Recommended tire and pads? (Page 2 of 3)

We started running Lemons at MSR Houston in the Fall of 2008.

We run a 1973 240Z that I have upgraded to disc brakes all the way around with 300ZX (Z31) rotors on all 4 corners.

In that race we ran Porterfield R4s in the front with Hawk HP+s in the rear and Valvoline Synpower fluid.

The HP+ did not grip enough to keep an even front rear bias.  We did that because we thought the larger rear discs would grip more than the front.  We were wrong.

After that race we switched the rear to Porterfield R4-1s.  It's a vintage race pad that requires a bit less heat.  Our bias was about right at the point.

We ran the car like this through 3 MSR Houston races and 1 New Orleans.  The front pads had 4 MSR races on them. 

For Eagles Canyon we did a brake job and kept the car the same way it had been.  We wore through most of the fresh pads between practice and the 10 hour session on Saturday. 

So our first set of front pads lasted 5 races, rears lasted 4 easily.  One trip to Eagles Canyon and we had more brake wear in 10 hours than the previous 5 races combined.

We had some mild softening of the pedal so we most have gotten the fluid a bit hot and we warped the rotors.

We raced on 225/40R14 Toyo T1Rs for our initial 6 events.

For our most recent race at MSR Houston, Sept 2010, we put on Raybestos pads and 205/50r15 Dunlops Star Specs with Motul fluid.  The car is a bit different but very drivable. 

While race pads are more expensive they tend to last longer.  So I am sure you get more out of your money in the long run and you're safer.

I have no experience with Carbotech pads. 

My only complaint about Porterfield is sometimes things are a bit slow out of the door.  Granted they tend to have to make the stuff we order so keep in mind you need to order your stuff with plenty of lead time.  That said, I plan to continue to get my brakes through Porterfield.

Put good stuff on your car, the ass your save could be mine.

Sounds like a pneumatically deployed rudder upgrade for the yellow submarine is in order

205s are easy.

They spent more time in the pits than on the track so I don't think that is a good benchmark.

^+1.

It seems as though I read a bunch of people saying that they got one race, or even just one day, on of a set of pads. Some teams are only getting one weekend out of a set of rotors. Others say that they only got one weekend out of a set of tires.

Maybe we're just lucky, but we've done 3 full races, including ECR, on the same set of pads, rotors and tires. The pads/rotors were pretty expensive (PFC's), but it seems worthwhile now, as we haven't had to replace them yet. In fact, the front pads still have just over 50% left on them. As for tires, we're running Star Specs, and they're still well above the wear bars. Our car is fairly heavy (probably around 3000lbs with gas + driver) and while we're not particularly slow, we're also not the fastest car out there by a long shot.

We had to use AZ Duracrap pads on Sunday in Feb. because it was the only pad we could find Saturday night. We got 2 sets of front pads for 5 hours of racing just to be safe. Well, one set lasted the 5 hours just barely. One pad was metal to metal. And that was with an hour of full course caution because of the flipped Mustang. If it would have been green most of the time the pads would have been toast.

Then there's the problem with pedal feel. It was shit with Duracrap. Stopping power is also a big POS. I don't know but our 3100# pig needs all the brake help it can get. Sure lighter cars can probably use inferior pads, but the minute you use something that was made for what we do, you'll see the light. Who said racing was cheap?

Raybestos ST-43. Because failure is not an option.

We're running Hawk MT4 in the front and HP+ in the back.  Worked great for us so far.  Got them from raceshopper.com  They were very helpful.

Looks a lot better than many I have seen in pics of some Lemons cars.

i looked all over for better prices on Star Specs a few weeks ago, and TR was the best i could find.

discount tire will always price match the at your door price of tire rack.

Hmm, how 'bout a new category
- where you are allowed to run $15 pressed lettuce-leaf pads, changed as often as you like (fire extinguisher on hand of course)?
- and the for tires, your choice of any of Sears Roadhandler 100k mile tires.
(extra laps awarded for actually generating g forces on the skidpad)
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/pres … 26348.html
~oh, and the bigger question would be where to find out-of-production tires~

It would be like ice-racing in the hot and dry!