Took my 5spd up to the Tail of the Dragon(awesome place if U live anywhere near the Tennessee/North Carolina Boarder U have to go there) and I have terrible brake fade after 5-6mins I got fade, I was up there with some guys from Volvospeed, they said my fluid could be the problem any other suggestions to reduce or possible eliminate brake fade I got Ceramic pads on blank rotors I'm on the stock brakes cant do BBK yet

 

when you started having the problem, was the pedal firm and the car just not stopping, or did the pedal get soft and go to the floor?

If the pedal was firm, then your pads are the problem. upgrade to better pads like Hawk HPS or Axxis MetalMaster. "Ceramic" pads doesn't mean much- cheap Autozone pads are ceramic, but so are the pads on a Porsche 911. you need to look at the temperature/friciton curve and look at the max temperature of the pad.


if the pedal went to the floor, then you boiled the brake fluid. you need better stuff.
for a cheap good fluid, I highly recommend Valvoline Synpower. it's nearly the same boiling point of the high $$ race-type fluids, but it only costs $5/quart and you can get it at Autozone.

 

the pedal went soft after a little semi-hard braking the pedal is mush it still stops but U have to push the pedal half-3/4 down for the same performance that U got when U pushed it a 1/4 normally, just wondering if there is anything else I can do to stop fade

 

Start with flushing your old brake fuid out and get some decent fluid in there. I agree with Matt on the Valvoline Synthpower fluid, best bang for the buck fluid I've found. It is also cheap enough I don't feel bad replacing it every few mths.

I track my Z alot and brake fade is a huge issue with the stock brakes. I'm running Hawk HP+ pads they were a big improvement over the performance street pads I had before.

I'm not a big fan of Ceramic pads, they are clean and noise free if that maters too you.

I would suggest a switch to the Hawk HPS (HP+ are loud and dirty) pads and good fluids, that should be a very fade resistant setup for the street.

 

yea thanks for that advice I like the Ceramics because of the low dust cause getting down and cleaning the I30s BBS are a PITA especially if U have big fingers like I do even the standard rim is a problem

 

I know you are asking about brakes but on the the 318 turns in the 9 miles of Dragon you should not be cooking even stock brakes. You need to be in better anticipation of each consecutive corner. Your brakes will run at an even temperature when your entries improve.

That being said, better pads/new fluid/possibly SS lines will improve brake feel plenty.

 

its 11 miles to be exact, im no professional driver I brake when I feel necessary I'd rather do that then try and brake later and total my car its only my second time going to the Dragon anyway so I dont know it like the back of my hand, Id rather have the brakes better suited to my driving than my driving suited for the brakes I know it doesnt make much sense but like I said im no professional

 

ATE Super Blue fluid

+

Hawk HPS pads

=

you'll be just fine.

 

Super Blue FTW!!!!

 

Chances are you are braking too late and too heavy now.
Valid point but you were going hard enough to cook brakes?
I understand what you are saying but proper braking technique will make you faster as well as safer. Keeping the same habits will only lead to the tires being your limiting factor next.
Not sure that anyone on this site is, there is plenty of information out there on how to get the most out of your car and opportunities to get to know your car better (Auto-X, club mountain runs).

Good luck with everything, I only wish I was closer! Did you notice increased police/helicopter patrol? I heard they were increasing measures earlier this year.

 

Ive never been to an Auto X or club meet the only other experience ive had is the drag strip lol unless u consider GT4 experience than no, and im really early on the brakes and not hard on them at all thats why im so concerned about the fade my friend is working on a video of us we made going down the dragon(think im bad, he understeered off the road in the video trying to keep up) I will learn proper braking technique as a become more comfortable with driving the car at that rate of speed and the proper place to learn it.

We want to go back up in the spring I might plan a meet depending on how busy I am with college, but when we were up there we saw only one LEO and that was it and he was at the end of the Dragon, some guy in a Mini came and told us that a cop pulled him over but didnt give him a ticket. it was a good time to be at the Dragon it was empty and we had no cop trouble

 

Sounds nice, I would love to have a meet/weekend at the dragon but there are less Maxima owners that are into that scene. Pay careful attention to your technique during slow and normal driving and it will carry over to pushing the car harder and you can focus on more complex techniques without thinking.

 

braking TOO early and dragging your brakes into the turn is a great way to cook them too. when you brake, you want to brake HARD and get off the brakes. the less time you're clamping the pads onto the rotors, the cooler your brake temps will be- both pads and fluid, which are always the limiting factors on stock(ish) cars.
instead of lightly getting on the brakes 500ft early, wait 300ft and give them a quick- BUT SMOOTH- stab and drop the speed of the car quickly. then get back on the gas through the turn.

with some days at the local road course, your instructors will teach you things like this to help conserve the car. generally things like that will come after a couple of events, but with the driving you're doing, it's good to learn about things like that now. you're past the total n00b at the roadcourse as far as what you're doing with the car.

I do highly suggest going to a few autoXs and track days though to learn how to properly drive the car at the limit. you'll be less dangerous to other people next time to ride the Dragon.

 

Good advice, and smoothness is very important in swift driving. You want to find the limits gradually instead of overstep them quickly.

I have cooked the brakes on more than one occasion (downhill runs pwn me), but I don't see what the big problem is there, I've never felt in danger because of that--you feel the brakes starting to mush, you back off and drive slower. You should never be at the point where you've cooked the brakes so hard that you can't slow in time and you haven't noticed it until that point, unless you are on stock brakes and are braking from 100+mph to 30mph. That is, never drive over 8/10ths on stock brakes. Er, stock 4th gen brakes at least.