brake pads for track use
 

2500# track prepared miata. Mild boost, 250rwhp. "small" willwood BBK front, sport brakes rear. Front ducting. Top speed at local track is 125-130ish. Currently using Hawk Blues front and rear.

I would like to have more initial bite and overall more torque. I would like to try changing pad selection at this point. Too many pad choices. What suggestions does the Forum have?

If don't mind swapping pads between events, the Hawk DTC-60 is a solid choice for the money. If you don't want to swap pads the Carbotech XP10 is another popular pad, they are just sensitive to the bedding procedure. I've used both of these pads with a lot of success.. Brake ducts would be another must have for that kind of power level.

Thanks for the quick response. I think that I might have a box of DTC-60's for the fronts. Do you run them front and rear, or stagger f/r?

I run DTC-60's all around on 11.75" Wilwoods & sport rears. I don't change them between track and street driving so I chew thru rotors quicker than I should. The Hawks don't like being cold.

I too run DTC-60s front/rear and street/track. Car doesn't see many street miles so I've never noticed the massive rotor wear others talk about. Dust from them is corrosive and will turn your wheels a nice shade of rust so keep them clean and avoid driving in the rain. Hawk doesn't make a DTC-60 in sport rear fitment, you'll have to order 1.8 rears and file the backing plate. Not a difficult process and will only take a few minutes per pad.

Another option is the Performance Friction 01 compound. Like DTC-60s, they are corrosive and don't come in sport rear fitment. Supposed to be better pad and OGRacing swears by them.

There's a giant thread full of all sorts of brake information here: https://www.miataturbo.net/general-m...estions-81577/

Thx for the link. It didn't come up in my search of "brake pad". cj

I just switched to your exact same setup. I'd been using DTC60s for a season on my OEM 1.8 equipment and liked them a lot, but I was going through a set of front pads in about 5-700 miles, about 1/2 of which were on track (other half was driving the car there. Just curious how quick is "quick" for you going through rotors on your current setup. Does it see a lot of street miles? Mine is pretty much only to and from track events, mostly highway, so brakes don't get used terribly much, just interested in what I should expect. Thanks.

When I say quick I mean I'm not going to get 2-3 pads for every rotor change. I am bad about tracking my miles but with 2 track days and quite a bit of street my rotors and pads wore equally so I replaced both at the same time. (Fronts only) . Rears I'll change out at some point this season

Brake Pads | Car

here is a link to all of our miata race pads. as much as power is important when picking out pads, the tire is an even more important variable. what tires are you running? i can recommend a pad for you.

Thanks for the info, appreciate it.

Thank you. I did read your brake thread... all 18 or so pages. It was quite informative.

I am using Spec Miata Hoosier R7 205-50x15. While they are not the widest hoosier tire that will fit my car, at 160.00 each, they are $100 per tire less than the 225x45. That savings will buy a lot of track time!

In looking thru my spares, I found a set of Hawk/willwood DTC60 and a set of rear sport brakes in a Hawk blue compound.

I don't know exactly how to explain my braking concerns, it just seems that they don't want to bite initially and then take a lot of pressure and sometimes a downshift to get the job done. I'm braking too early in the braking zone and have confidence issues as I am worried that I can't get the car slowed down. The tracks are usually Portland Intn Raceway, ORP or the Ridge.

The car is 2475# with driver. The braking system has a booster, braided steel flex lines, a standard willwood kit up front, OEM sport brakes in the rear... and factory ABS. It's the first time I've tried to race a car with ABS. I don't think that the 2004 OEM system uses a proportioning valve for front to rear bias and I'm afraid that unplugging it would give me rear lock up (but I've never tried unplugging).

If you could recommend a reasonable baseline pad choice I would be happy to try them, then report back with +/-. thx craig

are you running sport brakes calipers?

Yes, the car has rear sport brakes.

Where do you live? There's a huge Miata community around here.

I am thinking I'll go with the PFC brakes that OG racing recently posted, and see how I like them.

If you don't like them let me know, i'll replace them with another manufacture that we carry. i know you'll love them :) .