I'm wondering if you switch to track pad for the track, do you need a dedicated brake discs for that? In other words, one set of track pad/disc and another set, possibly stock, for everyday use.

TIA,
Pete

 

In the ideal world the answer would be yes, but it is not a necessity. I have seen many people that race SCCA showroom stock or auto cross keep the same disks and swap the pads at the track to race. If you are not going to use the car as a dedicated racer, then the best thing to do is get a less aggressive compound with a lower heat rating that will stand up to just about all you can give it at a track day but still function on the street.

 

Alex,

I used to use Porterfield with my stock disc for track purpose on my bimmer before. But after several track sessions, my disc seems to be warped. Somebody told me its rather because the Porterfield has laid down some materials on my disc that cause that warped feelings whenever I step on the brake. And I was told that should go away after a while but unfortunately it never did for me. So I'm still not sure whether if the disc is warped or not!

So my question is is this normal when using a track pad on the stock disc?

TIA,
Pete

 

You also have to keep in mind the compound of the pad, as the heat generated from the friction between pad and rotor will be different due to the components of the pad...different discs will disperse the heat from "racing" pads better than the stock discs that have a heat dissipation of only so high since they aren't manufactured for track...although you can use them that way for minimal track use...

RotaryZZ...this is why you could have really warped your discs...because the compounds in the Porterfields while providing better stopping power, they also generate much more heat in doing so and upon contact of the pad to rotor especially in a track setting the pad naturally will transfer heat to the rotors and if the rotors are not equipped to handle such high frictional heat you could inturn warp your discs....

hope i made sense...i didn't want to get to much into the whole physics thing, cause i'm not very good at explaining the whole laws and stuff like other members here....

 

So, what are some of the track pads and disc that are available for our cars?? I think the Mazdaspeed pads are only marginally better than the stock.

TIA,
Pete

 

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=20680

Keep your eye on this thread...Stoptech recently released their big brake kit for the 8 but it's currently only available for the front...and they have 2 different sizes...price is real high but there is also no competition out for these either...yet..VividRacing has just installed them...but we're awaiting word from them on likes/dislikes...

 

It is actually very easy to piece together your own brake upgrade for any car, at a fraction of the cost of the after market kits. I spec’d out and build the front and rear brake upgrade on my World Challenge BMW. I went with the top of the line Willwood four piston calipers in the front and a smaller Willwood four-piston caliper in the rear. Both front and rear used two-piece rotors. There is some calculation required to figure out proper piston sizing on the caliper so the stock master cylinder can move the correct amount of fluid. Willwood was very helpful with this. Once the Calipers are chosen you can figure out rotor position and have the Aluminum hats made. If you are lucky to you can use a standard off the shelf rotor hat and just have the bolt circle machined into it. Willwood makes blank hats that only need the boltholes drilled cost per hat is about $50. If you need to make rotor hats they end up costing about $200 each. You then need to draw up the adapter bracket from the stock caliper mounting point to the new caliper. I used 6061T6 Aluminum and had them made up for $80. You can choose from a variety of rotors that are off the shelf from any circle track supplier. Cost for a 12.6"x1.25" vented disk is about $60. Pads are available from any brand for these calipers in any compound. Since the pads are a generic fitment they are cheap. Add in the braided lines and you are done. The total cost for this setup on the BMW was $2000.00 for a front and rear setup. Four piston calipers all around, two-piece rotors all around, racing pads and braided steel lines. Not a project for everyone, but defiantly doable by someone with basic mechanical and engineering skills.

 

That's actually rather inexpensive considered its a complete overhaul of the stock brake system. I don't think I need such an extensive makeover :p

All I need now is a set of good track pads for occasional use at the driving school. It should stop better than stock and most importantly fad free from repeated hard use at the track. I probably will go for a set of dedicated two-piece rotors as well so it won't ruin my daily driving, if one is available for our car.

Speaking of which, how difficult it is to replace the pads and rotors yourself? And what tools do you need for the job, eg. hex bits etc.

