Re: Opening a brake shop at Gingerman!
Alot of the comments prove a common mistake people make with their brake pad choice- you get what you pay for and it ends up costing you more in the end. Durlast, combo street/track pads, "high performance" street pads, etc. etc. are false economy.
People who are new to track driving are notorious overbrakers, so that right there demands an even more capable pad. Your best bet is a true racing pad. And true racing pads don't cost a mint. Hawk full on race pads are quite affordable, as are Porterfield pads. Just like Trevor said about Carbotech, Porterfield will make a pad for ANY vehicle you ask them to. All they need is the pad shape (send them your stock crap pads) and they'll make up a backing plate with race compound you need.
Because honestly, Gingerman isn't THAT hard on brakes guys... It puts them to the test for sure, but there's a lot of areas on the track that are either tap & go or long throttle areas to let the brakes cool. Phenolic (plastic) pistons are great, but they do nothing in terms of pad heat management. If you don't have pads that can handle the heat of overbraking (or lack of thermal mass in the rotors) then you'll just have brake fade/failure a different way than fluid boiling.
Why guess/hope and use a marginal pad? Get true race pads and have one less failure point on your ride.
Actually the brakes worked great, right up until the steel backing pads burned away! You kinda missed the point though.... We didn't choose crap brakes - I expected Hawk blues, the same ones I've been running since they were introduced, but the car owner had a little boo-boo on ordering and then it was too late! I've been racing competitively since 1987 and I may be an over braker, but we turned pretty good/consistent times for an old crappy neon.
Maker of the "unofficial Lemons fish!" - If you ask nice, I'll likely give you one at the track.