Was about to buy some before an upcoming track day... went to check Tirerack just for price comparison only to find this...

NOTE TO FLORIDA RESIDENTS ONLY: ATE Super Blue Racing Brake Fluid,
due to its blue color, cannot be registered in and is not DOT-approved
for street cars in Florida.

See for yourself: http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/ate/a...blue_fluid.jsp

So what does this mean exactly... If i use it and have an accident, will I be f*cked? No state inspection, so not going to be any registration issues, and I can't see a cop finding out unless I severly wreck the car...

Anyone else got any comments or suggestions? What about a equally good/cheap DOT4 replacement?

I had an idea right after creating the thread... I buy a bunch of the amber and a bottle of blue, and just pour in a little blue at the start so I get an indication when it goes through... and not much blue actually stays in the system?

 

If you want to use ATE, just use the other race fluid they make. It's just as good and is legal in FL because it's amber in color.

 

wacky. I've been using it for 2 years

 

Yet another example of the state DOT being completely clueless.

 

http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/standar.../bfbrands.html

 

High temp fluid needs to be changed out periodically because it tends to absorb ambient moisture quicker than lesser fluids. Lower temp fluid on the other hand can go longer in cycle before it begins to absorb moisture (but it will boil under extreme "race" conditions).

This is why one must maintain a consistent bleed schedule while running high temp brake fluid here in Florida (and anywhere humid).

Valvoline Synthetic - available at your corner autoparts store is very good and readily available. It should hold up fine for a track day, and can sustain longer change cycles than Motul RBF 600 or ATE SuperBlue (amber is the same stuff). Its temp range is slightly less than the above mentioned fluids, but it's up there.

fyi

Wet(F) Dry(F) Brand
284 550 AP Racing
284 572 AP Racing 600
333 513 Valvoline Syn-Power
284 570 Wilwood
421 600* Motul RBF
392 536 ATE Super Blue
518 590 Castrol SRF*
(*)Info above from porterfield-brakes.com

 

For normal cars a less aggressive brake fluid is best. If the car doesn't see much hard driving, it doesn't need the high dollar brake fluids. I personally prefer Castrol LMA in normally driven cars. My RX-8 uses RBF600, but the fluid is also changed regularly.

 

ATE super blue DOT4 is blue

BMW factory DOT4 fluids are clear/amber

get both of these so you solve ur problems when it comes to flushing.

BUT, mazda also recommends a single grade dot fluid for the shared system...so if you were doing this at ur own risk, it would be wise to make sure both systems are matched by flushing both.

 

ATE makes non blue too.