Track forum general chit chat.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by ayao

What kind of longevity are you getting out of the Cobalts? I'm in front brake pad shopping mode.

Unfortunately, not much longevity. This is because of three factors;
-I track with MDM on
-the tracks I visited were hard on brakes
-the ap J-hook rotors tend to eat pads at a slightly higher rate.

I got one day at Sonoma, one day at laguna, and about two seasons at willow springs before the pads were done.
I did like the pads, lots of torque and bite, easy to modulate and trail brake with. Good stuff. Another thing I liked was they let me know they were done without chunking off.

[ayao]

Are you going to get another set or look for something more longevity? Talked to Andie today btw and tried to give you the referral credit but when I said uhhh he’s a dude on the M3 forum named “roastbeef” ...

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by ayao

Are you going to get another set or look for something more longevity? Talked to Andie today btw and tried to give you the referral credit but when I said uhhh he's a dude on the M3 forum named "roastbeef" ...

Lol it's mike. I would buy their pads again, absolutely. I have a set of endless me20 pads front/rear that I still need to try.
I tried a set of ds1.11's (endurance pad) and wasn't crazy about it. Didn't have a lot of torque and I was tripping the abs looking for more with my foot.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

Unfortunately, not much longevity. This is because of three factors;
-I track with MDM on
-the tracks I visited were hard on brakes
-the ap J-hook rotors tend to eat pads at a slightly higher rate.

I got one day at Sonoma, one day at laguna, and about two seasons at willow springs before the pads were done.
I did like the pads, lots of torque and bite, easy to modulate and trail brake with. Good stuff. Another thing I liked was they let me know they were done without chunking off.

I track my consumables in terms of minutes, though if you rotate between a lot of tracks with wildly different braking zones, this becomes a bit trickier. I'm on a quest to lower consumable costs.

Right now, my DTC-60s on the front axle have 369 minutes of track usage on them, and half the pad is gone (started at 10mm, down to 5mm now). I figure I can still get at least another 100-120 minutes out of them, which is about a day and a half. I'm not sure if it was the switch back to PSS tires, the new DBA T3 5000 rotors, or just better driving, but this set of DTC-60s is lasting a lot longer than my previous set did. The rears seem to last about twice as long as the fronts.

Still, at $320 for the front axle, that's just under $1/minute of track time for front pads alone. Don't even ask about running costs of these tires...

[ayao]

You just talked me out of getting a C7 GS...(for now)

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by dparm

I track my consumables in terms of minutes, though if you rotate between a lot of tracks with wildly different braking zones, this becomes a bit trickier. I'm on a quest to lower consumable costs.

Right now, my DTC-60s on the front axle have 369 minutes of track usage on them, and half the pad is gone (started at 10mm, down to 5mm now). I figure I can still get at least another 100-120 minutes out of them, which is about a day and a half. I'm not sure if it was the switch back to PSS tires, the new DBA T3 5000 rotors, or just better driving, but this set of DTC-60s is lasting a lot longer than my previous set did. The rears seem to last about twice as long as the fronts.

Still, at $320 for the front axle, that's just under $1/minute of track time for front pads alone. Don't even ask about running costs of these tires...

Just remember that the last 50% of pad life is going to be less than the first 50%. That is interesting that you track it by minutes. Do you keep a journal?

[dparm]

Originally Posted by ayao

You just talked me out of getting a C7 GS...(for now)

Gotta pay to play. It turns out some pretty serious performance numbers for a stock street car at that price point. You want something that can hang with it on the track, it's gonna get you into the $125k club. What do you think running costs on something like that is? Really, getting 8 hours of track time on a set of pads isn't too bad, if you ask me. Depending on who you run with, that's like 4-6 track days.

Originally Posted by roastbeef

Just remember that the last 50% of pad life is going to be less than the first 50%. That is interesting that you track it by minutes. Do you keep a journal?

Right, hence my estimation there's maybe 120-180 minutes left. And yes, I have a spreadsheet on OneDrive that I track things with: date, track, configuration, minutes, best lap time, car setup, weather, etc.

[roastbeef]

Just because I'm on vacation doesn't mean I can't get faster! Lol

[Rizvi]

I have almost the same situation. Just sold my ED Smart fortwo, never letting go of my E90 M3!

Next for me will be the Porsche Taycan, yes the name is stupid, but I've been following the Mission E for some time and the main purpose of the ED was to try out and electric car. The M3 will become a garage queen, next sports cars for me will be an M2 competition and eventually a 911, maybe a GT3; we'll see though- that's at least 10 years away.

