Compromise Brake Pads for Street/Track?

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Compromise Brake Pads for Street/Track?

Post by Guest »

Brian, my Miata is primarily my track car, but I drive it to the track, and occasionally use it for canyon runs and local errands. Is there a good compromise brake pad for street/track, or should I replace the pads before I head out to the track? I will be swapping out my street wheel/tires with Helium/RA1s each track day, so it wouldn't be too much more of a hassle to do the pads at the same time. If I opted to get race pads and swapped them in for each track event, what do I need to be careful of when I drive the car with the race pads to the track? TIA.
Brian
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Post by Brian »

Several choices in dual purpose pads. Sounds like you don't have any forced induction and not carrying a huge amount of tire (given use of the Heliums). I suggest either the Hawk HP Plus or the Porterfield R4S. Neither have the temperature range for hardcore track duty but for most folks they work great....I consistently have the R4S on the rear of our 99 for track days.

If you don't mind the trouble of pad switch then try the Hawk blacks as the next step up. I would not run the Hawk blues on anything but a dedicated track car such as a Spec Miata because they are pretty hard on the rotors until temps are very high.
Brian Goodwin
Good-Win Racing
www.good-win-racing.com
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Post by Guest »

Having heard R4S would be okay for light track use, I was surprised at how fast they went away a few weeks ago at VIR. They faded during the first session and I guess got cooked by the end of the first day, because when I swapped the fronts after day two's first session for EBC Green Stuff it was like the car suddenly had brakes again. The EBCs held up great through the rest of the day, fyi. I think for the next track event, even though the car's motor is stock, I'll get some track pads on there. If you're an intermediate or advanced driver, you might want to skip the dual-purpose pads.

-Garrett
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