D1CCY

Had 2x15 minute track lessons at Elvington Friday involving 3 hard stops per lap 100 ish down to 40 ish. Great fun. Front brakes are 330mm AP 6 pots with DS2500 pads on 03STi. Discs now have smeared marks all over the faces. They didn't fade in use and work OK. Seem to be cleaning themselves up in normal road use. (Got 330s so I can use both 17 and 18 inch wheels).

Is this OK and/or what has happened. Please feel free to criticise my driving if that could be relevant.

Thanks, Diccy.

richiewong

Sounds like pad deposits on the disc surface which are starting to wear down with normal use.

RON

As above..... you can remove the deposits with emery cloth if you feel the need......

D1CCY

Thanks guys, not much to worry about then. Jusy thinking I might have been too hard on them, I'll carry on regardless at Elvington on 21/4 and see what happens, after all new discs and pads are only about £600 ouch.

RON

Pad deposits generally means that they've got a little too warm..... so if poss, go a bit easier on them.... yeh right!!

stockcar

the above are spot on the money, you are reaching the end of the ds2500's temp ability and therefore would benefit from a higher temp material to allow the brakes to continue to work without reaching the fade point ............

other thing which can have an effect on the front temp, is to make sure the rears are in full working order and possibly look at better rear braking to take some of the stress away from the front

alyn

D1CCY

Ron's "yeh right" sums up my dilemma. How do I go easier ? If I brake earlier or ease off the gas a bit it kinda spoils the fun.

Alyn,

Rears are standard STi gold Brembos with DS2500 pads (from alyn), disc faces on these were lovely clean light blue even across the entire face so I'm pretty sure they are working OK (and I've dismantled and cleaned them recently). Not sure I want to get into changing pads for track days but what else is available for the 5570 caliper/330mm discs. How dodgy is DS3000 on the road while getting to the track.

Many thanks for all your comments, it is my driving isn't it.

Cheers, Diccy.

RON

It may sound crazy, but the last track day i did, i actually changed all the pads, front and rear, at the same time as fitting my track wheels.... took less than 30 mins to do all four wheels/pads etc.....

Hoppy

I had pad deposit problems with DS2500 on AP 6-pots/AP discs. Changed back to Pagid 421 with DS2500 on rear and no problems with nice front/rear balance. My car is a MY00 classic so can't comment on new-age cars, but I'm sure Alyn can.

Richard.

PS DS3000 are effectively a full race pad. They eat discs and spray your wings with molten metal. Have caused a lot of problems in the past when they were a standard Prodrive upgrade

PPS sorry to be an old woman, but take care when testing brakes to the full - flat, dry clear road and work up to max gradually. It's incredibly violent (like 100-0mph in 3.3 secs = 1.3g).

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

You dont have as much braking bias to the rears so they wont work as hard as the fronts, plus a light blue colour on cast iron normally means excessive heat.
Id go with hoppy and the Pagid 421 pads, not cheap but damn good

Tony

finchyboy

Hi Guys i'm running a similar set up AP 6 pot cp5555 calipers 330x28mm genuine AP racing discs. I'm using EBC yellow stuff pads ( i know but they were 75 pounds instead of 225 pounds for ferodo). I have darker bands / smeared marks on my discs when i really give them some work. I also experience brake fade and the pads can often be seen smoking. I realise these pads are cheap but surely i shouldn't be cooking them on the road should i ? I'm thinking of giving performance friction a go next time seem to have a good reputation on scoobynet. I'm just finding it a hard mental barrier to break spending 200 quid on a set of break pads.

D1CCY

Thanks guys,

Hoppy has put me off the DS3000 idea. I think I'll wear out my DS2500s then when I have to change the discs and pads I'll talk to Alyn about Pagid alternatives, he seems to do a whole range of compounds 4-2-1, 4-2 and 4-4 so there must be something to suit my needs. BTW in defense of the DS2500 pads they have NOT faded on me at any point, they just make the discs look messy.

Cheers, Diccy.

D1CCY

After getting very helpful advice from both AP and Alyn I've ordered Pagid Blues (from Alyn). Actually cheaper than DS2500 pads. Will report again after Elvington on 21st.