[Rizvi]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

Hard to believe it's been three years already. I don't know why I get so attached to machines, but I'm going to miss this little guy. Small car with a lot of personality. With just over 29,000 miles on him, he paid for himself in the savings from the three sets of tires I would have had to put on the M3. Not to mention the cost of the 125+ refuelings that would have taken in my gas car. Godspeed, little one.

I have almost the same situation. Just sold my ED Smart fortwo, never letting go of my E90 M3!

Next for me will be the Porsche Taycan, yes the name is stupid, but I've been following the Mission E for some time and the main purpose of the ED was to try out and electric car. The M3 will become a garage queen, next sports cars for me will be an M2 competition and eventually a 911, maybe a GT3; we'll see though- that's at least 10 years away.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Rizvi

I have almost the same situation. Just sold my ED Smart fortwo, never letting go of my E90 M3!

Next for me will be the Porsche Taycan, yes the name is stupid, but I've been following the Mission E for some time and the main purpose of the ED was to try out and electric car. The M3 will become a garage queen, next sports cars for me will be an M2 competition and eventually a 911, maybe a GT3; we'll see though- that's at least 10 years away.

It was a really good car. I love how it was hyper focused on being cheap. I enjoy focused cars, my truck, the m3, and the smart. I really miss the oddness if the smart. Feeling the weight transfer in turns was fun. I can see how people go crazy and buy coilovers and superchargers for the gas versions. Most of all, I liked bombing up driveways without a care about ground clearance.
I'm considering buying a used one off Craigslist for $5k.

[Silverstoneorspacegray]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

It was a really good car. I love how it was hyper focused on being cheap. I enjoy focused cars, my truck, the m3, and the smart. I really miss the oddness if the smart. Feeling the weight transfer in turns was fun. I can see how people go crazy and buy coilovers and superchargers for the gas versions. Most of all, I liked bombing up driveways without a care about ground clearance.
I'm considering buying a used one off Craigslist for $5k.

Now you've got my attention. I need a car to drive to the train station when I move out of the city this summer. I'm not at all happy about leaving my M there.

Anything go wrong with yours, any advice?

[roastbeef]

The electric versions are only sold in a few states. It was a fantastic car. The only issue I had was the oem charger took a dump about two months before the lease was up, and they didn't want to warranty it. I borrowed one from a friend and was fine.
If your commute is about 50 miles round trip, you'll love this car.
Gas versions have their own issues and I'm not familiar with those.

I purposefully bombed through 1' puddles at 40 mph when it was raining and the car didn't complain. Pretty sure it lifted off of the ground, too. Lol I really beat the piss out of it. It's a leased car, so I'm gonna put it through the ringer. Tough little car.

[kayha12]

Can someone point me in the direction of brake duct "kits"? Is Hard Motorsports the only option out there? TIA!

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by kayha12

Can someone point me in the direction of brake duct "kits"? Is Hard Motorsports the only option out there? TIA!

I can't recommend their kits. Someone bought their $400 kit a while back a it was some cheap 3D printed vents that require you cutting into your fender liners and intake/transmission cooler ducting.
This wasn't my personal experience, just an observation and it is just not a product I would consider, especially at that price point.

[Mantii]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

I can't recommend their kits. Someone bought their $400 kit a while back a it was some cheap 3D printed vents that require you cutting into your fender liners and intake/transmission cooler ducting.
This wasn't my personal experience, just an observation and it is just not a product I would consider, especially at that price point.

None of the Hard Motorsport stuff fits right. Didn't have the greatest experience with their door panels either and probably would advise you to go a different route as well unless you like bleeding knuckles and enough swear words to write a book

[kayha12]

hahah thanks for the feedbacks guys.. will steer clear

[dparm]

So who are the reputable manufacturers with true monoblock forged wheels? I don't want rotary forged, flow formed, or anything like that. So far, I know of:

BBS
HRE
Volk/Rays
CCW
Forgeline
American Racing

Not interested in boutique or startup companies, I'm talking legit manufacturers who supply race teams and stand behind their product. My car has flow formed wheels from the factory that are proving to be rather soft given the roads around here and the track usage.

[roastbeef]

Rkp 18" FI's?

[dparm]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

Rkp 18" FI's?

???

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by dparm

???

https://ind-distribution.com/product?sku=RKP-FI-18

Edit- forgot you're part of the jean shorts white hair club. Maybe see what the spec corvette guys are running?

[slicer]

Originally Posted by dparm

So who are the reputable manufacturers with true monoblock forged wheels? I don't want rotary forged, flow formed, or anything like that. So far, I know of:

BBS
HRE
Volk/Rays
CCW
Forgeline
American Racing

Not interested in boutique or startup companies, I'm talking legit manufacturers who supply race teams and stand behind their product. My car has flow formed wheels from the factory that are proving to be rather soft given the roads around here and the track usage.

For which car?