Re: You have a at least three sorta independent questions.

I am planning to do my second DE in April. Part of the tech inspection is to make sure the brakes have at least half the pad remaining. My front pads are looking like they are about 60-70% worn so I need to do something about them.

So the question is, do I get a set of track pads that might get used once or twice a year, or do I get some new street pads? I was looking at the Hawk HPS for street pads. Not sure about track pads.

If I do get track pads I should probably replace both front and rear sets. But if I go with street pads, can I get away with just changing the front pads?

If I go with street pads, should I put the new ones in just for the track day and then swap them back out with the warn OEM pads that still have some life on them and hold onto the newer pads till the OEMs are worn out completely?

Any thoughts?

Todd

... on the track, the car and the driver.
You mention this is your 2nd DE, so you will be in one of the student groups (probably green).
You will not be driving the car at the limit, since your instructor should still be working with you on driving consistency, the driving line, braking points, turn-in point, apex and drive-out points.
For the student groups you will most likely be better off with OEM street pads.
Once you get to very high sustained speeds on hard braking circuits then track pads are a nice addition to retard brake fade and help you stop faster.
Most likely you'll be fine with 40% left on the pad in the student group, but if your club is very strict with the tech rules, then buy a new set of OEM pads and install them right before the DE.
You can leave them on and sometime down the line put back the old ones until they're worn.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Pad measurements at DE's in my experience are either having a tech eyeballing your pad thickness or using a small ruler to get a more precise measurement.

The typical minimum pad thickness to pass tech in our region is 50%--as stated from the DE tech sheets. Some--not all--clubs check pad thickness ( and other stuff) at the end of the day (on multi-day DE's) to make sure the car is ready for the next day.

I'm not sure just how closely they might hold drivers in your run group to that standard, but it might make sense to buy a set of EOM street pads for the front and bring them along with you. When we're doing DE's, I usually bring an extra set--either new of partially worn--to the track just in case I get more wear than expected. It's just insurance to make sure you get all your sessions in that you've paid for.

1. If you keep street pads, are your rear pads ok? I say yes. Rear pads last about twice as long as fronts, for me at least.

2. If you change from street to track pads should you change all four wheels? I also say yes since thsi is the onyl way to maintain the same braking bias. Different pads have different coefficients of friction

3. Should you get track pads? Well, up to you. Do you want to change pads twice for each DE? Its not that hard, but it is a PITA if you are busy -a s i am before and after. Since its your 2nd DE, we can safely assume that you wont be melting pads yet - almost regardless of track. OR so i predict.

I would make sure you have very good, very recently changed fluid. I suppose once you have the wheels off bleeding you might just as well swap pads. One more advantage of swapping is that you will have less noise - tracks glaze stock pads,a nd track pads just plain squeal. See, i can talk out of both sides of my mouth.

For the record, my favorite stock pads are TEXTAR >> PAgid IMO.

Grant

I had the brake fluid flushed fall of '09. I try to get it flushed every two year. Do you think it will be necessary to do it again before the April DE?
I am sure I am not pushing the car as hard as it could be so I was not real sure about how necessary track pads would be. The track is Carolina Motorsports Park which I understand is harder on brakes than most.

So I think the general consensus is to go with the textar for now. Is there any issue running the textars on the front and OEM on the back? Are the compounds close enough to the same?

Any idea how thick a fresh pad is so I can measure and see how close to the 50% I am?

Quote
tamarsha
I had the brake fluid flushed fall of '09. I try to get it flushed every two year. Do you think it will be necessary to do it again before the April DE?
I am sure I am not pushing the car as hard as it could be so I was not real sure about how necessary track pads would be. The track is Carolina Motorsports Park which I understand is harder on brakes than most.

So I think the general consensus is to go with the textar for now. Is there any issue running the textars on the front and OEM on the back? Are the compounds close enough to the same?

Any idea how thick a fresh pad is so I can measure and see how close to the 50% I am?

If you think you'll be doing more than one or 2 DE's a year, I would have the fluid changed annually. Since your past one year from the last flush, I would have it done before the DE.

Others can comment on any differences between OEM pad material, but if they are both OEM, I can't imagine the braking coefficient to be dramatically different between brands.

Regarding pad material thickness, I don't recall seeing whether this is a 986 or 987 or which model this is, but on a 2.7L 987, the front pad thickness on my track pads--I would think the OE pads where close to this--is a total of .615" including the backing plate. Given the backing plate is .20", then there is roughly .42" of pad material when new.

A quick call to a dealer--Suncoast Porsche is a terrific source-- should confirm the thickness of the OEM pad for your car.

1. PCA requires a flush within 1 year. I always flush at the beginning of the track season,and bleed before every event. The LAST thing you want is to lose your brakes to boiled fluid.

2. The textar pads are for all practical purposes OEM - so yes you can mix them with factory.

3. A new pad is 12mm thick (not counting backing plate). I use about 30-40% of the tickness per event. bear in mind they wear faster as they get thinner, AND they wear on a taper, so you need to measure them at both the leading and trailing edges. or just the thinner one, frankly.

Grant

Quote
tamarsha
I had the brake fluid flushed fall of '09. I try to get it flushed every two year. Do you think it will be necessary to do it again before the April DE?
I am sure I am not pushing the car as hard as it could be so I was not real sure about how necessary track pads would be. The track is Carolina Motorsports Park which I understand is harder on brakes than most.

So I think the general consensus is to go with the textar for now. Is there any issue running the textars on the front and OEM on the back? Are the compounds close enough to the same?

Any idea how thick a fresh pad is so I can measure and see how close to the 50% I am?

On brake fluid, you will want to check with the "local' rules of your DE event. My PCA chapter requires the fluid be no more than 6 months old--when I was tracking even in the beginning I was flushing brake fluid quarterly and later when I averaged more than 1 DE per month (and had progressed in skills and also went with Pagid Orange Pads and Hoosiers/Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires) I was flushing before every or every other event at the most depending on the track.

In my view, novice drivers, if anything, are more likely to "tax" brake fluid than pads. I've seen more drivers in green have brake fluid issues than other run groups, which may be attributable to trying to stretch out brake fluid changes. Change the fluid before your event, is my advice and with a Motive power bleeder it's an easy DIY. A liter of ATE brake fluid is less than $20--I don't even know anymore what dealers charge for Porsche brake fluid; used to be $40+. Doing your own brake pad and fluid changes is probably the easiest way to save on track-related maintenance cost.

Current Porsche: PCA Club Coupe 2 of 50

Past: 02 986 S

01 996 Turbo

00 Millenium Coupe

99 996 C2

99 Boxster

+1 on OEM for track DE and street
+1 on Textar -- order OEM from here and they ship Textar [www.autohausaz.com]
+1 on the fluid change/flush

All this is easy DIY

Enjoy the DE's

Roy Turner
Phoenix, AZ
2002 Boxster S Cobalt/Blk/Blk




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2011 03:44PM by Ed(Arizona). (view changes)