1st time on a racetrack

[Donald]

Today I had my first drive on a real racetrack.

The National Auto Sport Assosiation (NASA) were having High Performance Driver Education classes (HPDE) along with other events at Virginia International Raceway.
I took part in their Hyperdrive.
What the Hyperdrive is, is that you get a 1/2 hour classroom on driving on a racetrack, passing, being passed, and flag protocol. Then you get to drive your car on the track for a 1/2 hour, with an instructor along with you to show you the track line and give you pointers on accelerating, braking and turning.
I think I had the slowest car on the track, but I passed a 3 series BMW. The other cars all ran away from me on the straights, but I was catching up to some of them in the corners. (even as I was smelling my brakes)
The Porsche Cayman, Subaru WRX and Nissan 350Z blew by me on the back straight like I was in reverse.

GODDAM!!! What a blast!!!

I have learnt that the AE92 GT-S brakes are not designed for racetrack use.

After one lap, at the end of a nice long straight, I experienced brake fade. It wasn't really bad, but it was enough for me to plan my braking a little earllier at the end of the straights.
This needs some attention!

I highly recommend trying this if there is an event within reasonable distance from where you live.

Go to the NASA website (link below) and check out you reagional club for events. It costs one year membership ($45) plus $50 for the event. With the membership, you get a free years subscriotion to Grassroots Motorsports magazine also.

http://www.nasaracing.net/nasa_regions.htm

I drove an hour to get there for a 1/2 hour drive on the track, and I think it was well worth it to see how me and my car perform on a real racetrack.

[REN69]

Haha.. nice, it's a good experience for sure, I did a couple of runs on an oval track last year, it was fun but nowhere as brake demanding as full track.

I'm hoping to do the Mosport DDT events regularly this year, nice track (go kart track) and it has a lot of nice turns and some decent straights, I'll have to overhaul my front brakes for sure this year as last time I didn't do them as good as I would've wished to.

[Ghostyman]

That must have been loads of fun. I'm hoping to attend a similar event this year. I'd really like to get a shot at Laguna Seca.

[jmaz87]

yes i definitely think we need a definitive solution for racing... these brakes just don't cut it...

say weren't you using ae101 hubs, brakes and such???

[Donald]

I had tried the brakes off a '93 DX, (AE101) and they really made a difference, but everything didn't fit right, so I put the originals back on. This week I am going to try and do a propper and complete conversion to the '93 brakes by swapping the '93 hub into the '89 steering knuckle, I think that will do it. If not, I will take the '93 steering knuckle to a machine shop and have the bottom lug shaved so it can be bolted on securely.

I also am doubting that I am getting enough brake pressure to the rears, as my rear disks hardly show any signs of brake application. With the rear off the ground the wheels stop when the brakes are applied, but I want to check out the pressure limiter to see if it is not locking off the rears too soon. That could be a major part of why my fronts are working so hard.

I will start a new thread on that if I find anything.

But yeah!! Yesterday was fun!!!

[REN69]

hmmm... a nice bleed maybe, I know that's one of the things I need for mine... they're already fading a bit as it is.

[jmaz87]

this is pretty important stuff IMO

i was a bit confused comparing my proportioning valve to the gts are the master cylinder's different?

[freakinbox]

change out the fluid, and buy really good pads and rotors, if you really want to you can go all out and do the flex lines and calipers too. Stock brakes usually aren't meant for the track and the issue of fading comes down to having regular rotors and pads. I can't see the problem getting better if you use the 93's brakes if you stick with the stock components.

Drilled and sloted rotor and some ceramic pads. Basically trying to keep the brakes from heating up and staying hot.

Also can't really see what style your rims are since they are moving in the picture lol, but I would say you want them to be as open as possible for the track to let the most amount of air in. Got to give the heat ways to get out rather than hold it in.

[eage8]

what pads are you running donald?

I would say that's probably your biggest problem. Most people change their pads when they go to the track. Corollas are so light, I'd imagine their stock brakes are fine.

also, what kind of brake fluid are you using?

[jmaz87]

they are fine for about 3 turns then fade, increased pedal effort yada yada....

high speed braking is where i notice it most... it feels like the brakes just don't know what to do, maybe some slotted rotors will help

[toyotaspeed90]

I personally haven't had any problems using off the shelf ceramic pads with stock rotors...... that being said, the ae92 doesn't need to be braked a lot..... (also depends on the course and how many/long the straights are)

proportioning valves are different as the bias is different on a rear drum setup.

As for aftermarket pads, there are tons of cars that use the same pads as the fronts of the ae92.... all ae92 pads are the same and also fit:

aw11's
early 90's tercels (unsure of later years)
ae86's

the base part number that's shared is 242.... most companies follow the same number scheme as one another making it easy..... but this also means that all those aftermarket pads for the front (stock) of an ae86 are the same in an aw11 and ae92....

[eage8]

Hawk sells Blues and HT-10s for the fronts, so that's not really an issue... Any car will have problems going to a track with stock OEM brake pads. they're not designed for it.

I have Hawk HPSs on the front of my SR5 and they're great.

[idrum2loud]

i LOVE VIR....i drifted on the Patriot course many times, and i love the racing gas at the pumps : )

Sounds like fun, my AE92 would sound like Wall-E when he first wakes up and probably self destruct.

[Donald]

Ok. I am going to try and respond to all.
I flushed out the whole system on Thursday, so bleeding is not the problem.
The pads I am using are Bendix, I think, from Advance Auto Parts.
The front rotors are one year old.
Fluid is Advance Auto Parts brand.
I am thinking of replacing my proportioning valve, just for the hell of it, if it isn't too expensive.

The AE101 rotors and calipers produce quite a difference in feel and stopping power compared to the GT-S brakes. With the AE101 brakes, my GT-S stopped almost as well as my V6 Camry, which has excellent brakes in my opinion. The required pedal effort was a lot less and the resulting braking force was noticeably better. I just got an extra pair of AE92 steering knuckles and hope to have them built up with the AE101 brakes before the end of this week.

I was following my instructor as far as braking at the track.
Left to my own devices, I probably would have used less brakes on that track, but ofcourse, the guy doesn't know me or my car's capabilities, so he was being a little conservative, as I would probably have been if I was in the same position.

I don't plan on racing my car (anytime soon at least) so I believe from my past experience with the AE101 brakes, I will be good with those for a daily driver and autocross.
Some better pads might not be a bad idea though, and maybe better quality brake fluid. Experience is the best teacher.

There were a couple officials at the track that came up to me and said that they were very pleased to see my GT-S out there. One of the guys said that he has 3 FX16s. The other didn't say what he had, but I did see a really clean '80s Celica near by where he was.

[TonkaTom]

That is very cool, I'd love to drive around a track.