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View Full Version : advice with brakes and tyres for track use please


CityEnd
29-11-2006, 02:08 PM
hey guys,

I'm planning to take the astina to the winston track in 2 weeks, went to the briefing last night and my friend, who has been on the track before, looked at my car and said I'll be struggling to control the car after a couple of laps.

because there isn't much time left, he suggested that at a minimum I should upgrade my brake pad, flush the brake fluids and get better tyres.

so what do you guys recommend in terms of brake pad, brake fluid and tyre choice?

I was thinking of getting the brake pads from the group buy section, if it's still available.

and I have a set of spare stock steelie that I want to possibly put semi slicks on? so that way I can also switch back to my road wheels and tyres for road use.

cheers
chris

twilightprotege
29-11-2006, 03:11 PM
how often do you want to take it to the track? no point in spending up big if it's a once per year thing (rubber goes off), race pads (generally) arent as good for street driving etc

brake fluid = rbf600 (any brand)

CityEnd
29-11-2006, 03:47 PM
only planning to take it on the track once as I'm planning to sell the car soon. so probably sell the tyres off seperately to anyone else thinking of going on the track...

hmm, typing it out just made me aware of how silly my idea is, maybe I'll just buy a new set of good road tyres which will make the next owners of the car a bit happier :)

thanks TP

Astro Boy
29-11-2006, 04:18 PM
so what do you guys recommend in terms of brake pad, brake fluid and tyre choice?
Brake pads.... LUCAS! But, give them time to bed in properly, they're not racing pads, they're just ridicoulously good road pads, and although good for 950degrees when bedded in properly, if you flog them too early you'll fry them... so if you need them in a fortnight... get them now!

Its just one of those trade offs when you get >$500 value pads for under $100...

Fluid, yes, even more important than pads... Many of us here use RBF600 in our race/strip/street cars of various brands, namely, Motul and Castrol... BUT the problem with these fluids is that once you use them, you've got to keep using them... For the odd track squirt, and bled regulary Dot 5.1 is adequate... I'm currently trying to source Lucas RBF600, which despite being the same performance as Motul, is backward compatible with normal Dot 3/4/5.1.....

I was thinking of getting the brake pads from the group buy section, if it's still available.
Yep, not so much as a group buy anymore, but the reason i got the group buy together was so the distributor would give me permantely good prices...

I've now added them all to the shop, and are the same prices as in the group buy...

I'm chasing up the Lucas fluid for some other members aswell, so i'll let ya's all know what happens.

twilightprotege
29-11-2006, 09:11 PM
good thinking cityend. dont do anything if you're going to sell the car soon. just have fun with how it is at present

CityEnd
29-11-2006, 09:32 PM
thanks for the advice guys

PM sent to Astro boy.

going to go to repco on friday to look for Dot 5.1..
why do you have to keep using RBF600 and not be able to swap back to the normal grade?

now for tyre choice :)

Astro Boy
29-11-2006, 10:37 PM
Tyres, i'll leave to other with more experience of performance road tyres, i've got experience on spec r tarmac tyres, and obivously rally tyres (completely useless for you! :p), but not so much road tyres...

At an educated guess Kuhmo make some VERY good tyre, both street and spec R...

Also, i dunno what size you can put on the astina, but when i was doing a fair bit of club level stuff in the charade second hand Yoko A032R were very easy to come by, and were excellent as a cost effective race spec tyre...

CityEnd
03-12-2006, 01:08 PM
hm.. i went to repco, and was looking for dot 5.1, but the guy there said 5.1 was only for ABS?? I didn't want to get rbf600 as i couldn't go back to normal brake fliuds afterwards, so i ended up getting dot 4.

Cosmo Dude
03-12-2006, 04:38 PM
I like doing track work but couldn't get the day off to participate in the up-coming Winton day. The most important thing is that your tyres and brakes will suffer about a months use in one day.
I intended on driving the 2 in standard trim, it's more about having a fun day and improving your own PB than racing anyone else.

Remember there are many racing classes that use street tyres.

Astro Boy
03-12-2006, 05:52 PM
hm.. i went to repco, and was looking for dot 5.1, but the guy there said 5.1 was only for ABS??
WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

CityEnd
03-12-2006, 09:58 PM
yeah Rod, I want planning to do it completely stock, but was worries i wouldn't be able to do much after a couple of lap coz of the stock set up, so just brakes and tyres for now, to get me a starting PB refference, and then see how a progress through improved skill and mods.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

haha, so u think i should go back to a different repco and exchange the dot 4 to 5.1? I haven't installed it yet, waiting for pads to come and get it done together. I really am a noob at this.

Astro Boy
04-12-2006, 02:56 PM
Yep, i'd be swapping it! ;)

CityEnd
05-12-2006, 04:14 PM
yeah swaped them yesterday and brake pads arrived yesterday aswell thanks.
installed front brake pads and brake fluid today... rear calippers were different.. but had enough on the pads to leave them.

Cosmo Dude
05-12-2006, 08:15 PM
Don't forget to bleed the brakes after the event and remember that Winton is a wierd assed track especialy around 'one tree'.

Astro Boy
06-12-2006, 01:19 PM
yeah swaped them yesterday and brake pads arrived yesterday aswell thanks.
No worries! ;)
installed front brake pads and brake fluid today... rear calippers were different..
They always are! I wondered why you wanted two sets of DB1177! I thought you just wanted a spare set! :p

CityEnd
06-12-2006, 03:22 PM
ohh hahah my bad, i thought the backs were difiniately db1177s but the fronts could be db1177 or something else... haha nevermind

CityEnd
07-12-2006, 12:37 AM
anyway I ended up getting bridgestone potanza G3s
my options were limited coz of my 14" wheels, thanks god for that or else i would have spent a fortune if i brought the tyres I was after.