About to try autocross for the first time

[mathieu92]

After my first autocross, the brakes smoked for a good 6 or 7 minutes straight... To the point where the next day I bought an small extinguisher, just in case.

Since then I have upgraded to a BBK, but the step before that was better pads (I used Stoptech street, and they were already a nice improvement), SS lines (probably not really needed), and a fluid flush (ATE super blue at the time) since it seemed like the fluid boiled.
The biggest help temperature wise though was to remove the dust shield (only on the front, I didnt bother messing with the parking brake in the rear, and have been fine since then. Rears heat less anyway).

I need to upload some recent vids. I have had a gopro for Christmas

 

[aricolton]

Thanks for all of the advice!

So just to make sure, is it normal that my brakes don't feel quite as good as they did before the autocross event 2 days ago? It feels like the first 2 inches or so of pedal travel aren't actually doing anything.

I don't think the pads are worn out at all, here is a picture of my front brakes just to make sure:

(this may be a stupid question, but is that white discoloration on the pads normal)

 

[Zillon]

Pump up your tires a bit, turn traction control off, set it to stock mode, and take all the unnecessary stuff out of your car.

Also, walk the course as many times as you possibly can. It's worth it's weight in gold.

Last, have fun.

\

 

[RacingManiac]

Thanks for all of the advice!

So just to make sure, is it normal that my brakes don't feel quite as good as they did before the autocross event 2 days ago? It feels like the first 2 inches or so of pedal travel aren't actually doing anything.

I don't think the pads are worn out at all, here is a picture of my front brakes just to make sure:

(this may be a stupid question, but is that white discoloration on the pads normal)

I don't know if it is normal, but I've never felt the pedal being good on this car, so I have a pretty skewed reference. Its spongy before, and its spongy after...

As the white stuff, thats pretty normal, typically if the backing plate has paint, it gets hot enough that the pad backing plate will burn that paint off and they flake off like that....

 

[Zillon]

Yeah, the brakes on this car have terrible feel.

They feel a bit better if you dial back the brake assist, as I have. They feel overboosted at tip-in with the BA in the stock setting.

 

[mathieu92]

For the "more mushiness after", it could be due to air in the system. If the fluid got hot enough or even boiled, you will have bubbles in the lines.
Just bleed the brakes and see if that goes away...

Definitely agree on the OEM braking feel being very unprecise. That was one of my first upgrades...
People say good things about the tyrolsport caliper bushings.

 

[aricolton]

It sounds like I boiled my brake fluid, after reading a little about it my brakes feel like they have some air in the system.

I looked at some guides on how to bleed the brakes and don't think I can do it myself being that I live on a college campus and have no equipment to do so.

How much should I expect a shop to charge to simply bleed the brakes?

 

[RacingManiac]

Get a buddy. You can do it one corner at a time on a jack stand with a used waterbottle and some plastic hose.

 

[Tk_mkv1]

For the "more mushiness after", it could be due to air in the system. If the fluid got hot enough or even boiled, you will have bubbles in the lines.

Just bleed the brakes and see if that goes away...



Definitely agree on the OEM braking feel being very unprecise. That was one of my first upgrades...

People say good things about the tyrolsport caliper bushings.

İ hear they also dont like burn through, itll increase brake bit for sure, im sure stoptech n tsport will do the job

 

[Merkle]

People say good things about the tyrolsport caliper bushings.

They help by allowing the pad to press on more evenly, with new pads, SS lines and fluid it makes a huge difference.

 

[RacingManiac]

I am sure the bushing does "something", its hard to test "before and after". I have the bushings for more than 2 years now, so I really can't say what the feel from stock to what I have feel like. I know I jump in an old 911 last weekend and when I went back to drive my car the pedal felt like a sponge....