Track pad recommendations

SS_Firehawk · 01-03-2019, 07:02 PM

Your brake pads should be as aggressive as the tire you're running. The closer matched they are, the less prone to ice mode you'll be.

Hotrodz · 01-03-2019, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS_Firehawk

Your brake pads should be as aggressive as the tire you're running. The closer matched they are, the less prone to ice mode you'll be.

Agreed, very good point!

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OSMrally · 01-03-2019, 10:27 PM

As a great budget option, the Powerstop Track Day Spec Pads (PSA part numbers) work well in the Akebono calipers for track day and time attack duty. You'll certainly still need some brake cooling if you lapping hard, but these pads work very well and put up with the abuse.

I picked a set of these up from Rock Auto at the beginning of the 2018 season, after talking with some technical resources at Powerstop. They compared them very closely in their development testing to the Hawk DTC 60. I swapped them in for track days and time attack events and was able to run 3 lapping days and 2 time attack events with plenty of meat left. All events run on RE71R tires. In most cases, I'd drive to the track with the Powerstop pads and then daily drive the car with them still in for a week or so after the event. The pads performed great on the street as well, without excessive dusting or noise.

For around $160 US for a full set, these pads are certainly worth a shot.

newbie415 · 01-04-2019, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OSMrally

As a great budget option, the Powerstop Track Day Spec Pads (PSA part numbers) work well in the Akebono calipers for track day and time attack duty. You'll certainly still need some brake cooling if you lapping hard, but these pads work very well and put up with the abuse.

I picked a set of these up from Rock Auto at the beginning of the 2018 season, after talking with some technical resources at Powerstop. They compared them very closely in their development testing to the Hawk DTC 60. I swapped them in for track days and time attack events and was able to run 3 lapping days and 2 time attack events with plenty of meat left. All events run on RE71R tires. In most cases, I'd drive to the track with the Powerstop pads and then daily drive the car with them still in for a week or so after the event. The pads performed great on the street as well, without excessive dusting or noise.

For around $160 US for a full set, these pads are certainly worth a shot.

oh wow, never knew power stop makes a pad comparable to the DTC60. I'll look into those too, $160 for a set is too attractive not to check out. I'm currently on Federal 595 RS-RR's, although they're not quite RE71R in terms of grip, it's still a 200tw tire.

2011 Nismo#91 · 01-04-2019, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OSMrally

As a great budget option, the Powerstop Track Day Spec Pads (PSA part numbers) work well in the Akebono calipers for track day and time attack duty. You'll certainly still need some brake cooling if you lapping hard, but these pads work very well and put up with the abuse.

I picked a set of these up from Rock Auto at the beginning of the 2018 season, after talking with some technical resources at Powerstop. They compared them very closely in their development testing to the Hawk DTC 60. I swapped them in for track days and time attack events and was able to run 3 lapping days and 2 time attack events with plenty of meat left. All events run on RE71R tires. In most cases, I'd drive to the track with the Powerstop pads and then daily drive the car with them still in for a week or so after the event. The pads performed great on the street as well, without excessive dusting or noise.

For around $160 US for a full set, these pads are certainly worth a shot.

Sounds too good to be true. Perforce good, long life, no excessive dust or noise, and cheap.

Hotrodz · 01-04-2019, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2011 Nismo#91

Sounds too good to be true. Perforce good, long life, no excessive dust or noise, and cheap.

I agree!!! I'm not sure I would put my safety and others on the line with a product that is not a known source for the track. At least to me when it comes to track cars...you generally get what you pay for. Yes there are exceptions but there is a reason most proven track parts cost more than street use parts.

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OSMrally · 01-04-2019, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2011 Nismo#91

Sounds too good to be true. Perforce good, long life, no excessive dust or noise, and cheap.

Trust me, I had my doubts as well.

I should probably clarify a bit, on the track my white wheels turn to grey in something less than 2 laps. On the street, the pads only dust slightly more than my Stoptech Sport Compound pads I run normally, but not to the point I'd call it excessive. I am probably more acceptable to dust than others as I know it's a by-product of a good pad.

