drilled and Slotted Front Rotors with stock calipers
3" rake Cooling Ducts in the Front
Bear Stock Sized Drilled and Slotted Rear Rotors
Braided Brake Hoses
New Fresh Hawk Plus Pads over Fresh HD500 Fluid from tire Rack
Baer Rotors 4000 +/- street use
How do we need to burnish / break in Hawks prior to the Charlotte Track NIght
Thanks
Follow Hawk's brake bed-in procedure. https://www.hawkperformance.com/how-to
Keep an eye on a couple of things with a car that heavy and powerful.
1) drilled rotors like to Crack on track. Inspect them every couple of sessions.
2) the same type of pad front and rear (especially with changes to the system) may cause bias issues. These tend to show up more on track than on the street.
3) HP+ pads are not the best for heavy lapping a heavier car. Watch for brake fade. I wouldn't be surprised if they fade in 20 or 30 minutes
Hmmmmmm
Can you follow up on the HP+ pads not being a good match for a Heavy Car
Alternate suggestions are appreciated.
High performance brake pads for the street will fade on the track. Pads that work well on the street won't work well on the track (fade), and pads that work well on the track won't work well on the street (noise, lots of dusting, sometimes won't work until hot).
There really isn't much compromise between the two unless the driver is a newbie and won't be using the brakes hard.
Yeah, the Hawk HP plus is definitely not a track pad, especially for a heavy V8 car.
Make sure you have absolutely fresh high temperature fluid in your brake system, and I would recommend being prepared to bleed them between sessions.
Yeah it's very hard to get a good combination street + track pad. My best finds so far (sadly not so relevant to you because my cars are light & low-powered):
Powerstop PSA (on Toyobaru): Great on the street apart from some whining, pretty good on the track, downsides are that early indications suggest short service life and fairly high rotor wear, they also threaten to blot out the sky with brake dust.
EBC Yellowstuff (on AE92 Corolla): Pretty good on the street, totally unflappable on track, last a long time, however they are pretty dusty and eat brake rotors like candy (about 1 set of rotors for every 2-3 sets of pads on the front - rears were actually destroyed by 1 set of pads!), also rapidly escalating brake sharpness/bite over the course of an autocross run is a pain.
RacingComputers said:
Hmmmmmm
Can you follow up on the HP+ pads not being a good match for a Heavy Car
Alternate suggestions are appreciated.
We run them on the rear only of my 2400# rwd car.
We tried them on the front (when we couldn't get our usual front pad) and they disintegrated after about 2 hours on track.
I think they are a good autocross pad. If you are careful and aware, they CAN be used for track sessions. Just focus on being careful with them.
The pad that I like most for track days is pfc08. If they make them for your application, they last forever and have great modulation.
I'd just call Hawk for their recommendation since this is what they do.
I've run them on my 302 swapped XR4Ti with Wilwood 6 pots on the front without issue. Granted, I'm not at the pointy end of the group but far from the slowest. I've used them at Road Atlanta, Mid Ohio, Blackhawk, Autobahn
The car sounds like it is setup well and the cooling to the front brakes will help. As a general rule I would agree that the HP+ is a great autocross pad as it works well without heat but may not be up to the task on track.
Having said that it it really comes down to the track, the driver and the car. If you're planning on running the car (not driver ability but the actual car) at 10/10 for a full session on a brake intensive track a suitable track pad is the answer (and possibly other upgrades to the system too to make it last a full session). If you're more of an intermediate or novice driver there is a good chance you will have zero issues with these pads with good technique (use the brakes when you actually need them and then let them cool in between, don't drag them unnecessarily). The pads will give you feedback if you push too hard, you'll start to smell them and that brake pedal will get long, that means it is time to back off and do some cooldown laps. You might need to drive around the brakes a bit too if you are consistently running into them overheating but focusing less on hard braking/acceleration and more on carrying speed through a corner is not a bad thing to practice.
I believe you are just doing a Track Night in America event so it's not like we are talking about a weekend long HPDE, I presume these events are also in the evening so hopefully cooler temps will help things out. If it were me I would go with the setup you have and see how it does paying attention to the feedback it gives you and go from there.
Appreciate all the input
Pad are new for this event, along with fresh brake fluid.
This the first outing for the car on the ROVAL at Charlotte.
Intermediate nut behind the wheel, with varied experience over a long on/ off driving career, (Novice school at Nelson Ledges), Longest Day three times, Ford Econobox Endurance Series 2 seasons, One Lap of America, Fort Stockton, Nevada Silver Challenge, and etc..
Car will not be stressed, brakes should not be an issue, however...............................
Once again, thanks to all for the input and conservation
I'd treat this track day like a first date - have low expectations, that way you won't be too disappointed if it doesn't go well. If you are decently quick driver, at the Roval I think that those Hawk street pads will certainly fade. Just be prepared for that eventuality, and notice if they started to fade. The braking feel will probably not change much, but you'll just start getting less stopping power. At that point, you need to back way off and let things cool down, or just resign yourself to braking really early. From what I've seen on TV, that track is not a good place to have your brakes go away.
With as fast a car as you have, if you plan on doing more track days, you better break (brake?) down and get track pads. Like another poster said, the PFC 08's are terrific pads, and they actually will work well on the street if you discount the noise and dusting. Easy on rotors, good bite and feel, and they just don't fade on track.
You advice is exactly how we are approaching the 28 June TNIA at Charlotte
Plans call for this to be the SHAKEDOWN EVENT THEN RUN AGAIN AT Charlotte in Aug.
Tine will tell
