Quote:
Originally Posted by JAJ
I do open lapping days at Mission Raceway Park, a short 1.8 mile track with 9 corners. Very technical, high fuel consumption, murder on brakes.
With the factory brakes, I had to brake early and essentially let the howing (with RS-19's) be my guide to brake management. If I went beyond the high pitched howl, they'd start to fade badly and the pedal would head toward the floor. Heel and toe was challenging, to say the least. Every corner was a combo of brake management and steering rhythm. You could go fast, but every time out was a challenge to make sure you didn't overheat and lose the brakes for the day.
The AP brakes don't object to anything I've done with them so far. There's a hairpin at the end of the Mission pit straight. I tried going deeper and deeper into the hairpin, and finally knocked nearly 300' off my braking point. At that point I was running out of tires instead. The brakes were fine, but the car was so out of balance on the corner entry that my times got worse. That's why I said I had to re-learn braking - they'll do anything I ask so now I'm working on better questions, if you catch my drift.
There is a confidence issue too. I ran one day recently at Portland International Raceway. I had a great instructor who really knew the track, but I kept having trouble with the visual of staying full throttle much deeper into the corners than I'd ever gone before. I only had 80 minutes of track time to get readjusted, and I really need another hour or two to get it right.
So, to answer your question - "it's both" - confidence and outright performance at a totally new level (at least for me in this car).
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Thanks for the detailed feedback. Yes, by "latter", I also meant "both"--poor wording. I am not surprised that a high quality setup like this one will yield improvements on both fronts.
Another question: I found that SS line and Castrol fluid improved pedal feel/firmness significantly in the stock setup. What lines and fluid were you running with the stock system?