Enjoy Those Track Days!
Hi Stefan,
Brakes:
You said it my friend. With the added speed you have to adjust your braking (brake harder and or earlier) to scrub things back down to the safe corner entry speed. Every 5 mph means big changes need to be made and it takes getting used to. The stock brakes work and work well but braking consistently and repeatedly from 160+ mph is demanding. My first year with the car on the track I could get 2-3 days out of a set of brake pads. My second year with the car on the track and I only get one day out of a set of pads (but using Hoosiers now too).
Cooling ducts have helped but it was a very involved installation and I’m still only getting one day of track use from a set of pads.
Honestly speaking though my expectations now are at a level of “race brakes” so the stock brakes are truly very good brakes considering how much abuse they are taking at the track.
FRRP offers a two piece rotor that provides additional cooling advantages but I’m not sure how much this will translate into longer pad life and these rotors are very expensive ($1,000). Anyone out there using the FRPP two piece rotors that can provide an opinion of them (braking performance, pad life, rotor life, etc)?
Still looking for a larger front calipers (6 pot vs 4 pot) and pad combination that offers significantly increased contact area with the hope this will add to significant longer pad life under the same track stress.
A few brake kits exist out there but the kits I’ve seen require rims with more clearance than the stock rims. I already own 8 Forged BBS stock rims (4 of which have the Hoosiers mounted on them). So, I’m reluctant to buy 8 more rims just to accommodate larger calipers for use a few days a year on the track.
The other option is to try more aggressive custom made pads for the stock 4 pot calipers. Yes the rotors will take a bit more abuse with a more aggressive pad but until we try it who can say what the effect is on rotor life. Right now stock rotors last me 2 days at the track due to formation of stress cracks not wear.
Tires:
The Hoosiers are available from
www.tirerack.com give them a call or send an email. They are an excellent company and their technical staff should be able to answer when Hoosier will have a slightly revised tire for the GT available. I can say that the existing Hoosier “slick” is a great tire (although DOT approved for all intensive purpose it is a slick). I’ve been using these since the spring. I’m getting very good wear and have had the car in a 4 wheel drift on more than one occasion (not of my choosing) without the tire giving up suddenly so it was “controlled” and they did not break loose suddenly. So it was not an overly stressful incident. It’s after the fact when you have time to think that you say things like “Oh my goodness, don’t want to do that again”.
Only one size is available for the stock GT rims. However, this is the tire that was tested and made for the GT. So, use the Hoosier pressures suggested here and you will be able to make a few tinny changes to dial your GT in to get the maximum possible.
Enjoy!