Track Brake Pads

[JeffYoung]

In the US, car is a 93.5 SE with the 15/16 inch blacked out Revolution rims. Been looking for some decent track/street hybrid pads and other than offers to make a pad off of a tracing (Hawk, Performance Friction and Carbotech), have had no luck finding a decent pad for the car other than EPC Greenstuffs from JAE. I've heard good/bad things about them -- anyone here have any experience with those pads?

Thanks guys.

Jeff

[AZ88Turbo]

I have been using the Greenstuff for a few months, very happy with them, no fade at all (yes I have tracked the car). If you really want to go "full race" you may want to consider the EBC Redstuff which are made specifically for tracking.

Suggest trying www.tirerack.com for the EBC pads; got a set for about $60 for my car (front).

Hope this helps,

Mark - 88 Turbo

[lotusguy]

Jeff,

A lot will have to do with your level of expectation about the pads. Fact is, the stock brakes on the Esprit are lousy for track work no matter which pad you choose. Some pads will give you more track time before they fade, but only a few laps. If you are contemplating serious track time with your Esprit, you really need to consider addressing airflow to the brakes.

That having been said, the EBC pads do about as good a job as there is to be had, so long as you bake them off and bed them in properly. I have used them at the track at Black Hawk Farms raceway in IL, a 2.5 mi. road course with 26 turns, 13 left and 13 right, little elevation change. The brakes last about 6 laps before going away on this track. I do not have any brake cooling ductwork on my Esprit.

One point, more agressive pads will wear your rotors much more quickly so plan on that expense as well down the road. Happy Motoring!... Jim'85TE

[kylie]

I run the green stuff too, but quite frankly I think they are very average. I have ordered some Mintex M1166 locally which is a special compound for race and usable when they are cold too. The downside is that they will create a bit of dust but wont attack the alloys. Am not bothered about the dust as they get cleaned after every outing anyway.

Sounds like we the same rims too. Except my mag centres have been repainted silver and the rims mirror polished.

[GreenV8S]

lotusguy said:

One point, more agressive pads will wear your rotors much more quickly so plan on that expense as well down the road. Happy Motoring!... Jim'85TE

Very true, but the EBC Greens are spectacularly bad from the point of view of disc wear when you work them hard. They averaged about two sets of pads per disc when I used them. On the plus side they have really good high temperature performance on the track and make almost no dust in normal road use. This can be a disadvantage, the pads will get hot enough to boil the fluid without fading so you need to make sure you have really good spec fresh fluid if you're going on track.

[feffman]

Jeff:

Contact Matt Nicholson or Larry Narcus at CarboTech Engineering (www.CarboTechEng.com) about their Bobcat (street) or Panther Plus (track) brake pads. I run these on my 1999 Esprit and love them.

If you are a Lotus Ltd. member, you receive a nice discount from them as well.

Mark Pfeffer

[JeffYoung]

Thanks guys. I went the the greens for now, but will take a tracing and get better pads custom made next time.

Mark, I did try Carbotech, especially since they are so close (I'm in NC). No luck for a 93 SE, in fact a lot of good Lotus suppliers don't even have the car listed (they all think it an S4). I may use them for the custom pads, but we will see -- they are great to work with.

Jeff

[JeffYoung]

Thanks guys. I went the the greens for now, but will take a tracing and get better pads custom made next time.

Mark, I did try Carbotech, especially since they are so close (I'm in NC). No luck for a 93 SE, in fact a lot of good Lotus suppliers don't even have the car listed (they all think it an S4). I may use them for the custom pads, but we will see -- they are great to work with.

Jeff