FWIW, I'm pretty newish to the 370z and this forums, but have competitively campaigned Subarus in rally for several years. On that car I've tried many many pads (Hawk DTC 60, Carbotech 10/12, Cobalt ZR2, Carbone Lorrane CL-6/8, and some Performance Friction). I have no problems ranking the Powerstop Track Day Specs solidly among those other products which cost significantly more. As a matter of fact, if Powerstop had the fitment for my rally car available, there would be a set of the track day spec pads in there to try further. Yes, my favorite pads still carry a hefty price tag (CL Brakes) but sometimes throwing ~$500 for a full set isn't in the cards for a consumable item on a street driven car which sees lapping or time attack.

Just like wine, spending big dollars does not always guarantee something exceptional. I'm sure we've all enjoyed excellent bottles for $8. Sometimes big dollar price tags are very much a part of marketing strategies. The same way that providing good parts at fair prices can be a strategy. We usually find the good, bad, and hidden gems by way of reviews and recommendations from family, friends, competitors, or sometimes forums

newbie415 · 01-05-2019, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OSMrally

Trust me, I had my doubts as well.

I should probably clarify a bit, on the track my white wheels turn to grey in something less than 2 laps. On the street, the pads only dust slightly more than my Stoptech Sport Compound pads I run normally, but not to the point I'd call it excessive. I am probably more acceptable to dust than others as I know it's a by-product of a good pad.

FWIW, I'm pretty newish to the 370z and this forums, but have competitively campaigned Subarus in rally for several years. On that car I've tried many many pads (Hawk DTC 60, Carbotech 10/12, Cobalt ZR2, Carbone Lorrane CL-6/8, and some Performance Friction). I have no problems ranking the Powerstop Track Day Specs solidly among those other products which cost significantly more. As a matter of fact, if Powerstop had the fitment for my rally car available, there would be a set of the track day spec pads in there to try further. Yes, my favorite pads still carry a hefty price tag (CL Brakes) but sometimes throwing ~$500 for a full set isn't in the cards for a consumable item on a street driven car which sees lapping or time attack.

Just like wine, spending big dollars does not always guarantee something exceptional. I'm sure we've all enjoyed excellent bottles for $8. Sometimes big dollar price tags are very much a part of marketing strategies. The same way that providing good parts at fair prices can be a strategy. We usually find the good, bad, and hidden gems by way of reviews and recommendations from family, friends, competitors, or sometimes forums

I have done a bit of research on these"track day SPEC" pads with the PSA part numbers these past couple days. They seem to be very well liked by the Vette community who tracks their cars and also has a few threads with great feedback from s2ki and f80 m3 forums. Will from THmotorsport even made a post stating that the fade resistance and pedal feel is very similar to an xp10 in his own experience. Seems to be a pretty solid product from what I can tell. I've actually reached out to powerstop and asked for a mu vs temperature chart to see the characteristics of this compound. The rep told me my email has been forwarded to the product manager so I'm still waiting for that to come in. $165 for four corners is a crazy price. I'm 80% sure I'll end up buying these, I'll be sure to report back after tracking them.

Rusty · 01-05-2019, 08:28 PM

Sport calipers part numbers.

Front Only PST-1346. Amazon $98.57

Rear Only PST-1347. Amazon $84.42

2011 Nismo#91 · 01-07-2019, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty

Sport calipers part numbers.

Front Only PST-1346. Amazon $98.57

Rear Only PST-1347. Amazon $84.42

That's going to save a few hundred a year.

OSMrally · 01-07-2019, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty

Sport calipers part numbers.

Front Only PST-1346. Amazon $98.57

Rear Only PST-1347. Amazon $84.42

Just to make sure, the Track Day SPEC pads are the "PSA" part numbers. PST-1346 Front and PSA-1347 Rear

Pricing is just about identical tho.

newbie415 · 01-08-2019, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OSMrally

Just to make sure, the Track Day SPEC pads are the "PSA" part numbers. PST-1346 Front and PSA-1347 Rear

Pricing is just about identical tho.

Yup! placed my order for the PSA 1346/1347 combo. Pretty excited to see how these perform on track!

Side note
****LONG POST WARNING****

I got a reply back from Powerstop in regards to my request for a "mu vs temperature" graph on the PSA pad compound.

"This is the response from our Product Manager

The chart that the customer referenced was something that was fabricated by Hawk’s marketing department. Real friction readings do not follow nice pretty curves like that and there are many more factors than temperature and friction coefficient. In addition to temperature, factors like vehicle weight, vehicle speed, pedal pressure, stop duration, brake system design, etc. all play into how a pad is going to perform.

