I came away from my first track day(Blackhawk Farms) with the impression my brakes we’re up to the task, but it was a bit misleading after I thought about it. It was 40 F all day, I was(am) a novice, wicked wheel hop led to much earlier and gentler braking, and I also had a soft-ish pedal from improper setup of GM metric calipers in the rear. So I’m trying to figure out if next spring is going to be filled with great 20 minute sessions or me lifting before the brake markers even start cause I have brake fade.
My goal is to get to at least 6 HPDE sessions per year, eventually in the Intermediate class, and not be the fastest, but not dealing with squishy pedals near the end of the 20 minute sessions. I’ve come to respect the opinions here on PT over the past 7 years and would like advice, lessons earned, anectdotal…whatever.
Here are what I see as my current options:
- My setup finally works after 7 years. Solid pedal, adjustable prop valve, and the pedal travel is about 2 inches (perfect for heal toe the way mine are setup), it’s definitely firm, but I’m a big dude so its oookay. Perhaps getting some cooling routed into the rotors will help me achieve my goals. There isn’t a lot of space at all and the opening to the rotor itself is small, so it’s definitely not ideal, but…maybe? Maybe also swap out to non drilled rotors to get some thermal mass back? This would let me spend significant money elsewhere and keep down the rotational mass of 13-14’’ brakes. I dunno.
- Or….everyone laughs at my current setup and tells me I need more juice. K, I’m open to this, but my head is fogged with all the options(C6, Z51, Wilwood Aero 6, Stoptech(I wish). I would need my pedal travel to stay roughly the same(Mc change), probably need ATS spindles, and would HOPE that I could keep my rear setup and just utilize more of the prop valve.
I’m so happy to answer anything I’ve left out, just let me know and I’ll get the info. I think a lot of A body guys start out in my position because a good majority of us use the “disc brake conversion kit” from MPB or CPP or whoever just to get rid of the drums, but then we find this site and actually want to turn and stop harder than we ever thought possible.
My Current Setup:
2005 Corvette 9’’ dual diaphragm power booster.
2005 Silverado MC: 1.33’’ bore
Front
Drop spindle from CPP(yeah I know….), upper/lower tall ball joints.
11’’ cross drilled/slotted rotor from CPP.
Wilwood D52 Aluminum 2 piston caliper. Piston Area per caliper:6.28in
2
Wilwood BP-20 pads
Rear:
Ford 9 with big Torino Ends.
11.13’’ vented rotor
Wilwood D154 caliper-no parking brake. Piston Area per caliper: 4.14 in
2
Wilwood BP-20 Pads
Assumed/calculated performance:
- 100 lbs input to 4:1 pedal ratio.
- .45 coeff on the fronts and .4 on the back.
- Front Tire: Nitto NT05 25.9’’ tall. (285/35R18)
- Rear Tire: Hankook RS4 27.3’’ tall. (295/40R18)
I come up with a total bake force
at the road of 3619 lbs. I can share the excel sheet how I got here if it helps.
Feel free to rip into me if my setup has no chance of surviving or if the stopping performance isn't even that good.