Complete brake failure at 145 MPH!

[himmy33]

I had complete failure at the end of the straight. Pedal went to the floor. Pumping had zero effect. I knew the car was going off. All I could think about was scrubbing as much speed as possible. Downshifted and let the slide ensue. I thought it was going to be much worse. Only need a new front splitter and drivers side side skirt. The rest is just some minor scratches.



The whole session in case you want to watch. Turned my best lap ever on the first lap.

[Synner]

What brake setup, what pads, what fluid, how old was it and how many track days on it? Glad you're ok.

[himmy33]

OEM pads and rotors. Motul 600 RBF fresh at the beginning of the season. Only a couple track days with the fresh fluid. Pads were getting close to the end but still had what I thought was enough life left in them. Once I get them off I can post pictures of how much pad is left. I will be bleeding the brakes before every track day from now on. Also going to switch to Castrol SRF brake fluid. I will have to check but it felt like the rotors have a slight warp now with harder braking. Might need to replace rotors.
The odd part was the brakes would get a bit soft but would come back right away and feel great. For some reason it just completely let go at the end of the straight.

[Synner]

The thinner the pad the more heat gets transferred into the caliper and fluid. You're asking a crap ton of stock pads with ZL1 level speeds, you need an upgrade. I definitely like the SRF better than RBF600 and won't be going back. Stock rotors can be swapped out for the same, they're quite good. I'd get a real brake duct as well. I bleed after every weekend, some say it's overkill but I've drastically reduced any overheated brake issues I used to have prior to doing so.

[himmy33]

Originally Posted by Synner

The thinner the pad the more heat gets transferred into the caliper and fluid. You're asking a crap ton of stock pads with ZL1 level speeds, you need an upgrade. I definitely like the SRF better than RBF600 and won't be going back. Stock rotors can be swapped out for the same, they're quite good. I'd get a real brake duct as well. I bleed after every weekend, some say it's overkill but I've drastically reduced any overheated brake issues I used to have prior to doing so.

Great info! I always thought the stock pads were good with our rotors? What brake duct do you recommend?

[Synner]

They're decent starter pads on an SS but a ZL1 makes it too easy to hit the 140+ speeds you were doing. Stock pads can't handle big straight tracks. On small technical tracks they can survive. I use the quantum duct kit and like it, aside from the factory point air in the general direction of the rotor setup I don't know of any others.

[silverbullet415]

Time for the Essex ap kit and be done with the brakes along with some ducting

[himmy33]

Originally Posted by silverbullet415

Time for the Essex ap kit and be done with the brakes along with some ducting

This is what I have been thinking...

[Russell James]

Like mentioned, thin pads will kill the caliper seals. Doesn't matter if you have the best fluid on earth if the caliper seals melt, done. If the powder coating shows signs of melting, the seals are probably also melted.

I'd rebuild the calipers with new seals. Add quantum ducts. Use Castrol SRF. I'd use OE Brembo pads, nothing wrong with them. If you go crazy aggressive on the pad, will really need to upgrade to a full race caliper. The race calipers are generally not powdercoated and no dust seals. The dust boots and powder coating can't handle race brake temps.

[Synner]

Originally Posted by Russell James

I'd use OE Brembo pads, nothing wrong with them. .

Sorry but that statement isn't accurate. I've driven stock pads to failure and I've driven track pads to failure, there is a massive gap in performance between the two. The feel, initial bite, and temperature range capabilities are no comparison. When you overwork the pad the heat gain increases exponentially. The only way to avoid that is to change to a more aggressive pad with higher temp range. It's actually better for the caliper to use the right pad versus a sub-optimal pad that is overworked, less total heat gain transferred to the caliper

[SSEssence]

whoa! that looked scary! glad you are okay and you sustained only minor damage

[Nick S]

Originally Posted by silverbullet415

Time for the Essex ap kit and be done with the brakes along with some ducting

+1

After going through what you just went through in your video just think about how more more expensive that incident could have costed had you hit something more "permanent" at the track. Kind of makes the cost of a good front brake kit seem trivial at that point.

I did not ever want to find out what that experience would have been like so I chose to upgrade my brakes before I started doing track days.

I'd highly recommend giving Essex a call and get yourself their 6-piston set up for the 5th Gen Camaros coming to your door. Everything about their kit is improved over even the factory Brembo 6-piston set up. And you will SAVE 8 lbs per corner (for a total of 16 lbs). The pads you can get and run with those calipers can have up to 25mm thick pad linings so you have much longer intervals before pad replacement.

Good luck with your repairs and I hope you won't ever have to go through this scenario again. I hate to see anyone have incidents like this on track.

[silverbullet415]

my buddy is a essex dealer if you want his info pm me, he can get you a better price on them

[himmy33]

Thank you for all the support and info everyone. It is greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by silverbullet415

my buddy is a essex dealer if you want his info pm me, he can get you a better price on them

PM sent. Thank you.