BDPlatt

Had the S4 out at Portland International Raceway this weekend. Great car! Lot's of fun! Have GOT to upgrade the brakes another step though. 120+ with a 911 slowing faster than I am at the end of the front straight when the pedal drops a couple inches was a bit too exciting!

What pads do people like for track days? What would you use if you wanted to keep the pads on full time?

urojohn

I have an additional question to add on, how hard is it to switch out the pads. The last brake job I did was on my 74 Olds Cutlass 442 about 30 years ago, is it simple enough to do yourself w/o messing up anything else>

NWS4Guy

It all really depends on how hard a driver and braker you are. The car is very heavy for it's size, but has decent rotors and calipers.

Street Performance pads will do very well for light to medium track days and are fine for the street, replacement of stock fluid with RBF600 or equivalent is almost a must. Serious tracking you want a track only compound, but that will not work on daily use.

Swapping fronts is not a huge pain, but is not a snap. Swapping the rears requires a PC and VCDS cable to cycle the electronic brake servo open so you can safely compress the piston.

Going with a decent BBK, you can get those with removable bridges so you just pull a wheel on the fronts, 4 bolts and swap pads with the caliper in place. This will also give stainless braided lines which help pedal feel and stiffness, a more solid caliper, more swept area, and a dual piece floating caliper which can handle temps much better - but also costs a good bit.

Just depends how hardcore you are

PsYkHoTiK

Hey Neal, do you happen to know where exactly in VAGCOM it is to cycle the rear brake servos?

ilspazzaneve

Pretty good summary here from last week

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...620-Track-Pads

PsYkHoTiK

Sorry to split my reply in two places (I posted on the fb page too). I called Carbotech and showed them videos of my track days and pics of the splattering and pics of the toasted pads, Mike Jr recommended XP12 in the front (even with the ST-60 BBK that's going on soon) and XP10 in the rear for me.

LeoR604

If your pedal dropped a couple inches, it is because you boiled your brake fluid. Swapping pads will likely not fix this. It will help prevent fade (when pad material/rotor overheat) but if you boil the fluid, your pedal can still go to the floor regardless of what type of pads you have.

BDPlatt

That may be, but Matrix had just replaced the stock fluid with Motul 600.

Wouldn't better pads reduce the braking time a bit, potentially reducing the heat a little?

PsYkHoTiK

I too run RBF 600 and stainless steel brake lines.

Racing pads operate at a higher temperature. If anything, compressed braking distances will elevate the heat. Hence race pads (the XP12 is meant to withstand 2000F+ temperatures for example).

Here's how mine looked after one day of using it (had significant fade by the time I was in the 2nd-3rd lap) - keep in mind, these are "good" "street performance pads":
Splattering all over the wheels instead of "dust" - outer center of the wheel was clean.


Showed the pic to Stoptech and Carbotech (former said I DEFINITELY needed higher temp pads - aka racepads - the latter laughed (amused manner) and said I definitely baked those nice and good and recommended XP12/XP10 - even with a BBK in the front):

MikekiM@PureMS

We've been using and recommending Carbotech pads for years with Audi's. They're a great pad and will definitely help reduce brake fade. If a bbk is out of your budget, start with track pads and some RBF600 fluid.

Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions.