Race brake fluid

[Riceburner]

I've been having brake fade at track days recently. I run hilux fronts, cross drilled slotted rotors, r31 rears, braided lines, 15/16 master, dot4 fluid. Ive just purchased new project mu pads and want to upgrade fluid as well, any recommended brands?

[redrbzed]

 

Hi Gareth,

 

I have been using the PBR Performance Racing Brake Fluid BF-600 for a while now and found it very good.

It's cheaper than the big brands and just as effective.

Previously I have tried Motul, AP racing and Castrol.

 

By the way, happy to hear the strut tops made a difference.

 

cheers,

Sinisha

[RB30X]

I was recommended the Motul 600 for my clutch fluid but at $45 for 500ml is a bit serious for me. Even dot 5 comes in the cheap brands now. I'd try anything dot 5 and above and fully synthetic if you have the $$$. What sort of brake lines do you run.

[Zeddophile]

I use Penrite Sin brake fluid, costs me about $12 at trade price, and haven't had any issues with it.

[Riceburner]

Cool thanks guys. I have new braided lines all round, also the new pads are actually for an RX7 and have a bigger pad area too.

[Whittie]

I was recommended the Motul 600 for my clutch fluid but at $45 for 500ml is a bit serious for me. Even dot 5 comes in the cheap brands now. I'd try anything dot 5 and above and fully synthetic if you have the $$$. What sort of brake lines do you run.

 

DOT5 is silicon based and is not really a very good idea for use in Zed cars which have for 30+ years been running glycol based brake fluids. I can't remember the discussion in its entirity, but there is fluid compatability problems and you'll find that DOT5 will be less effective in a car that has always run a glycol brake fluid, worse than even DOT3. Something about residual water being left in the lines and the DOT5 not being able to handle it.

 

Here is an interesting article, with boiling points:

 

http://www.afcoracing.com/tech_pages/fluid.shtml

 

Stick to DOT4, or go DOT5.1, both Glycol based with 5.1 being the best around, also can be had for about $5 a bottle....

 

Otherwise, have you tried changing over to slotted rotors? I have heard many stories of guys running slotted AND drilled rotors in race cars with catastrophic explosions. Apparently something about too much material being taken out and it can't handle the constant forces and heat cycling. They look good and are touted as the best, but I bet you wont find any of the super fast guys running them. Perhaps with the reduction in contact area due to the slotts, the pads are having to work far harder and thus cooking your brake fluid. Perhaps due to less metal, the rotors get even hotter for a given amount of heat dissipation. I'm not up to speed on the actual technical reasons, but have been told by people who are that you should only ever run one or the other, with slotted being prefered.

 

Other more drastic options would be to lose weight from the car and/or swap to a bigger brake set-up, which is what I did and went commodore brakes.

[260Coupe]

Further to that

 

Synthetic fluid is very hydroscopic (absorbs water) and must be renewed frequently (before every race weekend) .............an old Synthetic fluid has a much lower boiling point than a fresh mineral fluid such as Dot 4.

I have run Castrol  and AP 600 in my Group Sc Zed (on standard brakes) and found that if I did not flush and renew before very race day, the fluid would boil, I then returned to using a Dot 4 Ferodo fluid and had no issues and much more warning when the brakes are getting hot .......peddle goes soft rather than hitting the floor with no warning which is what was happening with the Synthetic stuff (mineral is also cheap to flush and replace before every race day) . 

[Zedman240®]

With cross drilling discs, the bad thing is you are removing alot of material that can be used to absorb and dissipate heat and losing surface area for braking. You will notice fewer cars running with drilled rotors and more with slots. Gareth, I have a great book on this subject you can borrow if you want. Let me know.

[Riceburner]

Here's the pads I just removed  No wonder I was having to brake with the engine/gearbox. Old Pads are by gsl rallysport A1RM rated to 700deg.....

 

I will see how the new ones go, they are almost identical compound as V8 supercars control pad... so I'm told. I have beded them in and cold bite is ok and they seem to improve from there. I'll also upgrade fluid shortly, thanks gents 

[Scando]

I've been running the Project Mu fluid.  I also run the same pads you've just bought in the same compound.  Both are expensive but worth every cent.

[PZG302]

In terms of fluid I find the Penrite Sin Brake Fluid brilliant.

 

For pads I use Hawke Blue Carbon metallic.

 

I tried another pad that was supposed to be the duck's guts - same compound as V8's can be used for anything from hill climb to racing, work well cold or hot and so on. The pad worked well bedding in and for a couple of qualifying sessions around Morgan Park, for the first race they brakes lasted 3 laps before the pedal went to the floor overheating the apd and boiling the fluid. A set of very old Hawks went with a fluid flush and the brakes were brilliant.

 

The good thing about the hawks, they are about $120 a set, only bad thing they chew through rotors, but at around $100 for a pair of rotors I'm not that worried.

[Whittie]

Old Pads are by gsl rallysport A1RM rated to 700deg.....

 

I used these at Bathurst and while they were OK at best, after 4 or 5 laps they started to fade and the brake dust turned my car black!! Not surprising then that the pad life was TERRIBLE. This is with the commodore brake upgrade too, so HUGE pieces of kit.

 

I will not use these again or recommend them to anyone ever again. Haven't yet decided what to go to next, let us know how you go with the stupid car pads, I have a feeling they'll be terribly over-priced for what they are....