Track day pads & disc advice needed.

[Johnny 99]

Just caught the track day bug. Still inexperienced on track - 2 track days completed, but definitely going to become more regular. Now wanting to upgrade the brakes. Just purchased a braided brake line kit from Pro Line Motorsport & thinking about putting some fast road/track day type pads on when these are fitted. Narrowed my choice down to Ferodo DS2500 pads, which I know are very popular on here, or Tarox Corsa pads which are perhaps better known in VW Audi circles. I have a colleague who used DS2500 pads on an Evo, but found them to be a bit too squeaky, & wondered if others have found this. I have a mate using the Tarox pads on his Clio 200 & he's been very pleased with them, saying that they squealed a little at first, but we're fine once bedded in. Could I expect this to be the case maybe with the DS2500 pads? Also will I feel the benefit of the pad change whilst still retaining the standard discs? I don't really want to replace the discs unless they are found to be worn, but I will if I have to in order to benefit from the pad change. My friend uses the standard rear discs along with Tarox F2000 front discs on his Clio with the Tarox pads. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[Matty_L]

I cannot fault my set up what so ever.

Front

Brembo HC Discs
Ferodo DS2500 Pads
Mr Pink Pin kit

Rear

Standard Renault Discs
Standard Renault Pads

All with Motul RBF600 Fluid & HEL Performance braided hoses.

No squeaks at all, solid pedal feel with no fade yet.

As with any pad change, change the discs for maximum benefit and the pad surface can mate to the disc instead of uneven wear, no point in doing much with the rears as they do so little braking anyway.

 

[knuckles]

Im in the same boat as you, I just got into track days last year at Css. I'm now up to day number 6 in September lol.

I found the standard brake pads ****, so after speaking to George at rtr parts i settled on ds2500 front pads, high carbon plain discs, standard rear everything and ate supergold fluid (to flush out the last of the super blue I previously used).

its night and day.

im not the best driver on track, but it certainly improved me tenfold. I didn't get any fade all day at blyton park this year and was comfortably outbraking most things on track (with the exception of a 182 running mintex pads iirc).

it seems you're in the same boat as me being relatively new to track driving so I'd definitely recommend this set up. Then once you start being faster and cooking this set up, move on to something more track/race focussed as opposed to road/track focussed.

hope that helps

 

[john_walker74]

Standard discs are perfectly ok for track days. Pads are mainly dependent on your budget. The ds2500 are ok, but at the lower end performance wise (although better than mintex m1144 and standard pads). Also consider whether you can tolerate a bit of squeel and bad brake dust build up if you are not an obsessive cleaner.

 

[Johnny 99]

Thanks folks, going for Brembo HC plus DS2500 pads then. This set-up is considerably cheaper than the Tarox option too.

 

[Big Ben]

I've recently changed up to new Brembo HC discs with DS2500 pads all round. Cannot fault them on track/fast road. Slight occasional squeal but nothing dramatic.
If you need more braking performance then youre getting serious and will end up with a track only car lol!

 

[pdd144c]

Standard front discs warp quite easily, I've gone AP 2 piece now, but there are other options as above that will do the job.

 

[john_walker74]

Did they warp or was it pad material transfer onto the disc causing a vibration?

 

[peter]

Standard front discs warp quite easily, I've gone AP 2 piece now, but there are other options as above that will do the job.

what pads are you running on the two-piece disks?

 

[pdd144c]

99% sure they are warped, I'll get them on a lathe once they are removed and see how bad they are. Vibration was enough to loosen the steering wheel boss bolt, and you can see how hot they've been.

Undecided on pads as of yet Peter, as I use the car in short hillclimbs plus trackdays, so need something that's right on it from cold. Will be a tad compromise on track, but I can live with that. I'll speak to my pad supplier and see what they advise...

 

[peter]

Undecided on pads as of yet Peter, as I use the car in short hillclimbs plus trackdays, so need something that's right on it from cold. Will be a tad compromise on track, but I can live with that. I'll speak to my pad supplier and see what they advise...

let us know which ones you'll put on, ok?

 

[peter]

[MENTION=53607]John[/MENTION]_walker 74 ... john, which pads would you recommend for a (almost) daily driven clio, which also does about eight to ten trackdays a year? i've got the DS2500's now, but looking for some beefier stuff. from what i read on the net, those higher end pads (RS29, XP8/10, DS 1.11, ...) will eat disks and themselves when not properly hot.

 

[john_walker74]

I started of running mintex M1155 for track days and they were ok for the price, but not in the same league as ds1.11 which I found very good. A downside that is probably the same for all performance pads is that they do give quite a lot of dust off which eats into the alloys if you don't wash them regularly. I have a set of carbotech xp10 to put in for a Bedford evening track session on Friday.

The M1155 did give a bit of pad material transfer onto the disc during a Spa day which took a fair few miles to clean off. The ds1.11 did not do this.

I have also ran a set of PF08 pads and they seemed good, but only had a few food laps on them so can't really comment yet.

One thing to watch is that they have a fairly high metal content and they can crack due to rust expanding. Jade Developments recommended changing discs and pads between track days which I have now started doing. Time will tell if this helps as I did suffer a bit of minor cracking and crumbling when I ran the ds1.11 all the time. It will make you realise just how poor the standard pads are.

 

[peter]

I started of running mintex M1155 for track days and they were ok for the price, but not in the same league as ds1.11 which I found very good. A downside that is probably the same for all performance pads is that they do give quite a lot of dust off which eats into the alloys if you don't wash them regularly. I have a set of carbotech xp10 to put in for a Bedford evening track session on Friday.

The M1155 did give a bit of pad material transfer onto the disc during a Spa day which took a fair few miles to clean off. The ds1.11 did not do this.

I have also ran a set of PF08 pads and they seemed good, but only had a few food laps on them so can't really comment yet.

One thing to watch is that they have a fairly high metal content and they can crack due to rust expanding. Jade Developments recommended changing discs and pads between track days which I have now started doing. Time will tell if this helps as I did suffer a bit of minor cracking and crumbling when I ran the ds1.11 all the time. It will make you realise just how poor the standard pads are.

ok. thanks for the info.

yup, changing pads between trackdays is an option i'm considering. don't think i'd go as far as changing the disks as well.

 

[john_walker74]

Saves bedding in the pads again, but yeah a little more effort.