BigBlue said:
Thanks for the correction...I'll put that on my list of things to learn how to do better then.
Hold on just one second....
While heel toe downshifting(The technique of blipping the throttle while braking and before realeasing the clutch when you are slowing down) is a great thing to master for high performance driving AND as a way to help save your transmission from wear, it is NOT the way to slow down a car! That is why you have brakes. Brake pads get changed more often than clutches because brake pads wear faster because of the material they are made out of. And that's the way it should be. You don't want to have to go in for a new clutch every year or less, or worse some more extensive trasmission work. That would be some major $$$. Settle for getting brake pads more often. They are way cheaper to replace. If you are doing track days I can tell you that the brake pad wear you are experiencing is normal if you are using stock brake pads. Additionally, if you are using the regular brake fluid you aren't helpling the situation AND if you have done a day or two of good hard track days your rotors are probably warped by now. Lucky for you there are ways to combat this without spending $3k, trashing your transmission or looking like a complete retard with flower shaped rotors!
1) If those rotors are warped, get some new ones from Mazda. They're cheap. Especially if you qualify to be part of the Mazda Comp program (If you autocross, you can do this). You'll know they're warped if under hard braking you feel a shudder.
2) Change your brake fluid. The Ford(Motorcraft) High Performance Brake Fluid will do the job and it's cheap at $3 per bottle at the Ford dealership. But make sure you bleed the brakes a little more often than you normally would because this stuff doesn't reject moisture as good as regular old brake fluid. It does, however, have a higher boiling point which is great if you are really working the brakes at track days and such because the fluid will not boil as easily causing the whole sytem to go south.
3) Change to high performance brake pads. I have been using Hawk HPS pads on the front and stocks on the rear and they are working great for track, autocross and street use. They last WAY longer and grip better. They also help keep the heat down so that I'm not boiling the fluid as easy. I went to a track day and wore my stock pads down from a little over half to useless in that one day! Stock is fine for the back but don't use them in the front.
The Hawk HPS pads need a littl bit of heat in them to get to their best grip so you'll have to drive for a few minutes before they are just right, bu they are tons better than stock. I am going to switch to the Hawk Blues if and when these HPS' wear out. They are supposed to be even better and they warm up quicker than the HPS. NOTE: I've been told that the Hawk pads are tough on rotor wear but I haven't noticed anything horrible yet myself. Nor have I noticed anything horrible on the Spec Miata racecars I work on that use Hawk Blues.
4) Switching to a stainless steel braided brake line can also improve your brake feel as well. I haven't done this because it takes me out of the stock class for autocross. But I've felt the difference in Miatas and it's better.
If you are looking for better braking follow the above advice first before you go through spending all that money and you'll probably find that you'll be more than satisfied with your braking performance. Also, use heel toe downshifting for what it was meant for, giving you a way to smoothly downshift while braking so that you can smoothly transition to a lower gear without upsetting the vehicle when entering a corner and giving you the proper gear for exiting the corner all in one smooth motion. Also, it saves the transmission because you are doing the work for the syncros and the downshift can be made quicker and smoother because you can do the job of the syncros quicker this way.
Sorry for the long post. Just didn't want to see you get misguided...