Originally Posted by hornetball

On the turbo DD:
OEM 1.8 brakes with recently overhauled calipers, centric rotors, Goodridge steel braided lines and StopTech Street Performance pads (pretty inexpensive from Rock Auto). Fresh DOT4 fluid.

On track car:
Front: Early Goodwin front BBK with Wilwood Dynalites, Wilwood GT72 11" rotors, 949 steel braided lines, Trackspeed Engineering cooling ducts and PFC01 pads (switched from Carbotech XP10s)
Rear: OEM 1.8 rears, 949 steel braided lines and PFC11 pads (switched from Carbotech XP8s)
Fresh DOT4 fluid and cockpit-controllable proportioning valve (cockpit control makes it easy to adjust the first time out -- you never really touch it after that)

The main advantage to the BBKs is pad wear, not stopping power. The BBK came on the car when I bought it (also had a rear BBK that I removed due to suckage). To be honest, every time I get out of my track car and back into my DD, I marvel at how wonderful the brakes feel with a firm, high pedal. Part of that is the PFCs naturally feel more "squishy" than some other pads (they modulate beautifully though). But a lot of it is that Mazda blessed the Miata with some really nice brakes. I've been thinking about returning the front of the track car to OEM and dealing with more frequent pad replacement to recover some NASA TT points.

Given your driving, I can state unequivocally that all you need is well maintained OEM brakes with some nice pads. Take a look at those StopTechs, much less expensive with easier-to-clean dust than the other options you mentioned.

Brain's description of successive 100mph stops during tuning is the most severe possible brake use. You won't even see that on track and no braking system will stand up to that for any length of time. Heck, that's how I used to go out and overheat my Carbotech race pads with a BBK for bedding purposes.

You're doing the right thing coming here. Be careful of what you read on vendor websites . . . they're selling stuff. IMHO, the best one for straight talk is Emilio's (949).

Of course, if you want a BBK because of looks, that's your business and it's fine with me.

Originally Posted by hornetball

Watch for a sale on Rock Auto too. I got a set of the blinged-out Centrics (cryo blah-blah with some kind of black coating in the hat area) for less than the regular Centrics for my DD. The black coating has held up and still looks good several years later, so . . . score! Function wise, I seriously doubt there's any difference.

I wish the Wilwood rotors were as inexpensive as OEM.

Originally Posted by sforsancho

I will add that a 2350lb NB, 225/15 RS3s,~210whp/170wtq Rotrex with NB sport brakes and XP10 / XP8 rear, NB ABS, 949 braided lines, Trackspeed 2" brake ducts routed to fog light openings, ATE fluid were not even close to keeping up on a 100*F ambient day at Thunderhill raceway in Norcal. By the end of the day it felt borderline unsafe. Besides cutting weight and using larger brake ducts I don't see how a street-able at all brake setup using OEM calipers could be given a more favorable chance. I've tried XP12s before and the amount of squeaking they produce is unacceptable on the street.

I'm planning on going with a V8R radial kit to avoid having to up the pad compound.

Originally Posted by codrus

Your problem is the pads, a V8R radial kit isn't going to help if you're not willing to put decent track pads in it. They're easy to swap, do it before/after the track day and you'll be fine.

--Ian

Originally Posted by sforsancho

Are you implying that XP10s are not good enough pads? I hope not. I don't have personal experience with a BBK yet but I would expect the larger heatsink to expel heat better, thus require a lower operating temperature range on the pads. This I'm hoping will keep me from needing XP12s or above.

Originally Posted by sforsancho

Are you implying that XP10s are not good enough pads? I hope not. I don't have personal experience with a BBK yet but I would expect the larger heatsink to expel heat better, thus require a lower operating temperature range on the pads. This I'm hoping will keep me from needing XP12s or above.

Originally Posted by wannafbody

I wonder if PFC or Cobalt would hold up to the heat better?

Originally Posted by hornetball

In 100F heat, XP10s were giving up on my 135HP car with an 11" BBK and 2" cooling ducts. They were overheating and splotching onto the rotor causing vibrations. 100F is tough, man.