I was prepared for a two-day track event at Circuit of the Americas this past weekend but ran into some issues with the 2017 SVR. It recently had the following work done / installations:

• Brake fluid flush & Motul RBF 660 replaced
• StopTech Slotted Sport Brake Rotors
• Porterfield R4-S Brake Pads (AP1750 / AP1753)
• Laser alignment & track inspection

Unfortunately, on only two laps into the first stint, the brake pedal felt like a sponge and went right to the floor when coming off the long backstretch into T12. It took about 375m to stop with no bite.

A racing shop on track (who had performed the work above) bled the brakes again and looked at the pads, which were completely glazed over. I bed the brakes in the morning of the event, so I could very well have done that improperly. It was also pretty hot out (95F), but that said, I've been on that track with OEM rotors and new pads without much issue (just a little brake fade).

The shop replaced the Porterfield R4-S with the used OEM pads that had previously been taken off; however, they were pretty worn on the front (1/8th left). I was able to get back on track for about 4 / 5 laps before a warning popped up on the center dash that said BRAKES OVERHEATED.

We tried to cool them via a 1.5 lap cool down. The warning finally went off about 5+ minutes of stationary running back in the pit garages.

A couple of questions:

1. For anyone that regularly tracks their F-Type, ever experienced any of the issues above?
2. For anyone that regularly tracks their F-Type, any suggestions on pads or thoughts on why I glazed the R4-S so quickly?
3. For anyone that regularly tracks their F-Type, general suggestions on how to keep the car on track given the heat + speed + wear that a track like COTA can cause?

Really like having something different than the plethora of GT3 RS / Cayman GT4 / Corvette's on the track, but certainly didn't like only being able to run 4 laps over the 2-day period!

 

The Porterfield R4-S's are listed as a street and autox pad so I'm not surprised those didn't make it. You might need to look into EBC Yellowstuff (and/or see if they have even something more aggressive for the F-Type to be used on the track).

 

Isn't the Porterfield R4 the track pad?

 

My thoughts were if the OEM pad handled the track last time decently well, the hybrid R4-S would be something that could provide less fade / more bite during the track, but not need to be swapped out for street afterward. I was apparently wrong.

 

It appears the OEM pads are pretty aggressive right out of the box. I don't know how they hold to the power levels of a SVR on a track, but you have go with something more track focused to beat the OEM pads.

 

oem pads are very very good for the track. if you want to have a proper track pad you should send your oem used pads to a brake company to template and make you a real track pad so you have no issues in the future, it will be more expensive than oem but it will be better than anything you can ever get.

 

Yep, but last I checked (about two weeks ago) they don't make them for the F-Type.
That said I seem to recall Stuart from VAP posting somewhere that he can get them for the F-Type via "special order".

Correction - they DO make the R4 "race" pad for the F-Type, for all steel brakes except the base 355 mm front brakes, see here: https://www.lpiracing.com/showsearch...r=2016&submit=
Same model numbers as the R4-S, AP 1750 front and AP 1753 rear, just R4 instead of R4-S.
So maybe the OP could try a set of these and report back?
But I'm with Lance here, I would first swap out the StopTech rotors for OEM rotors, maybe put the original rotors back on if they are still serviceable.

 

I suspect the issue was not with the pads, but rather with the rotors. Note, even the OEM pads overheated quickly which does not normally happen with the standard set up. The stop tech design may not be nearly as good as the OEM rotors for dissipating heat.

 

Actually that makes a lot of sense and could very well be given I had run this track + summer temp previously with OEM rotors + pads without too many issues. I would have thought though that the StopTech Sport Slotted would have been as good if not better than the OEM rotors with the dissipation of heat.

I'll chat with the racing garage that worked on the car for their input. Anyone have suggestions on the forum for what might work best? I was originally looking for weight savings + heat dissipation when going with non-OEMs. I don't really care about looks.

 

Heat dissipation has far les to do with slotting than with the venting design of the interior of the disc wafer. StopTechs are built to be cheap and look sporty. Two piece rotors are built for aesthetics, light weight and heat dissipation. Of course, there’s a price to be paid for that.

 

Well ****, cheap and sporty was the exact opposite of what I was going for. I care only about the performance (within reason of what this powerful heavyweight can do).

 

Seems all these upgrades got you worse off. Never experienced any issues with my 100% stock large caliper setup, 100% stock trashcan lids disks and running OEM stock pads. All of this works, lasts, and I yet to overheat it even once (with V6S and a manual gearbox doing engine braking). OEM setup is hard to improve on.

As Unhinged mentioned, your rotors probably largest culprit.

Also, are you doing anything crazy like excessively trail braking (i.e. using engine against brakes) ?

 

I'm trail braking in almost every corner, but not left-foot braking / overlapping throttle (I'm tall and can't get my leg in a proper position without hitting the steering wheel).

So let's say you were wanting to track this car more than not, what would have installed? Back to OEM or something different? Anything other suggestions outside of rotor pads?

 

OEM just fine or Wortecs if you want the handling advantage of taking 30-40 pounds off your unsprung weight (~$2800).

 

Have to contact Wortec directly or is there a distributor here in the US? What about Brembo vs. Wortec?

Separately to rotors, what else have you done?

 

Contact Wortec directly via email. There might be a vendor in the US, but Wortec can point you in the right direction. As far as my other mods you can see that in my signature that shows up on postings in the forum’s full website.

 

That's scary! COTA is not a brake friendly track. I don't think rotors are your issues, i'm moderately it's your pad compound. I haven't ran porterfield R4-S, and if that's what you have they are a street autox pad which is woefully inadequate for cota. I haven't researched pads for an f type but i'd go an race/enduro pad from whomever makes one. My pad of choice are Raybestos ST43's/47. I have ran carbotech/gloc/cobalts and found them best in performance/dollar. By some chance are you using stability control? i know in other cars it'll overheat brakes in no time.

My immediate suggestion for would be
1. Buy new pads porterfield R4 or R4e or race compound and turn those rotors
2. titanium pad shims, it'll help with heat transfer
3. drive without stability control if you aren't already
4. are the svr rotors one piece? two piece rotor will help with heat girodisc/racing brake/etc
5. still have heat issues? Enlarge the factory ducting?
6. don't track in the summer? lol.

Will you be at Edge Addicts night event or NASA? i'll come say hi if i can make it.

 

Does seem strange that they overheated so quickly. Are you sure there isn't a caliper issue? Given various adjustments, bleeding, pad changes etc is it possible that you have a sticking / faulty caliper. That would over heat them fast...

Let us know what you end up doing and how it performs next time.

 

I am not aware of anyone pushing these on track. Vendor made all kinds of claims, but have these claims ever been independently tested? Especially considering that they have been drilled post hardening process, I expect them to be prone to cracking under tack use.

 

After reading this, my impression that at least some of the issue of overheating brakes is related to driver's input. While I am unfamiliar with that specific track, I would be surprised if trail braking into every corner is needed. Have you considered getting on brakes slightly earlier and getting into the corner slightly slower so you don't need to ride brakes so had? SVR has plenty of power, you don't need to Miata-it out and go into corners with the sole goal of maximizing entry speed.

Honestly? I would have installed a lighter car. F-type is more than adequate for casual track use, but if you intend to drive it 11/10 all the time, it is way too heavy and you will hit mechanical limits to what is possible with the current tire and braking technology.