Brake system design consists of the following:

Master cylinder diameter
Brake pedal lever
Booster type
ABS System
VSC System
Brake Bias
Caliper Piston diameter
Caliper design
Pad shape
Brake hoses
Brake fluid type

Power Stop does not create graphs like this because there is no such graph in real life."

Now, I'm not claiming to be a materials engineer. However, I don't see how such a chart can't exist. Under lab conditions, it should be possible to calculate mu with all other variables known and controlled. Their response does seem to be have misinterpreted my intentions though. The product manager seems to think I am looking for a chart that graphs FRICTION (which would have to factor in many variables that differ based on the vehicle), but I am merely looking for a MU graph which should translate to the real world as "pad bite" and when the mu drops off aka when "brake fade" comes in.

Do we have any materials people in here that can enlighten me? I'm sure real world materials testing is way more complex than just F =μN. Would love to learn something new.

The chart I attached below is the Hawk graph in question.

Rusty · 01-08-2019, 12:41 PM

One other thing. Rotor material. Different companies use different grades of cast iron. Also powdered iron. Each has different friction coefficients.

Elmo370z · 01-08-2019, 03:36 PM

I’ll stick to what works, considering I burn through xp10’s in two track days

Hotrodz · 01-08-2019, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elmo370z

I’ll stick to what works, considering I burn through xp10’s in two track days

Do you have brake ducts for cooling, if not you should get them as I get 6 to 8 weekends out mine. I seem to be light on the brakes compared to others though and I am not that fast!

01-03-2019, 07:02 PM	#16 (permalink)
SS_Firehawk Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Tampa Posts: 4,142 Drives: 13' Magma Red Nismo Rep Power: 7334	Your brake pads should be as aggressive as the tire you're running. The closer matched they are, the less prone to ice mode you'll be. 2011 Nismo#91, Hotrodz, Brendan and 1 others like this. __________________ Old Car:GTM TSC'd 550whp / 410lbft tq @ 11.88PSI New Car: Under Construction

01-05-2019, 08:28 PM	#24 (permalink)
Rusty Ronin Samurai - Assassin Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Fayettenam,Pennsyltucky Age: 68 Posts: 34,853 Drives: 2011 Nismo GM 6M Rep Power: 2684436	Sport calipers part numbers. Front Only PST-1346. Amazon $98.57 Rear Only PST-1347. Amazon $84.42 2011 Nismo#91 and Hotrodz like this. __________________ 浪人 - 殺し屋 "The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only" http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

01-08-2019, 12:41 PM	#28 (permalink)
Rusty Ronin Samurai - Assassin Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Fayettenam,Pennsyltucky Age: 68 Posts: 34,853 Drives: 2011 Nismo GM 6M Rep Power: 2684436	One other thing. Rotor material. Different companies use different grades of cast iron. Also powdered iron. Each has different friction coefficients. __________________ 浪人 - 殺し屋 "The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only" http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

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01-03-2019, 10:27 PM	#18 (permalink)
OSMrally Base Member Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Toronto Posts: 5 Drives: 09 - 370z Rep Power: 8	As a great budget option, the Powerstop Track Day Spec Pads (PSA part numbers) work well in the Akebono calipers for track day and time attack duty. You'll certainly still need some brake cooling if you lapping hard, but these pads work very well and put up with the abuse. I picked a set of these up from Rock Auto at the beginning of the 2018 season, after talking with some technical resources at Powerstop. They compared them very closely in their development testing to the Hawk DTC 60. I swapped them in for track days and time attack events and was able to run 3 lapping days and 2 time attack events with plenty of meat left. All events run on RE71R tires. In most cases, I'd drive to the track with the Powerstop pads and then daily drive the car with them still in for a week or so after the event. The pads performed great on the street as well, without excessive dusting or noise. For around $160 US for a full set, these pads are certainly worth a shot.

01-08-2019, 03:36 PM	#29 (permalink)
Elmo370z A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: st. petersburg Posts: 5,707 Drives: 09 nissan 370z Sp M6 Rep Power: 295377	I’ll stick to what works, considering I burn through xp10’s in two track days