First track day and Q's
Discussion
First track (airfield) day on Friday - what a superb day out! The main purpose for going was to experience the limits of road holding my car has - and after leaving the track 5 times, I’m now pretty sure I know! 
Had some excellent tuition from a former Tuscan racer - top man. I was concerned before the event that I might damage my pride & joy but all is well.
Testing the car to its (I mean my) limit has highlighted shortcomings in the car - as well as my driving ability. After only 10mins the instructor diagnosed an imbalance in the brakes - the offside rear has greater braking than the nearside and the front/rear bias is far too much in favour of the rear. This made braking heavily (from 135 into a hairpin!) interesting at times! His diagnosis seems spot on as by the end of the day, the rear wheels were almost completely black (offside darker) and the fronts only a pale grey. Contributing to this problem is that rear pads were required at its last service and I was recommended to have Greenstuff pads fitted. The fronts are original.
Questions to the wise:
1. How can I make sure the imbalance between rear wheels is corrected without waiting to find out at a track day?
2. Any ideas re the poor performance of my front brakes?
3. I noticed that the inside edge of each rear tyre has worn more than elsewhere - is this normal?
Anyone not willing to attend a track day for fear of harming their car should think again. The experience gained has detected a potentially dangerous fault with my car which I previously considered was in perfect condition (and so did the specialist that looks after it). I can highly recommend the experience.
Had some excellent tuition from a former Tuscan racer - top man. I was concerned before the event that I might damage my pride & joy but all is well. Testing the car to its (I mean my) limit has highlighted shortcomings in the car - as well as my driving ability. After only 10mins the instructor diagnosed an imbalance in the brakes - the offside rear has greater braking than the nearside and the front/rear bias is far too much in favour of the rear. This made braking heavily (from 135 into a hairpin!) interesting at times! His diagnosis seems spot on as by the end of the day, the rear wheels were almost completely black (offside darker) and the fronts only a pale grey. Contributing to this problem is that rear pads were required at its last service and I was recommended to have Greenstuff pads fitted. The fronts are original.
Questions to the wise:
1. How can I make sure the imbalance between rear wheels is corrected without waiting to find out at a track day?
2. Any ideas re the poor performance of my front brakes?
3. I noticed that the inside edge of each rear tyre has worn more than elsewhere - is this normal?
Anyone not willing to attend a track day for fear of harming their car should think again. The experience gained has detected a potentially dangerous fault with my car which I previously considered was in perfect condition (and so did the specialist that looks after it). I can highly recommend the experience.
There was one other TVR there - a Chim 500 - which had standard brakes but had more brake dust on the front wheels than the rears. Maybe that is down to the Greenstuff pads on my car as you say. I know the rear disks are larger but I thought this might be more than made up for by the bigger callipers on the front?
I increased pressure by 3lbs front and rear.
I increased pressure by 3lbs front and rear.
An update and yet more questions…
Having investigated upgrading the brakes I realised that it was more than I could afford at this time. So, instead I asked Peninsula to strip and overhaul the front and rear callipers and fit greenstuff pads to the front (already on the back).
Driving yesterday I tried two emergency stops one after the other from about 60 mph. Smooth asphalt road, dead straight, slightly downhill. On the second attempt I pushed the pedal as hard as I could. To my surprise there was not even the slightest hint that the wheels could have locked up. The deceleration was pretty good but not fantastic - no obvious fault - but I can’t believe I was unable to lock the wheels. The pedal felt solid and not spongy. Steve’s book mentions that he can lock the wheels with the standard brakes - so are my brakes not working properly? I am still inclined to think that my rear brakes are doing most of the work - is there something I can do to test this unequivocally?
Please put me out of my misery if I am worrying about nothing!!
Garry
Having investigated upgrading the brakes I realised that it was more than I could afford at this time. So, instead I asked Peninsula to strip and overhaul the front and rear callipers and fit greenstuff pads to the front (already on the back).
Driving yesterday I tried two emergency stops one after the other from about 60 mph. Smooth asphalt road, dead straight, slightly downhill. On the second attempt I pushed the pedal as hard as I could. To my surprise there was not even the slightest hint that the wheels could have locked up. The deceleration was pretty good but not fantastic - no obvious fault - but I can’t believe I was unable to lock the wheels. The pedal felt solid and not spongy. Steve’s book mentions that he can lock the wheels with the standard brakes - so are my brakes not working properly? I am still inclined to think that my rear brakes are doing most of the work - is there something I can do to test this unequivocally?
Please put me out of my misery if I am worrying about nothing!!
Garry
quote:
You need to bed in the pads/and discs. Unless this is done the pads have the grip of soggy toilet tissue.
I also find that Greenstuff can be a bit iffy from cold at the bets of times.
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
Many thanks for your reply Steve. The pads have been on the car for about 400 miles now and I have done a progressive braking process (stopping from 30, then 40 then 50) which I had hoped would have bedded them in. When I tested them yesterday I had been driving for about 30 mins some of them with enthusiasm! Does this background make a difference?
Agree entirely - I didn't misinterpret your advice. The track is the place. I had delayed booking my next one because I didn't want to waste the day with brakes that were not performing to spec. The last day was hampered by a brake imbalance - if they were not stopping properly that would be a track day wasted.
Experienced TVR’ers knew all along but I’m fairly new to all this. After a session of heavy braking on a deserted road, my brakes are transformed. Serious braking power from standard brakes with EBC pads. The pads obviously take a long time/serious abuse to bed in - under normal road driving conditions it might take forever!
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