Brake upgrade needed or no?

[jamrobin]

So I have taken my E36 M3 Convertible (with a hard top for track days and autumn) way up in power (cams, m50 manifold, AA level 3 supercharger, stage 3 clutch, deleted cdv, shorty headers, stainless braid clutch lines) and a fair bit up in handling (Turner sway bars, strut bar, h&r sport springs, Bilsteins, 235/40/18 square PS4S, all new bushings, UUC diff brace, UUC SSK)

I had my first track day on Thursday and I was concerned about my "stock" brakes... (stock calipers with brass slider bushings, braided lines, quality drilled and slotted rotors and Cool Carbon pads) I was admittedly slower than the folks who knew the track better (or even just had more training) but with 20 turns at Calabogie I worked the brakes harder in the one day than the previous 10 years combined...

I had zero brake fade through a day that included 5 sessions at 30-40 minutes each (plus a couple sessions in the instructor's car which was also an E36 M3 so I realized that I could definitely push my tires and brakes even harder than I expected so I pushed harder each time out)

Should I stop dreaming of an expensive 4 wheel bbk and just spend that money on more track instruction??
I had always believed that since I took the power WAY up (487 WHP) I should be increasing the braking now... but math says the car mass hasn't gone up much so the breaks don't have to work harder...

[olemiss540]

Yes. You need REAL track pads at a minimum but you need to question if this is really the best car to carry forward if you get into HPDE.

You need something with a fixed roof. You have doubled the factory HP.

You are on the slippery slope. Best to figure out the goal and setup for that now.

[ScotcH]

100% agree you need track pads. Otherwise, the stock system is adequate until you get into competition. Also agree that the vert is not the right car for track ... get a cheap e46 and build that Calabogie is a great track to learn on, it's got a bit of everything, but it's not really hard on brakes (lots of cooling space).

[aeronaut]

All the above.
Real track pads. There are a lot of choices, but what we're talking about here are pads like PFC08s, Pagid RSLx, etc.
Plus, those drilled rotors are your enemy. They'll crack when pushed.

Also, math, kinetic energy is 1/2 m v^2. You've increased HP so you've increased max top speed. It's the worst cause v is squared.

[jamrobin]

Yeah... Everything above makes sense... I wasn't the only vert there and I have stiffened mine and put the hard top on but I do completely agree it's NOT the right car to be a track toy... It is my summer daily.

I guess the only reason I didn't run into brake issues was mostly that 220ish kph on the two straights was as fast as I got up to and I am still a complete newb so I am not able to push it very hard yet.

I appreciate the input and I will definitely think about getting a track focused toy (a slick top of some sort and NOT put thousands into stereo and sound deadening and additional leather LOL)
Probably need a couple more track sessions (maybe at least one not in my daily driver) to get more comfortable pushing the envelope and with less power under my foot.

I will invest in a set of dedicated track pads (and rotors) soon... but I don't think I came close to the limits of my Cool Carbon street/strip pads on my first time out.

Thanks again! LOL if I have a stripped out barely street legal track rat added to the fleet by this time next year I blame you all. ��

[aeronaut]

Smart! Drive what you have for a year or so, or at least until you're solo and in the higher run groups.

And yea, you can probably get away with your current pads for another event or three. I will say, on track there's no worse feeling than loosing the brakes, even for a few seconds.

[pbonsalb]

Even if it’s not really a track car, it is great he took the toy to the track to better learn its strengths and weaknesses and how to better control it. The fancy BBK won’t do anything until you get to the point where your stock brakes are fading, though they often “feel” better. As others said, pads (and fluid that is not too old) are the most important things. Fancy brakes do look cool though.

[jamrobin]

LOL yup... My convertible is definitely not an ideal track car, nor was it intended to be as I built it... Lots of updates in every direction... No specific focus other than comfort and performance to make it a fun summer daily (11 individual amp channels, 11 individual drivers and a sealed sub where the pass through used to be, over a hundred pounds of additional sound deadening, lots of extra leather, high powered glass high and low beam projectors with separate ballasts, halos, a couple of USB ports, built in mic and aux... I even put alcantera headliner with "M stitching" on the hard top and the euro steering wheel with airbag) ... None of those things are good for track...

But because I ALSO spent time and money on performance (cams, entire suspension, supercharger, sway bars, short shifter, welded in chassis reinforcements, equal length headers, high flow Magnaflow mid section, Dr. Vanos "stage 2" refresh, stainless clutch and brake lines, cdv delete, tuning and dyno time) I figured I had better upgrade the most overlooked bit... The nut behind the steering wheel.

LOL it was not only eye opening... I have a feeling it may be habit forming. ;-)

[olemiss540]

We have all been there. I went from low mileage garage queen and upgraded stereo to stage 1 to stage 2 to stage 3 supercharged intercooler manifolds to ripping it ALL out to get more reliable and lighter weigh for the new track addiction to then buying an old racecar e36 and stuffing an LS motor into it.