Brake Pads/Fluid for Track : How far to go?

[Vines]

The Unplugged front and rear sets for my P3D worked great, and gave much needed confidence in the braking power to go with all that horsepower.
There is a tiny bit more brake noise, but its not really too bad.

I didn't see what the fastest time that Randy managed in a modified car, but am interested to know. 2:01 in a stock car with just pads and fluid is pretty amaze balls. Also, a big surprise, a RWD car stormed the standings, and managed something like a 2:05 or 2:06!!

I had a great time and managed 2 firsts:
4 wheels off course :O
Also I beat 2:10 finally! I pulled 2:08 in my 3rd session, so feel proud of that.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

The RWD is 300kg lighter, which must help. AWD isn't as much of an advantage on track as some might think.

 

[FlyNavy01]

The RWD is 300kg lighter, which must help. AWD isn't as much of an advantage on track as some might think.

300lb, not 300kg

 

[Vines]

A lot of it was driver, plus he was lightly modded with wheels and tires, so that helped. Still, the RWD is very capable, but that's what MPP has been saying all along.

 

[stickman]

Just start with fluid. I have 2 trackdays on my P3D+ with stock everything except motul RBF600, and have had no issues at all, firm pedal great power no fade.

 

[Nocturnal]

The Unplugged front and rear sets for my P3D worked great, and gave much needed confidence in the braking power to go with all that horsepower.
There is a tiny bit more brake noise, but its not really too bad.

I didn't see what the fastest time that Randy managed in a modified car, but am interested to know. 2:01 in a stock car with just pads and fluid is pretty amaze balls. Also, a big surprise, a RWD car stormed the standings, and managed something like a 2:05 or 2:06!!

I had a great time and managed 2 firsts:
4 wheels off course :O
Also I beat 2:10 finally! I pulled 2:08 in my 3rd session, so feel proud of that.

I'm getting mine put on tomorrow AM. The stock pads got messed up and are super squeaky and grindy. Tesla was going to replace them for me but they don't have any in stock (it's been 2 months).

 

[Dangerous Fish]

300lb, not 300kg

SR RWD is 1611Kg, AWD is 1847Kg, so yes not 300Kg (my bad) but a lot more than 300lbs difference.

 

[wenkan]

Just start with fluid. I have 2 trackdays on my P3D+ with stock everything except motul RBF600, and have had no issues at all, firm pedal great power no fade.

How’s you new wheels and tires running on track? A few seconds faster?

 

[MountainPass]

A lot of it was driver, plus he was lightly modded with wheels and tires, so that helped. Still, the RWD is very capable, but that's what MPP has been saying all along.

RWD is awesome!

 

[stickman]

How’s you new wheels and tires running on track? A few seconds faster?

My best lap was 7 sec faster. The experienced fast group guys said the new pavement is worth like 3 sec so who knows how much was the paving, how much was the tires and how much was me being more aggressive. I certainly felt more comfortable with the new wheels/tires. Re-71rs are really great. Super grippy, predictable sliding.

 

[SD_Engnr]

The rear pad is pretty tricky, it has a certain geometrical feature that has proven hard for aftermarket vendors to find/source - but should be coming soon! I have a set of the UP rear pads and they are great.

Exactly I'm testing the carbon brakes, wheels, carbon bumper/diffuser and rear spoiler. Everything else on my car i've paid for and truly enjoy (see my signature for details). Main goal was to allow Randy Pobst to try a heavily modified Model 3 at Tesla Corsa.

Car looked great out there! I forgot to ask - how did the front upper arms work out? Were you able to adjust camber with them installed? Did you also mention that you had their rear arms?

A lot of it was driver, plus he was lightly modded with wheels and tires, so that helped. Still, the RWD is very capable, but that's what MPP has been saying all along.

He also had no ABS, no TC, upgraded Brembo 6 pot calipers with 32mm thick rotors, and a lot of experience on that track. He would probably benefit from the traction control defeat from @MountainPass .

