brake cooling
How to Stop Brake Fade On Trackdays
How to Stop Brake Fade On Trackdays
How to stop pedal fade and pad fade on trackdays
Brakefade is in essence the brakes ceasing to work. This often happens on track after periods or extended periods of heavy use.
There are two types of brake fade, that are essentially broken down into two specific areas:
Pedal Fade
Pedal fade occurs as a result of the brake fluid boiling in the calipers. The normal resulting symptoms are that on application of the brakes, the brake pedal to feel spongy and pedal travel will increase. This is often called the brake pedal going through the floor. It is a particularly unpleasant experience, as normally when you apply the brakes you are expecting them to pull you up, often when “the pedal goes to the floor” you are hurtling towards something that you would rather not make contact with – IE Someone else, armco or other immovable object that will need more than T-Cut and a polish out…
Braided brake lines will also help resist the spongey pedal feel. Stainless brake line information is following in the coming weeks.
If you experience pedal fade, it almost always will require the brake fluid in the system to be changed, as it will have boiled. Once brake fluid has boiled once, its ability to resit boiling again has been greatly reduced. Brake fluid testing should be regularly done as a matter of course, and on a track car or racecar, it should be replaced regularly, or when tests show it has degraded. (Always use the highest-grade fluid possible). The standard brake fluid now-a-days is dot4.1 however, dot5.1 is now quite common and is suitable for most trackday and race applications.
Pad Fade
Pad fade is the result of friction being lost between pad and disc surface due to the friction material exceeding its maximum operating temperature. The pedal feel remains constant (ie. the pedal remains hard) but regardless of how hard you push the brakes, the vehicle is not slowed down.
If pad fade regularly occurs or if it occurs towards the end of a session or race, an upgrade to a material with a higher operating temperature should be considered. If the highest specification pad material is being used, one should be looking at larger rotors (discs) or a higher quality disc with curved vanes can also aid this cooling process. Alternatively, improving cooling to the brakes through the use of brake ducting or similar.
The most significant area of problems or issues with upgraded brake discs, pads and high performance braking systems is almost always the control of the brake temperatures. The Brake disc and brake pad temperatures can be analysed and with this information, one can measure the temperature range the brakes are operating in. With this information different pad materials can be considered, and cooling systems can be developed and tested to analyse whether any improvement can be made to the operating temperature and reliability of the brakes.
We can offer a number of upgrades to almost any vehicle, but you should expect to pay a minimum of £60 for a sensible Trackday pads such as a Ferodo DS2500 brake pad. (More information is available by clicking the link.)
Mintex offer a number of trackday compounds such as the Mintex M1144. (Again, please follow the link for more information.)
Pagid are also an excellent if not a more expensive solution to a trackday and endurance race pad, however, they are very much worth the money in my opinion.
Always a Hooligan,
/y0z