Re: research
 

Thanks. With the "search" screwed up I couldn't find that link.

this is kinda off topic but does anyone have pics of their painted brake calipers or what color combos theyve done im thinking about black calipers and painting the mazda silver

Interesting article. I thought cooling the rotors was important. After installing my R1 spoiler, I started to get concerned that I was robbing the front brakes of enough air. That's why I also installed the R1 brake ducts. I hope they do something for me...

So if the Brembro (no slots\holes) are heavier, they might be able to handle more heat but at the cost of more unsprung weight.

I think most people have the most problems racing around on the street and coming to a fast stop. This allows the hot rotors to cool more slowly under the pads when stopped and leads to warping. I've been trying not to do this:)

i agree with gordoon on the street driving and and getting back down do sane speeds, i do tend to go a little too fast sometimes, and this causes my brakes to take somewhat of a beating, so depending on your style of driving choose brakes accordingly.
i can not find the link to the ferrari/porsche thing at this moment, as soon as i do i will post it.

Just to be clear: I've never run drilled rotors. I have cracked up few sets of solid-face rotors. Because of this, I have avoided drilled rotors as solid-face are cheaper and last longer. I think stock-sized drilled rotors are inadequate for track use considering solid-face ones are barely adequate once you start to increase the power.

I have slotted front rotors now, but they are 13" rather than the stock size.

I guess it does depend on your driving habits and horsepower. I do remember fading my stock brakes a few times on the street. The thing with track work is that you are repeatedly slowing from high speed, which gets the rotors extra hot and makes them crack. Perhaps some extreme street use would have a similar result. Great brakes do give you a nice feeling, not unlike having a lot of horsepower. It's fun to bRaKe MaD kWiK, yO! I must admit. ;)

-Max

I'm interested in trying to make some air ducts for my stock brakes. Can someone post me a link of the Crooked Willow brake ducts??? What about the R1 ducts? I've never seen them and have no idea how they get to the brakes.

I can prob figure out my own design so I guess what I REALLY need to know is where is the best place for the duct to enter the fender well at??? Where is the best place where the rotor can get most of the air flow and the wheels/tires not block the flow when making a sharp turn

Thanks,
STEPHEN

Are you kidding?? That's why I am looking at this thread b/c mine have faded a couple times on me just on the street messing around in some non-populated areas or empty highways....

i have never really faded my brakes on the street unless i go at it for a while, and that is some SPIRITED drivign, if your bakes fade that easily, it could be your fluid boiling, u might wanna check out whats in there. most pictures of underhoodshots that i see on this forum it looks like peopel take time to polish everythign up that dowesnt do a damn thing for performance maybe make it worse, since that surface has less surface area and cant cool down as fast :) and if u look at the brake fluid reservoir it looks like they are using teh same fluid tehy bought the car with :D just a suggestion

na, it was on new(er) Motul600 the couple times that it did happen. It doesnt happen a lot, but has DEFINITELY happened...

Thin (worn) brake pads significantly increase the chance of boiling the fluid, too. But most street pads will fade on the track (or under heavy street usage) even without boiling the fluid.

For easy bleeding and good fluid, check out http://www.motiveproducts.com/. I got one of those Power Bleeders and it is great. The ATE fluids are nice, too, because you can alternate between blue and gold (same fluid with different colors) to be sure you got the old fluid flushed out.

-Max

another article...
 

... this article is from the September 02' Car & Driver:

http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caran..._braketest.xml

They swapped out the stock front brakes on a new WRX with some of the leading aftermarket kits then flogged them on a track. A decent test, but they only focused on brake fade, not bias, pedal feel etc... Anyway, does anyone know how the stock WRX brakes compare to the FD's? I think that as ours are 4 piston (two each on each side of the caliper) vs. the WRX 2 piston (on the same side) that the FD OEM brakes are superior in clamping force, but this is a guess.