Some of my brake comments so far...

[YAUDI]

So I’m checking the Cartoon Car out for an upcoming 2-day weekend driving event at MSR CW and I notice the rears are about done, esp the right rear outside pad .

I’ve logged 34 20-25 min sessions on these set of Porterfield R4 pads mated with DBA 5000 rotors. I have driven 4 different tracks on this set of pads (MSR, TWS, Hallet, and GIR@LOG 25 ), which except for a few days are mainly in the CCW direction.

When I was running the OEM pad and Porterfield R4S (which surprisingly went very quick for me with the OEM rotors) I’d run out of front pad first. It’s interesting that the rears show more wear, esp the right rear. Granted the weight distribution is rearward, but under my rather heavy braking, the fronts are working hard. Also, I never notice rear brake lock up (unless I miss a rev match downshift badly ), so I’d say some more rear bias could be had and played with. I guess I can attribute some of the uneven wear to more left hand turns that load the right side more when I left foot brake or trail brake…

Well, I’m going to be switching to all new Porterfield R4s in all 4 corners and see how this set wears. The DBA 5000 rotor still look great, still no visible surface micro-cracking or any signs of noticeable wear. At least my front pads are wearing the same now; it was rather uneven with the OEM rotor .

So far the Cartoon Car’s got 74 sessions, 2 sets of front tires, 3 sets of rear tires and ~14k miles on the odometer and she still runs flawlessly. I might get to a point where I will probably upgrade the suspension next year, the Nitron double-adjustable should do … I’m tired of running on the bump stops and help on the wheel spin too …

Feel free to throw in some comment, might get me thinking about something I might have missed …

Have fun at the track …

[EdHahn]

Excellent report - thanks for the update!

ed

[KLM]

Yaudi,

When running CCW at Hallett, which marker are you braking at going downhill into The Bus Stop?

Two more...

Are you downshifting to 2nd while going through Favorite Turn?

Do you recall your fastest time out there?

Hallett is the only track (twice) I have run and curious to gauge my speed. A group of us rented the track on 10/27. My fastest time was 1.33.541.

Thanks

[sleepless]

I run the Pagid R14's. After 24 track sessions, the rears are only about half gone. The fronts were replaced but still had mayge 8 sessions left in them. I run the car at 4 tracks.

[Surferjer]

A dumb question-why do you call it the cartoon car?

BTW-my Hawk HP+ pads seem indestructible. They are wearing much more slowly than the stock OEM pads did.

[Stan]

I'm wondering if ABS ice-mode tendencies can be reduced with different brake pads. There is more to a pad than quoted mu.

[YAUDI]

Originally Posted by KLM

Yaudi,

When running CCW at Hallett, which marker are you braking at going downhill into The Bus Stop?

Two more...

Are you downshifting to 2nd while going through Favorite Turn?

Do you recall your fastest time out there?

Hallett is the only track (twice) I have run and curious to gauge my speed. A group of us rented the track on 10/27. My fastest time was 1.33.541.

Thanks

To answer the questions in the order they were asked:

1. IIRC, I've waited till I almost passed 2, but my entry speed and line were not optimum, not pretty. In other words I was glad to just stay on track…
2. You bet, bouncing off the revs on exit, depending if I do it right.
3. I've only had 4 sessions at Hallett (9/11)... Somebody was timing me when and told me I was turning 1:32-1:33s, it was overcast and didn't feel confident in my tractions, it's so bumpy there. I think that pretty much matched the best time on my vidis. There was a guy there with a BMW 3-Series SCCA racer turning 1:27s thou... I’d imagine if we chased each other around, we’d both pick up some time from our differing driving styles… The other Elise in my advanced run group was turning will into the 1:40s

I'm sure I have time to gain, but I'm a bit chicken on Dam and Richard Calhoun turn IIRC... Very fun course, the Elise is all about technical courses. The lead thru turn 7 and 8 into the Bitch turn is very fun and fast. I was taking a cute chick for a ride and I was trying different things just to make her oh and ahh. Once, I carried a slip angle drift under braking and then powered up the Bitch turn with slight opposite lock, I impressed myself, I think I actually scared her thou. She said this car is much more fun than the Ferrari (360), mission accomplished…

[YAUDI]

Originally Posted by Surferjer

A dumb question-why do you call it the cartoon car?

BTW-my Hawk HP+ pads seem indestructible. They are wearing much more slowly than the stock OEM pads did.

LOL, because the visual characteristics of the S2 Elise to me are very cartoonish. Just looking at the front of the car, it's just got a huge cartoon smile and she's got cartoon super powers around the track, as lesser drivers might attest too.

I mentioned it once to the guy who runs the driving events I like to attend and at the next event, my name tag denoting my car read "Cartoon Car"... When I track the S4 Avant, my tag reads "MaD wAgOn". It's just funny I guess ...

[KLM]

Originally Posted by YAUDI

I'm sure I have time to gain, but I'm a bit chicken on Dam and Richard Calhoun turn IIRC...

That can be said for most, both times there I went off in Calhoun (I think - its the left before Favorite). This last time was four wheels into the grass and two feet in! Glad to say my fastest time of the day came after that e-ticket ride.

I agree with you on the track condition; if it were a little smoother and if they would clean the track of debris it would be a better experience. Thank god for Starshield, otherwise it is paint chip central.

PS - to stop my thread drift - I installed Porterfield RS4's last week.