Ari Fernelius

What a thrill! I was just on a race track a few days back, for the first time ever.

The track was Ahvenisto, in Hameenlinna, southern Finland. It's 2870 meters (3120 yards) long, insanely curvy and has extremely steep up and downhills. Track times are around 1'40", and speed with stock UK-Spec Turbo Impreza exceeds 140km/h (3rd gear) only once or twice.

I drove five, not more, laps at a time, and had one hour break during the sessions.

My friends that were watching the event, noticed my discs were glowing noticeably, at least in the toughest parts of the track (after downhills) and on 4th and 5th laps there were even considerable amount of sparks flying from the brakes.

IS THIS NORMAL with standard brakes and pads?

I didn't notice ANY brake fading - and they work just brilliantly after the event, no problems whatsoever.

Any comments? Thanks!

-Fernis

Ari Fernelius

Might I also add, that my car is MY00 Turbo, 25000 miles behind, and almost worn-out Pzeros .... which really rule - my friends were just blown out by my cornering speed.

So, do any of you have similar experiences on track? (glow, spark), or any opinions about how dangerous it is, with factory discs and pads?

-Fernis

PS. Ordered Scoobysport £260 (+£44 shipping to Helsinki) Audio System yesterday Can't wait!

Stef

Hi Ari.
Getting glowing discs and sparks from standard brakes is literally unbelievable!!!
The fact that they didn't fade by the time they were doing this is mad! I'd have thought standard discs would warp well before they glowed!
I don't know how it would cause sparks though as standard discs aren't grooved or drilled, and as I'd have thought they'd need to be to give this effect.
Anyway, this is a picture taken of CK1 at Donington last year.

I am using AP's and very aggressive carbon metallic pads though.
Still, as long as they stop you.
On the tyre front, I have to say that P-Zeros are actually the worse tyre I've ever used on track, they simply go off too quickly when they get hot, as I recently found out much to my cars dismay..

Stef.

jwhitton

Stef,

Are you disks drilled or grooved.
I have drilled on my RST track car and Ahmed Bayjoo said junk them when he saw them.
I dismissed this comment until I last did Castle Combe and noticed cracks between the outer holes and the edge of the disk.

I want to try the four groove type later in the year, again with the race spec pads, as per CK1.

What has your experience been of various front disks?

jon

Stef

Hi John.
I have only ever used AP's own 8-grooved G8 discs on CK1 since fitting the kit.
I would never use drilled discs on track for the reasons you encountered.

Stef.

Ari Fernelius

EEK!

I just inspected my front discs, and they are _full_ of small cracks, all around.

This explains the sparks, I guess. However, they're not warped so that I would notice. They also work just fine - but if braking hard from 80+mph, they make quite an ugly noise... similar to... like a wheel bearing was busted - although it's really coming from the brakes (I hope!)

I called the dealer, and they really want to check my brakes now. I have a time booked for the next friday. I have no clue if they're going to replace my disks within warranty. I also don't know if I should care, since...

I've read a lot of comments about disks and brakes, thanks to all you guys here on Scoobynet , and I understood that Tarox disks would be a great choice, which I could get cheap from a friend of mine. I think it's worth £100 I wouldn't have to go to replace my disks every now and then, even within the warranty. But what about the pads? Ferrodo DS2000? But where to get them from in Finland? Oh dear...

Is it OK to change pads on used disks, or should disks and pads always be replaced at the same time?

I'm going to northern Norway for a 4000-mile trip in a month, and I very much dislike the idea of having anything wrong in my brakes climbing the high mountains, so...

HEEELP!

-Fernis

Aero

I've just changed pads from DS2000, (one of them came off in three pieces).

and swapped them for Mintex 1166 they need warming up, but they are