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re: Let's talk brakes for a moment.

To: spridgets@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: re: Let's talk brakes for a moment.
From: CONAN@RALVM8.VNET.IBM.COM
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 98 21:55:55 EST
Reply-to: CONAN@RALVM8.VNET.IBM.COM
Sender: owner-spridgets@Autox.Team.Net
  First off; what class are you running? :-)
  I havn't run a prepared car against modern competition, but I doubt if
you need to go -too- crazy on brakes if your typical run is about 1 minute.
Handling and Horses will count more. (Personal opinion!)
  However; MAKE SURE YOUR STOCK SETUP IS WORKING AT IT'S OPTIMUM!!
  Keep the rear shoes adjusted properly.  You don't have time to pump the
pedal to firm it up.
  For the same reason, make sure your rotors are 'true'.  If they're warped
they'll push the pads back into the calipers a bit and you have to push the
pedal farther before they start clamping down on the rotors good.  Having
the rear brakes good and the fronts not can cause you to start locking the
rears early which can lead to spins.  The -only- way to save a run after a
spin is if -everybody- else in class does something even worse. :-) :-)
  A harder compound might be good, but not TOO hard.  If you use full-race
compound pads/shoes you'll be halfway (or more) thru your run before they
get up to operating temperature.  Unpredictability is a -bad- thing. ;-)
  Slotted rotors (not drilled) might help a bit; but again, how much junk
can build up during a 60-second run?  They'll cool down fine between runs
(assuming your club doesn't let you get away with back-to-back runs. ;-) ).
  I'd guess the big brakes would be the most useful, also the most expensive.
And, yet again, can your stock brakes repeatedly lock up your competition
tires?
   Ed in NC  (who hasn't autocrossed regularly in years,
 :-) :-) :-)  and never seriously, so take it with a grain (or two) of salt.

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