I used to do it on my bimmer whenever I went to the track. If I remember correctly, you need to pop the spring clip on the caliper, unscrew two bolts at the back of the caliper using the hex bit and slid the whole caliper out. As for the rotor, you need to unbolt two screws at the back to release the caliper holding bracket, and then another bolt at the center of the rotor to release it.

 

VividRacing was trying out some new pads in this thread. They sounded like good pads.

 

BERG Racing checking in. We are building the cages in Alex's cars and I'm happy to say they are coming along well. I took some more pix today and Alex will be hosting them soon on his page. These cars never stop amazing me. This is by far the strongest chassis I have ever built a cage for. It will be one hell of a race car. Look for us including my lowly rx7 at a track near you.

 

your in for an ice treat- your mazda features a much more user friendly design for DIYers and mechanics in general.

I have always hated that spring on the BMWs. it's just a pain in the *** to work with some times.

at any rate, if all you are doing is changing pads on your car then there are only a few steps involved in padsalpping your brakes.

1) remove the wheel (makes access to the brakes MUCH easier)

2) unscrew bottom caliper slide bolt

3) tilt caliper upwards (may need to be pryed upwards) using the top slide bolt as a hinge.

4) hold or tie caliper in raised position.

5) mark the pad position if you plan on re-using them for later events
F/L/O (Front/Left/Outside) for example

6) press caliper piston straight in.

Tip: try to use a tool made for this job as they typically do the job they way it should be done. A large set of cahnnel locks is NOT the propper tool for the job. a C-clamp is a better choice. if you use a big set of channel locks then you risk damaging your calipers and the hydraulic pumps and valves in the system. the most likely damage will be at the caliper. what happens is that as you pinch the piston back in you apply pressure to only one concentrated portion of the piston and this actually causes the piston to return in a skewed position. this is where the problems occur. your calipers have what is called a square cut seal and that is the major contributing part that causes your pads to release. the SCS is also made of rubber and can be torn quite easily or otherwise damaged. if damage does occur then two things can happen, you get a haydraulic leak at the caliper piston or the SCS doesn't function completely and allows your pads to stay in cantact with the rotor, wearing them our prematurly, heat soaking your brakes durring a track session, warping your rotors and finally causing disc thickness variations that lead to pulsing pedals and erradic brake performance... All that from your choice of tools and methods! jeesh!

7) installation is the reverse of removal!

hope this helps!

Ray

 

Ray,

Thanks for your detailed description.

>2) unscrew bottom caliper slide bolt
Is it at the back side of the caliper bracket? And what size is the nut or bolt?

>6) press caliper piston straight in.
I used to use a tool that is designed to push the piston in. I think its called caliper extender or something like that. Its a pad almost the size of the brake pad itself with twisting **** at the back. So it won't just apply a pin-point pressure on the piston.


Pete

 

all four important bolts for the caliper are on the inside. the caliper slide bolt is going to be a 14 and the pad bracket bolt is a 17 or a 19mm - can't remember off hand... get yourself a basic set of metric "GEARWRENCHES" and you will be set for life :-)

that is also the EXACT tool i was referring to - i use it multiple times everyday. I like that tool for many reasons, the two most important being that it presses on the piston using equal force and it doesn't let you go too fast. ABS and master cylinders don't like have fluid forced very quickly in any direction.

Ray

 

>all four important bolts for the caliper are on the inside. the >caliper slide bolt is going to be a 14 and the pad bracket bolt is >a 17 or a 19mm .......

I understand that we need a 14mm to loosen the bottom bolt so the caliper can be swung upward as you suggested earlier.
but we need to loosen another set of 17 or 19mm bolts? Are they used for loosening the pads from the caliper? And how many bolts are you talking in there??

 

you only need to loosen the larger bolts if you need to remove the caliper bracket (not neccessary to just change the pads). the bracket will prevent you from removing the rotor if you need to do so.

once you get in there and look at it you'll see what i'm talking about, it's not that big of a deal.

Ray