TrackDay brake pad set

MikeeCZ

Hey guys, wanted to ask some of you of experience. Yesterday i went to my first track day (Hullavington) and it was awesome but my MX-5 suffered from extreme brake fade, after asking around the cause is almost surerly the OEM brake pads which are meant for street use. They are great on street but after so little as three laps they kinda give up under the temperature. Id like to go for EBC yellow stuff and use it only on track days (Id swap the pads after arrival and than swap the OEM ones back when going home) but i need to know what pads to get. The common specs on a pad is demensions (Height, Width and Thickness) but even with these dimensions there are counless "shapes" of the pads. My question is, do i only have to worry about those three dimensions values and the shape doesnt matter? Will it fit my brakes no matter the shape so long as the dimensions match? Ive never bought pads before.

Thanks for advice
 
On my last track outing, I used Akebono ceramic and had great luck and very little fade.
Do you have gas-slotted rotors or cross-drilled?
What spec of brake fluid...DOT3, 4 or 5?
 
¨The disc are solid, ventilated in front.
Fluid is OEM, mazda only says that they use whether DOT3 or 4 no more info on that.

My plan is to change both, pads and fluid, but what i am worried about is warranty (its a brand new car) as they will do their annual service and flush the fluid with their junk again
 
you need stainless steel braided brake lines/hoses before anything else. it's the first thing to do when starting to go on track days. requirement actually.
what causes your problem contrary to advice given to you is this: when your brake fluid heats up, it expands, and the rubber hoses will start to "balloon" and you lose brake pressure as a result. the oem lines are rubber because 99% of owners wont go to racetrack where there in no time for the fluid to cool down. new pads wont help in this one bit.

besides, oem brake pads in a new "sports"car should do the job. AND they are designed to be used with the oem rotors. it's not allways advisable to try to be smarter than japanese engineers. this i say i from experience ;).
fluid i would change tough. to some quality product of known make. thats one of the things where they save money (the factory).

if you still after changing the brakelines and fluid, insist on changing the pads (to sintered or ceramic), expect to change the rotors soon aswell, they will wear out very quickly with the new pads.
and also remember that "race"pads like mentioned before will bite better in to the rotors but only when warmed up. when cold they are actually worse more often.

since most of your driving will be in the traffic anyways, where the the brakes stay cooler (i see you live in uk, temps get low there aswell), i would use oem pads and rotors. they are designed to be together, are cheaper, and are not THAT much worse on the track, that it would matter since youre not on slicks, and not pushing to win something.

happy days to the track and be safe!

Kel
 
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Well i was asking around and most people said pads, since the OEM ones are for street use and need to work well when cold. Many people said they had the same, got the yellow stuff and its been great since. So i dont know what now. THe brakelines are a good bet too but i dunno what would that do to the warranty. I dont even know what would new pads and fluid do to the warranty... probably should ask some dealer who i dont go to
 
"the yellow stuff" is sintered pads. but trust me it wont cure your problem. the manufacturer might have steel braided brake lines as accessory. it wouldn't ruin warranty. that is what you need. if you dont believe me, ask a racecar mechanic.
 
I didnt say i dont believe you. I apprecieate your help. Do you know the feeling when you are in the middle of people everybody saying something else? :) I will investigate the lines, but i doubt mazda makes any
 
yeah, i know. thats allways the case when you ask around. thats why the pro's are the only ones to be asked these things.
I know there are steel braided lines for mx-5, about the warranty thing couldn't say. i suspect that it wouldn't affect the warranty but who knows. basically you are making your car safer with stronger brake lines (no possible ruptures and so on)...
but i suspect that those sintered brakepads might be an issue tough since they reduce effectiveness when cold. other than oem fluid might be an issue too i suspect.
I hope you find steel braided brakelines that wouldn't ruin your warranty.
 
There are countless aftermarket steel lines yes. I will do better to ask the dealer i got the car from (im not gonna service it there) about the warranty. Its all pretty straight forward upgrades and its what kept me from being confident on the track
 
if you go for aftermarket steel lines, select ones with protective jacket (nylon or similar) over the steel braiding. they protect them from abrasion especially during service (that's when they usually get damaged), and if the steel braiding gets damaged the lines should be replaced. might cost few extra pounds but its def worth it imo.
 
Ye if mazda wont be pain in the butt, getting and fitting the lines isnt an issue. Thaks a lot for your advices
 
http://949racing.com/miata-brake-lines.aspx

they come with dot 4 fluid and that should be okay for you.

i agree not for the full 100% with Kelju tho......fading brakes imo is a pad thing. the brake lines only help you to get more pressure to the calipers because they cant expand that much like the stock ones do.

I addition to what you said if it's a brand new car, i would ask my dealer and if it's a good one he will help you getting the good stuff for your car.
 
My pedal definetly felt mushy and i ccould press it almost all the way to the floor with very little stopping power. THat must mean its the fluid / line combo. But ever since that day the pedal never came back to the way it was (it is better than when i was on the track but worse than before i arrived to it) so i must have worn down fair chunk of those pads anyway. So for me its no problem to get a trio pads/fluid/lines if mazda doesnt have a problem with it.

The DoT 4 fluid - are you sure its definetly gonna be enough? What about DOT 5? Are there any downsides to it over DOT4 except price? I just dont want to boil it again as that is what happened the most likely

I would like Not to touch the rotors as i im not big fan of dimples and slots. If i will be ugrading the rotors i might aswell upgrate the whole bloody brake system with 4 or even 6 pot calipers
 
Long pedal is a result of the fluid overheating. Pads working out of its temp range don't feel like that. The latter gives a firm pedal, but no stopping power. An even scarier feeling IMO.
 
yep i think that's the way to go. About dot4 vs dot5 read this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOT_4 I think that's what you want to know. Boiling point is higher the higher the dot is. But be aware dot 5 is another kind of fluid so your inners of the braking system i mean the rubber parts do have to stand it (sorry for my English). If the parts can't stand the substance of dot5 they will melt or get soft and then they wont work anymore. So be carefull to use something other than Mazda says.....this is really a serious warning.
 
MikeeCZ said:
Yeh, so my first two steps will be lines and fluid
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like i said :)

I would be very suprised if those dont heal your problem. later when you get more confident with your car, get to know the track better, and perhaps start using high end sports tires often called "street legal slicks". then you gonna need new pads and rotors too for sure.
ofcourse it might be sooner that you start getting that firm feeling pedal but lacking brakes, but i would like to believe at least that mazda puts better than normal street pads into their new mx-5's

Kel

P.S the reason why your brakes dont feel the same anymore is cause you boiled your fluids and the fluids are now "sour". I doubt there nothing wrong in your pads just yet after one day at the track.
 
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MikeeCZ said:
But ever since that day the pedal never came back to the way it was (it is better than when i was on the track but worse than before i arrived to it) so i must have worn down fair chunk of those pads anyway.
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Could also be you boiled fluid and just need the brakes bled to bring back the pedal pressure. I've worn pads to the warning level (horrid squeal) and didn't lose pedal firmness as the stock system is designed to cope with that amount of wear. If bleeding brakes does bring back the pedal pressure, then make sure you have fresh fluid in before you go on track again.
 
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