OP, sorry to go OT. @Vines summed it up nicely in Castrol vs Motul. Either is a great upgrade over stock. As for pads, there is a limited selection available right now, so it's too early to really know what works best.

 

[kbecks13]

Car looked great out there! I forgot to ask - how did the front upper arms work out? Were you able to adjust camber with them installed? Did you also mention that you had their rear arms?

Arms worked great, no problems. We tuned them to a medium bit of camber (-1.8) in front as i didn't want to go too aggressive, but we could probably do that for a future event to see what the car is truly capable of.

Not positive on the final time that Randy got, but we were having some problems with the track mode stability control being overbearing at times. Think it may have been due to the massive carbon brakes throwing it off, but not sure yet.

On the braking front however, Randy was gushing about how powerful the brakes were (which they better be!) so they are certainly effective in stopping the car and will almost never fade.

 

[FlyNavy01]

SR RWD is 1611Kg, AWD is 1847Kg, so yes not 300Kg (my bad) but a lot more than 300lbs difference.

SR doesn't exist yet though. The LR RWD that the post was referring to is 121kg (266lbs) lighter than an AWD car.

Even though the P3D is a bit of a fat girl, I still happily accept that weight penalty for an extra ~180hp and ~200lb/ft of torque over the LR RWD model. That's a 1.64lb/hp ratio tradeoff, which is excellent.

OP: I'd recommend starting with fluid upgrade only (best value per cost), then if more is needed do pads, and if more is needed still, higher performance rotors.

 

[capn00]

Is it worth changing out the brake lines to stainless/braided while changing out the fluid anyway?

 

[SD_Engnr]

Is it worth changing out the brake lines to stainless/braided while changing out the fluid anyway?

I say yes because it's not that expensive, and just adds a little extra labor cost (unless you DIY).

 

[capn00]

I am considering just having the shop that will be installing my MPP coilovers swap the lines while they have the wheels off.

Now I just have to decide if I will do pads too, but I can always do those later if needed.

I will probably only realistically attend 1-2 track events a year, so I don’t want to go overboard.

 

[MasterC17]

Arms worked great, no problems. We tuned them to a medium bit of camber (-1.8) in front as i didn't want to go too aggressive, but we could probably do that for a future event to see what the car is truly capable of.

Not positive on the final time that Randy got, but we were having some problems with the track mode stability control being overbearing at times. Think it may have been due to the massive carbon brakes throwing it off, but not sure yet.

On the braking front however, Randy was gushing about how powerful the brakes were (which they better be!) so they are certainly effective in stopping the car and will almost never fade.

I found that as the drive units got hot the car would limit acceleration on corner exit.

It seems rear motor power is limited due to thermal load, and this is exacerbated on corner exit (as more power is coming from the rear DU during cornering as opposed to the straights where more power is coming from the front).

I suspect this is something that will be fixed in the future, I'm sure it's not just you and I experiencing this.

 

[Zcd1]

I’m actually having second thoughts about the stock pads for track driving. Slowing down from my recent quarter mile runs to make the track exit wasn’t as effortless as I expected...

 

[MasterC17]

I’m actually having second thoughts about the stock pads for track driving. Slowing down from my recent quarter mile runs to make the track exit wasn’t as effortless as I expected...

I've previously mentioned that stocks pads are not adequate for track driving.

The current pad offerings from MPP/UP are also not adequate. A Hawk HP(+) type pad is NOT going to handle the abuse of track driving.

The only true solution is a set of dedicated street pads and a set of dedicated track pads; just like tires.

Remember these cars are not by any means light. And regen is not doing a lot of work on-track. You're going to be putting significant thermal stress on the pads.

I burned through 50% of my Hawk DTC-70's in 8 sessions and the stock rear pads are completely done.

 

[Zcd1]

I only plan to run 3 sessions on a single day, so I’m not willing to put in a lot of effort or expense for mods.