Kool

Hello all

I don't usually post here but I have a question that I think that you guys can answer best.

I am first on the waiting list for the PCA DE at Carolina Motorsports park in South Carolina. Provided that I get in. What can I ecpect as far as brake usage? Will I go through an entire set of brake pads in a weekend?

In case I do not get my 951 completed I was planning on taking my RSX with stock brakes and stock tires. Am I asking for trouble taking the Acura?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

RedlineMan

Hey Mark;

I've never been to CMP, but I've heard it's kind of a big autocross. If that is indeed the case, then I would not be overly concerned with the 951 eating its brakes, assuming they are pretty fresh to start and of a good type and quality. Any topline purpose-made track pad will get you at least 5-6 days even at advanced speeds.

The RSX is another matter. Japanese cars STILL do not have enough brakes. I might be inclined to take a spare set. I wouldn't worry about tracking it at all. A former female person of interest had a GSR Integra, and it was a hoot!

Kool

Hi John

Thanks for the info.

I still have a lot of work to do to the Porsche. So I might not end up having a choice.

I hope to get the 951 together in time.

ceboyd

If you are just starting out at the track (novice group) you should be fine on stock brakes IMHO (I was when I started.)

Skip Wolfe

Just make sure you flush the brakes with a good racing fluid. The small Japanese brakes don't dissapate heat all that well and boiling the fluid is pretty easy.

Kool

Any recommendations on brake fluid choices for the RSX?

I am going to work on the car now. I will check back later.

ceboyd

that is true.. I did go to Super blue right away before my 1st track day...

agio

As a newbie for DE, make sure your brake system is sound; good pads; enough pad material (thicker than the backing plate, at least); topped up brake fluid (fresh fluid would be better); braking system fully bled: good rotor condition; a brake pedal that feels "funny," is not! Do not play with brakes or the braking systems.
After hot laps, take a full cool down lap slow enough not to have to use your brakes at all (of course, if necessary, use your brakes). But the exercise is meant to cool down your braking components amoung other things.

carreracup21

Actually CMP is about the toughest track on brakes you will ever find. The track just doesn't give them a good chance to cool before you are braking again. If you are driving there, go well prepared. Get fresh super blue fluid and consider a spare set of pads, or better yet, get some pads made for the track. I'm not sure what is available for a RSX, but something like Hawk, or pagid would be optimal. Have fun.

renvagn

Hi Mark,
I also have a 951, mine is an 89. I am unfamiliar with CMT, but have run a similar tap & hard braking course in Shenandoah, which is like a big auto-X track. IMHO 951 brakes are one of the weak points of the car, so I want them as good as I can get them. For my first DE (3 tracks- 3 days) I ran castrol LMP with new hawk hps up front and what ever was on the rears when I bought it. I had no problem with brakes, but did eat into the fronts pretty well.

For the second DE I went to HP-Plus all around. They provided good feel and initial bite, with a minimum of dust. (hawk blues are corrosive and will eat into your wheels) They are squeaky however. This would be a good choice considering performance and price. Also you'll want to eventually find a rear brake bias valve, which will shift @25% more braking to the rear, which will help prevent nose dive under threshold breaking. With proper technique I think you'll be surprised how deep you can enter a breaking zone. Have Fun!

carreracup21

I don't know of any Auto X tracks where you hit more than 120 mph on 3 seperate straits, and have to tackle a high speed kink that can be taken at 115 mph. No, CMP is a real track, it just has a slower technical section in the back that some people don't like as much as the rest of it.

trumperZ06

CMP is simply... HELL ON BRAKES !!!

I burn thru a new set of racing brakes in a weekend at CMP !!!

Geza

I have a 02 RSX-S as my track car. Although I have never been there, based on what others have posted, it looks as if CMP is tough on brakes. With this in mind, I'd recommend putting track pads in; the stock street pads will not be good for track use for more than a few laps. Before I switched my RSX brakes over to Stoptechs, I used the stock brakes with Motul RBF and several different pad compounds such as Porterfield R4 and R4S, Cobalt Friction Spec VRs and Ferodo DS2500 and DS3000. All of them worked fine, until I started adding more go-fast parts, after which time I started to overstress the stock brakes (which are quite good, I might add). As your car is stock and is running street tires, just the pad upgrade should suffice. The R4S and DS2500 can be used for both street and track driving. The others are full race pads and should be used for the track only. Best wishes.

Kool

Do you use the stock rotors?

Geza

I did when I used the Stock brake system. Now I use a Stoptech big brake kit...it employs it's own 2 piece rotors.