Base Brakes Track Day
 

Hi everyone, new member here looking to get some insight!

I have a 2014 base 370z I plan on doing a couple track days with this upcoming summer. I've read up on some of the required mods and plan on doing coilovers, FUCA, square wheel/tire (RE71-R), and oil cooler. However, regarding brakes, I plan on eventually going to BBK route but not planned for it this year, hoping the OEM base setup will last me. I'm switching to Yellowstuff and RBF 600, but still wondering about brake temps/fade (especially with the grippier tire). I'm considering doing the Stillen brake duct to help bring down temps but I'm wondering whether this will be effective given I have the OEM blank rotors (not slotted or drilled). I'd appreciate any input!

Thanks!

I'd try to go easy on the brakes. The fluid should help. You can still have a blast on the track without having to threshold brake every turn :driving:

I started with Yellow Stuff pads and it was a big mistake. Ate through the pads fast and ended up damaging my calipers. Switched to Hawk DTCs. They work great, last multiple track days and mate very well with stock rotors. But not good for daily driving. Changing the pads is so easy, you could consider doing track pads and switching them out for daily driving. I have the Stillen front bumper, which has large openings in front of the wheels and helps with cooling. Looks nice and is functional.

If he’s in the beginner group, I think his setup is more than enough. If he’s in the solo expert type of group trying to chase down others or personal best, then obviously he will exceed the hardware’s limit pretty quick.

As I get older, I have learned (or forced) to learn better brake management. If you have a fast car, driving 10/10 for a 25 minute session is very difficult. You are best to do 1-2 hot laps, cool down everything and try it again after 1 or 2 cool down laps. It's also better to avoid traffic too. Of course that is easier said than done, it's too easy to see the red mist.

Good stuff, appreciate the insight. Will be running in the beginner group just to get my bearings straight and understand the car's limits some more. I don't expect to push the hardware to its max at least until I upgrade some more of the essentials. Will look into the DTC pads.

I was more curious about the effectiveness of the brake duct upgrade. Reading some of the Stillen blog and reviews, it seems like it'll have a greater cooling potential for rotors already designed to either pull air/vent aka slotted. Should I expect the same cooling potential with blank rotors?

The biggest problem with the stock brake system is it's tendency to overheat under continuous hard braking. Motul RBF will help significantly. Brake ducts will help certainly but may not be necessary for you just yet. Slotted rotors won't impact cooling much. And the stock front rotors are vented IINM.

I have learned the best cooling system is better brake management. Ever since I started doing quality over quality, my brake life’s have improved and usually lap times too. When your clutch diff and brakes are overheating, it’s best to let it calm down before you hammer it

Quality over quantity sorry spell check

Right on! And yep, brake management will be key. Appreciate all the advice. Time for parts to trickle in and then the build will begin. Spring can't get here soon enough!

Cheers!

Base brakes here also.
Did my first track day this past November in S. Carolina. Temps were around 13-15C/55-59F.
Brakes were fine all day. Smelly, but ok. I ran yellowstuff and RBF600.
Big brakes are waiting to go on when it warms up a bit.

I started off with the Yellowstuff pads. Had no issues with them, other then dust. Once you get some experience, you'll know when to go to a better pad.

I'm running the 10/8 Carbo combo, RacingBrake 2 piece rotors, HardBraking Ti heat shields, stainless lines, Castrol SRF brake fluid, and 3" brake cooling hoses.

Thanks Rusty. Looked up the brake shields you mentioned. I’m going to give those a try. My caliper gaskets melt all the time and I have to rebuild. Maybe the shields will help.

Cossie's got a set of the Ti backing plates (heat shield) for sale in the Classifieds section of the forum. But they are for the sport package Akebono brakes only. I think you just have the regular base brakes? so that won't work. I'm not sure there are any available for the base brake calipers.

Thanks. I’m on the sport setup, so I’ll check what Cossie has out there.

You were running base brakes?

No. Have the Ake Sport.

I even have brake pads, 3 different types. I actually have some datalogs to compare them. Let me get back to you

I have carbotech, cobalt friction and buddy club. Let me know if anyone needs some good track pads.

My car is gone...

You got rid of it?
Did you ever replace the rear springs like in the other thread?

No sold it with the car, the new owner took it

I put the Z1 2 piece rotors, stillen brake ducts and some Hawk HP plus pads and Motul fluid in and absolutely beat on my brakes at the track. those Z1 rotors make a BIG difference. if you are going to get serious about hitting the track you really need to get your brakes sorted. The problem with brake management is that you really don't know how close to fade/fail you re getting. over engineer your brakes for bullet proof track performance and you will not regret it.

you probably need to run two sets of pads, Street and track. Hawk street pads are good all around for the road, but maybe consider DTC 60s or 70s for your track day pads (swapping is an easy maybe 20 minute job). Do not run track pads around town, youll rear end somebody because race pads only really work when up to temp and are super hard on rotors when cold.

