Burned up my brakes at the track, now what?

LuckyPierre

I recently bought a 2019 NISMO Z with 16kmiles. After changing the brake fluid to AP racing, I headed to my local race track for some NASA HPDE. The first session of the second track day, I was really laying down some fast laps after getting used to the car. I was at ten tenths right up until the front brakes gave out. I exited the track, got out and looked at the rotors - both front rotors were badly scored. I assumed that somehow I had worn the pads out. But, after removing one of the front wheels to inspect the pads, I could see that there was plenty of pad thickness left. After getting home, I pulled the pads and found them to also have grooves - I was expecting to find craters.
I'm looking for recommendations for pads and rotors for a car that is street driven but I also want to be able to hit the track hard. I'm an experienced (retired) road racer and NASA HPDE instructor capable of pushing my Z to its limits on the track.

Attached Images

	LF Rotor, resized.jpg (181.9 KB, 76 views)
	LF Pads, resized.jpg (241.9 KB, 62 views)

OptionZero

Brake cooling is a known issue with our cars. I recommend spending time reading the track forum

For now, though, solutions to consider include

Pads: Carbotech is popular with an XP10 and XP8 combo front/back. A pricier solution is also the Endless MX72 which is reportedly very capable on the track while also being low dust and quiet

Rotors: two piece rotors for weight and cooling through vented/slotted design. Options from cheapest to priciest are Z1, dba, and racing brake. The DBA material has known incompatibility with endless pads

Fluid: endless rf 650 is the best and priciest. Others are motul rbf660 and castrol srf

Brake duct: a bit more work depending on your bumper but this should make a big diff. The only off the shelf option is stillen which includes tubing and the brake shield mount. The inlet duct is only available for the 09-13 stock or stillen bumpers. A few places make inlets for the 09-14 nismo. All other bumpers require custom fitting

Titanium brake shims have been used by a few folks to positive results but they arent cheap or easy to find in stock

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cv129

At your pace, you are gonna need more than just pads, rotors and fluids.

You’ll need cooling ducts.

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bigaudiofanat

Yep

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Tractionless

Wow is the Endless fluid that much better than Castrol SRF? I see it's roughly $30 less expensive as well!

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OptionZero

No personal experience, just hearsay. Porsche forum track folks says the stuff is incredible

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thekinn

How much street driving? Someone with your experience knows there's going to be a trade off with one set of pads on a dual purpose car.. better track performance and faster wear, or better wear and something like your current result on track. I wouldn't expect any 'high performance street' pad to perform to my liking on a track.
..or lots of pad switching and cleaning of rotors between events..

But, as others have suggested, duct cooling could be the solution for you and allow for a more street-able pad to survive the track.. but i don't have experience with ducts.

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06 Enthusiast MT - v2

2011 Nismo#91

That's a wasted pad, so much material left.


That's 110% used up pad.

Anyway my personal opinion is as such.
The car has excellent brakes (sport) and needs little little more then good pads and fluid to make it exceptional. Expensive two piece rotors are will not provide any real benefit and will cause heat problems sooner then a simple one piece. Not to mention it will eat a hole in your wallet sooner.
What I use is simple blanks, I can throw 3-4 away for the cost of a single replacement for a two piece. I use "Frozen Rotors" blanks because I notices a large amount of surface crack on regular. It costs about 110 a rotor with the "fr2015" 15% discount code which is less then half the cheapest 2 piece rebuild, not including the initial investment. Two piece rotors do have their place, in a striped out race car gunning for a prize and sponsors. XP10/8 are great and I use rbf600 but there are many good fluids out there, test and change your fluid reguarly.

SS_Firehawk

I didn't have issues with the OEM rotor. The pads on the other hand if they're OEM or Nismo pads, I'd definitely look for something better. Nissan changed the stock brake fluid on Nismo's back in 2013. I'm not sure if they did it across all Akebono equipped vehicles.
I've had good success running Winmax W5 pads. I replaced my front rotors with a DBA two piece set. I've gotten fast enough to run up to the limits of RBF600 using 2" ducts on a very hot day. Adjusting my braking helped keep me from hitting it again. I experienced this at Sebring where there are several heavy brake zones.

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Rusty

Think everyone knows my set-up by now.

Pads - 10/8 combo.

Rotors - Racing Brake.

Fluid - Castrol.

Ti shims.

Brake cooling ducts. Started with the Stillen 2" kit. Then adopted that to a 3" hose.

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LuckyPierre

Much thanks to everyone who has replied, lots of very good advice. How much street driving? The car's somewhat of a garage queen, avoiding rainy days (usually), it's not my daily driver. I think I have a pretty clear path forward - more advanced pads and rotors, add brake cooling. I understand that there will be a trade off between street driveabililty and the ability to drive at the limit at the track. Frankly, I bought the car primarily to have something to play with at the track, but I wanted something streetable as well. I'm sure it can be done.

thekinn

It's not like racing pads will make it dangerous on the street. I confidently run DTC60 front and PFC-01 rear 24/7 on my 350Z (using stoptech front calipers and brembo rears). The dust and noise are noticeable but I really don't put too many street miles on it. If it's cold out, the first stop might be a little weaker than normal.. but it's not terrible. I've grown to like my squeaky brakes.

If I were driving 20+ miles to and from work every day or something, I would make a different choice.

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06 Enthusiast MT - v2

Spooler

I run Carbotech XP8's all around with brake cooling ducts on the street with Motul RBF600 fluid. My squeaky brakes just annoy everyone but me. Stopping is key.

Dentt42

I have a feeling a lot of us are practiced at answering the question, "Why does your car make that weird noise?"

cv129

It’s really old
It needs brake oil
It has arthritis
Hungry mouse in there somewhere
It’s a Nissan thing

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