Standard brake pads on a track day?

[skiptontweed]

Hey, Im looking at doing a trackday at Oulton park in my 200 Cup.

Are the standard brake pads ok for track use?
I drive pretty damn hard on the track and I normally fit race pads, but this is my first outing with a 200.

 

[GrumpyTwig]

Depends how long you stay out, they WILL fade and it might be quite sudden especially at Oulton it's a bit hard on the middle pedal.

Just stay our for 6-8 laps max and you should be ok.

I went back in february and had massive faid down towards the S's at knickerbrook and well.... I almost pooped myself. Lucky there's a run off

 

[RalphyBMW]

Mine were fine with grooved discs, but upon later inspection had broken up somewhat.

 

[ben_r1]

Better suited pads aren't expensive but keep in mind the harder the pad the longer you'll need to bed them in for longer, could be a problem if your trackday is soon.

My personal favourite road/track combo pads ( flame suit on ) are EBC Reds. They are very civilised on the road, give off little brake dust and never squeal. On the track it usually takes me about 20mins+ to get them to overheat, but in colder months they usually don't fade at all.

Just remember to do warm up and cool down laps and dont use the handbrake when you come into the pits.

 

[RalphyBMW]

I have some very good DS2500's for sale, they were excellent.

 

[ben_r1]

Worth considering your tyres too. Contis won't last much longer than oem brakes on a dry track, they get hot quick

 

[ado]

The standard pads were fine for me but as said they would fade after a while if you are really hard on them. I'm a relatively smooth driver and I only see fade after around 30mins on a cool day, more like 20min on a hot day. I still brake hard but I look after them lap after lap.

As for the tyres the standard contis are perfectly fine for the job. I don't lap slowly in my 200 but my tyres still have 4mm after 14k and 3 trackdays.

 

[kevo66 (weaveworx)]

I had a couple round oulton in mine. Was fine, and I was on it too. Longest I stayed out was 30min.

 

[fmp]

I had standard pads for a track day or two, and they just about did the job.

I then changed to Carbon Loraine RC6's, which are night and day compared to the standard pads. I was expecting them to be a bit useless until hot on the road, but they bite really well from cold.

I unfortunately wore them out recently and had to jump back to standard pads, and the 'downgrade' was noticable. Especially on a track day at Goodwood recently.

So in short.... they should do the job, just be aware of fade. But ultimately you should look at getting a decent pad in future (as you say you normally do)

 

[RalphyBMW]

I did find the grooved discs made more difference than the pads though.

The DS2500's were also excellent from cold, and did perform better (than standard) when hot, not that the standards were bad.

 

[Willis]

Never had a problem with mine at Oulton in January.

Doing 20-30mins stints, not dawdling either, there was very little fade. I suppose a fair portion of it will come down to your own driving style anyway. I haven't used anything other than OEM yet so I can't compare them to anything else on a Clio I'm afraid. Albiet, the temperature stayed below 10C all day which might have helped them a bit. I was using fresh (day old) pads, fluid and discs though, so that may have helped a bit too. Don't underestimate the power of better fluid!!!

I agree with Ben about the Contis, they did get very hot to the touch but offered superb grip.

 

[skiptontweed]

thanks for the responses fellas - some really useful opinions.

I'll stick with the road pads for now as it's winter and grip levels won't be what they are in the summer.

Race pads on for the spring.

 

[A2ON]

interesting thread . . . some great advise .

whats the wear on the

1- contis on track

2 - the discs when using a race pad like ds300's

 

[N0ddie]

Our first set of pads lasted 7 trackdays. Was the fluid that went off sooner. I thought the standard brakes were really good on the track.

 

[A2ON]

i have some castrol srf fluif at £70 per 500ml i think that shoudl solve that problem.

glad to here the standard brakes are good

 

[Robo_#1]

Yeah my standard brakes have held up well on track, I've only really cooked them once, and that was on the road haha!

 

[Willis]

whats the wear on the

1- contis on track

This is purely based around Oulton Park... Mine ended up with blue-tinted shoulders hahaha!!! They really did offer a lot of grip and inspire confidence. With it being relatively cold that day, they didn't wear too badly or blister at all, but they did get HOT. Tyre squeal in the damp is always amusing. I think you could kill a set on a warm day though, I'd swap back-to-front at dinnertime.

 

[A2ON]

i mean ill probally be getting some mag cup racer wheels and some r888 but just a thought

 

[Willis]

I fancy trying the R888s and seeing what all the fuss is about.

Conti' make their own trackday tyre now too and apparantly the Kumho (Ecsta somethings) are very good on Clio-ish weight cars.

 

[A2ON]

as is the federal 595 rsr used them on the vxr and they are and were amazing