I usually just swap in track pads when I'm throwing on my track wheels (R888Rs currently)

I really think its worth investing in a pretty comprehensive brake upgrade and probably some track wheels (saves you money in the long run), if your going to spend any real time at the track.

have fun!!!!

I have your exact setup SurfDog. Now I’m grappling with ice mode. Put me four wheels off multiple times. Have you encountered this? If so would love to hear how you deal with it. I’m trying ABS delete with DIY bias adjuster in a few months. Will be “interesting” to say the least.

Try pads with less aggressive bites. On my last track day with the cobalt friction, the ice mode problem was way better. Now it could also be my rebuilt calipers too, but I definitely had more confidence in my brakes compare to last day when I had the carbotech

Thanks! I’ll look into Cobalt Friction. Are there particular cobalt friction pads that are best for hard track work?

Base Brakes Track Day
 

Never. Thank goodness.

Possibly try this??

https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...n-control.html

Awesome, just the input I was looking for! The Z is going to be my track only car from here on out. I've done plenty of autocross in other cars and did my first track day in the z last summer and loved it. Was looking at various BBK but I think for my purposes, the Z1 rotors and Akebono calipers will be sufficient. I'm sure there's peace of mind (and tons of $$) when it comes to stoptechs, brembo, AP Racing, but are those overkill for a 5+ track days per year for the foreseeable future?

I only had ducts and pads, did double digit track days with the car. Near the end, I was having weird ice mode issues, swapped the beat up calipers out and got less aggressive pads. It was back to what I expected. As I said before, I did start to manage my brakes better. Most of hte time I don't even finish the 25 minute session, between the fuel starvation and the brakes, I am not sure what is more annoying. I did lap nearly a full second faster, likely due to having more confidence in the brakes. My wife is using the computer that has the datalog, but I can break it down to see how different pads behave

370Z forum

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...er-switch.html

Disconnected the YAW a while back. Didn’t see a difference in the ice mode issue. Bosch racing ABS is probably the real solution, but that’s serious $$$

I listed them in the for sale section. I have a set of Cobalt Friction with only one track day. Project Mu with about 40-50% in F and brand new in rear. Carbotech brand new in the back XP8.

I reviewed the datalog, no noticeable change in breaking power. I only noted some ice mode moment when I was running the Project Mu F and Carbotech R on one of them.

Ice Mode

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2kwhipklxs...e%201.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/do9prlvya9...%20CT.png?dl=0

Not a huge fan of EBC yellow for track use. I use them for daily driving and they get a little warm for me on track. I'm using Gloc pads (12 front and 8 rear) and love em. I also have the stillen cooling kit for the rotors. my .02 on it

Thanks, I don't anticipate Yellow stuff to last me too long. Curious though, are you on base or sport brakes?

One of my buddies swears by his StopTech Trophy brakes... been eying that kit.

sport rotors worked well at first but i eventually had to add the stillen duct kit to help with the heat. I'm sure a nice 2 piece would help even more but the price holds me back.

Spend the money

Don't bother with the Z1 for heavy track use. They are too lightweight. The unsprung weight loss is nice, but the lack of mass is a significant obstacle to heat dissipation.

The Racing Brake 2 piece are the best option but $$$. DBA next best option and good value.

Gotta ask JAR - DBA?

As others have said, I ran EBC yellows on my first track day and they got soft on me after as couple laps. Elmo and I have been running WinMax W5's and they've been pretty solid. Being a Japanese pad, the initial bite isn't too aggressive, but maintains it's clamping force under abuse. I haven't experienced ice mode using them on 200TW tires. I also agree that Z1's mfront rotors may have trimmed too much weight off and reaches higher peak temps than other two piece rotors. That could be the primary source of the cracking. I opted to purchase the DBA two piece and hope to try them soon. If track days can stop being canceled...

I actually picked up a used set of 2 piece Z1 rotors locally a while back. They are pretty beat up from track use, but the price was right; figured I'd replace the rings if necessary. I haven't even driven on them, but I'm already planning to replace everything. I will probably bite the bullet and buy the RB rotors. I'm in too deep to seriously consider the DBAs at this point.

It just occurred to me that you might be asking what is DBA. Just another brand. They make a very nice 2-pc rotor: DBA 5000 series T3 (fronts only - no rear 2-pc).