I'm gonna do my first track day in a couple of weeks, but I am on stock non-Brembos and wanted to know if this is just a BIG mistake or not.

Will I just end up just destroying my rotors, calipers, and pads?

 

if it's your first event you will probably be okay.

at a minimum you want to do stainless brake lines, some kind of dot4/5 brake fluid (endless, motul, ate, mobil 1, etc), and some kind of higher temp brake pad (hawk hp+, ferodo ds2500, carbotech xp10, etc - the hawk and ferodo are probably still usable on the street as they're not true track only pads).

 

I disagree, if it's your first track day, you'll most likely be overdriving the brakes trying to save your life. Your '08 Z has better brakes than the earlier models, but are marginal at best for the entire day. At a minimum, upgrade to a higher temp brake fluid like Valvoline Syntech (cheap and readily available) and consider purchasing high performance front pads.

Also, be prepared to sit out a session or two in order to let your system cool down. You'll definitely feel some brake fade as the pedal gets soft or the car doesn't slow down as easily. That's the time to bring it in. Be aware the biggest limiting factor for most novice Z drivers is brakes.

 

I used my stock non-Brembo 2004 brakes with high temp brake fluid and Hawk HP+ and was fine. If I did 4-5 hot laps back to back I started to notice fade, but after a lap to cool them off it was fine again. Never skipped a session, 30-40 minutes each.

 

How about you try some brake ducting...It will be well worth it if my theory is correct.

upgrading pads, fluid/lines will be useful, but if you can't keep em relatively cool, you will fail.

Heat is the enemy of brakes. you need a little heat, but not a lot. smaller brakes will give you a lot of heat...which causes fade...keep this heat at bay, and you keep fade at bay.

You don't need a BBK, you may not even need Dot4, or stainless lines. (I figure you should though...safety first)

oh and slotted/drilled rotors are a waste.

 

you will need full track pads.


front - R4 Racing Brake Pads (AP888-R4)

rear - Hawk Blue 9012 Racing Brake Pads (HB370E.559)

or Carbotech xp10 on all 4

and you will need the replace brake fluid. - pick your poison. I use ATE blue.

on my first HDPE , and I annihilated my stock brakes it 2 sessions. Spend the $ and do it right. Once again, track pads and fluid !!!

 

+1 and may i suggest a nice set of EBC yellow pads. I've tracked with 06 to 08 brakes many times with just the EBC pads. I still use the same fluid listed above, i never boiled it with my 03 brakes, never with the 06 brakes and never with my Wilwoods.

OP what track are you going to ??

 

I was planning on doing the Oct 4-5 at Willow Springs with NASA, but they just sold out of HPDE 1 so I'm SOL now.

The next HPDE track day in NorCal is Nov 8-9 at Infineon Raceway. So now I have to wait another month before I get a chance to track the Z. Which is not bad since I have time to prep the car.

There's an HPDE event in SoCal in Buttonwillow on Oct 11-12 before the Nov event and it's still open so that might be another possibility.

 

My God you'll get killed!

EDIT. Just kidding. I drove 20 minute sessions (2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon), and the OEM brakes did well.

 

1. depends on the track
2. depends on the type of session - many novice events don't even allow passing
3. depends on your driving style. I run plain old Hawk HP+ on both our track cars (BMW's). How? Simple - we just don't use the brakes all that much at the tracks we run at, and they give nice long
rotor life


Concentrate on finding the right lines, paying attention to the instructor, watching traffic, etc. Mod the driver first, then worry about the car. Brake fluid really should be flushed 1 x per year - so check that, replace it if its time, or overdue, inspect the pads for cracks/chips, same for rotors, just give the car a once over. Enjoy it...popping your track cherry is a blast!