Stickier tires need stickier brakes

Hi, all. So, first post. Nice to meet you. I love sticky summer tires and have had Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R tires on my Protege 5 for the past couple of years. They are so sticky, though, they overwhelm whatever OEM-style brake pads are currently on the vehicle and I can't get the car to skid on dry tarmac no matter how hard I stand on the brakes.

If only my pads had a tad more friction, thought I, I bet I could slow down even quicker and in shorter distance

I'm an HPDE enthusiast and I use Carbotech and G-LOC brake compounds on my track car. Unfortunately, Carbotech/G-LOC only have pads for the OEM front caliper, not the rear. I kind of like the idea of keeping the brake balance the way it is, so don't want to put dissimilar compounds front to back on this car.

So I settled on Stoptech Street pads 308.08920 rear and 308.06370 front and some new blank rotors. Centric high carbon 125.45049 for the rear, and Beck Arnley 0832522 for the front.

I'll report on whether I can finally get my front tires to skid on dry tarmac a couple weeks after the parts arrive. Wish me luck!

Has anyone else encountered anything similar? If so, what was your solution?

Mazda6 (non-MSP) calipers, rotors, pads, etc are a direct drop-in to the Protege/Protege5's front spindle. It's a cheap big-break upgrade, and has done me well in my races. Slap in some aggressive pads like Hawk pads and some sturdier rotors, and that thing will take a beating! I can already aggressively threshold brake, but I can only imagine how much better it'd be with the aforementioned racing rotors and pads, and maybe some braided steel brakelines.

I still run the OEM rear brake set-up, but the size mismatch has not disturbed the balance of the vehicle...much. When I brake, the rear really hops up thanks to the better stopping power up front, but never has it swung around on me while trail breaking or jabbing them pre to mid-apex.

EDIT: I'm also envious of your RE-71Rs! I'm one of the very few people in my class not running them, and it makes the fight that much harder.

Riot_Polizei said:

, and maybe some braided steel brakelines.

Click to expand...

Doh. You know what? My brake lines might be old and squishy, thus not transferring all my pedal force to the calipers. I didn't think of that until now. Hmmmm. Well, I know what the next change will be if the pad/rotor friction is still not enough to overcome tire/road friction. Thanks for the idea, RP.

What tires do you run in your class? Re-71Rs are stickier, but don't last as long on track as say Hankook RS-4s.

Aye man, glad I could give you some ideas.

I run some Yokohama S.Drives, and they've done well for the deal price I got them at. But they're sure as hell not RE-71Rs, and a lot of people can run circles around me!

To clarify, I don't participaye in the SCCA. I'm in a time attack hosted by a racetrack with their own set of rules. I'm unfortunatey the biggest and heaviest car in my class. My compettitors are primarily Miatas with stock internals but lots of suspension work and RE71R tires, with the odd CRX, civic, or MR2.