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[Tricky]

Morning all.

Well after my minature track day at castle coombe on Saturday, braking woes reared its ugly head. After a few laps, (where I didn't really work the brakes that hard) they were cooked. I would say they were just about to fade as I came in - they absolutly stunk.

Bearing in mind, this was in the wet, so I couldn't brake that hard and not lock up, I think it'll be shocking in the dry with some abient heat...

What pads/disks do people use? And has anyone tried braided hoses on there omega? I use them on my 5. Does EBC of Ferodo do anything for the MV6?

Thanks.

[albitz]

there is a thread running in the omega gallery from a usa member who has just done some serious work to his brakes,might be of use/interest to you

[Kevin Wood]

EBC red or yellow might be worth a try on am Omega. I've heard good things about the Ferodo DS range too but haven't tried them. Beware that some high performance pads are not recommended for road use so fitting them to a road car could be bad news.

However, it's normal for them to whiff if they haven't been used hard for a while. Did you get any other symptoms other than them smelling a bit hot?

Was the pedal still firm or did it go spongey or solid?

I'm not sure what advantage braided hoses would give in this situation. I would resolve any fade issues before changing anything else, TBH.

Remember that brake fluid becomes more important than ever when the brakes are getting to high temperatures. Any moisture in the fluid will boil off under extreme temperatures and give you a spongey pedal and fading performance. If the fluid hasn't been changed in the last year or two I would flush it through. Using DOT5.1 fluid will give better high temperature performance than DOT4. Don't be tempted to use silicone fluid though.

Kevin

[Tricky]

Yeah, cheers Kev. I run some pretty special things on the 5 and as it's a hillclimber, I need everything to work from cold.

To be honest, I didn't really notice any real symptoms on the omega other than the brakes stunk and were cooked, i could feel that on the way home.

It's not going to be a huge track day regular, as i'll be putting my 5 back into action soon, but I'm going to the 'ring again in may so wanted to iron some bugs out of the omega before then.

I may fanny about with som air ducting to the fronts, as there doesn't seem to be great airflow over them, this may help. I am in need of new front pads now though, so i'll have a sniff round and see whats about.

I'll report any findings.

[Debs.]

In a similar vein, but not with a car: I had problems with my homebuilt aircraft`s disc-brakes:
The 'standard' aircraft disc brakes have to work at 100% effectiveness from very-cold....but often, I found their limits if one full stop landing was followed quickly by another.....then they went 'soggy' and ineffective thereafter and needed replacing.
I discovered that there are semi-ceramic friction-disc pad formulations which appear 'speckled whitish' rather than the usual dark coloured pads.
I bought a pair some years ago and have never suffered heat-saturation fade or premature wear since!
The semi-ceramic pads did require a particular type of thermal 'conditioning' to achieve full/long life; which if I remember was specified as several 'very-fast to nearly full-stop' taxi runs but without ever actually stopping.
I wonder if the same type of semi-ceramic friction-material is available for sport/performance car use?  

[Kevin Wood]

I was once complimented by a gliding instructor on how neatly I landed, and pulled up just adjacent to the launch point for another go.

.. then he smelt the brake pads and realised I'd just dumped it on the ground and stood on the brakes.  

I don't do that sort of thing now, of course. Our wheel brake doesn't work, for a start.

Kevin

[Phil]

As a word of warning i changed the front discs to EBC grooved and green stuff pads on my MV6 and on the CDX, both cracked alarmingly after less than 10,000 miles, the CDX doesnt get worked anywhere near as hard as the MV6 so it was a bit worrying.

Cross drilled and grooved appears to have solved the cracking issue.

For the options of disc and pad combinations try here:- http://www.motorsportworld.co.uk/

Fairly cheap and have quite a few options for the Omega, were very helpfull when i used them

Alternatively have a look here :- http://www.europerformance.co.uk/pages/products/search_car/product.mhtml?car=vauxhallomega They advertised the braided hose kits as well

[Tricky]

Much more like it, thanks Phil.

[markey mark]

i have ebc redstuff in my mv6 and find them very good !!

[Omegatoy]

std brakes are fine after 179miles of track use on very high speed track last weekend no fading or spongey pedal, answer dot 5.1 brakefluid!!!

[jemis]

Try black diamond grooved discs with ebc red stuff pads, I had this set up on my cossie a few years ago and they worked well. I replaced them with EBC drilled and grooved discs and red stuff pads which didn't feel as good under hard driving conditions but never cooked themselves. problem was after 2000 miles they were starting to crack round the drilled holes.

I now run 330mm 6 pots which are brill but they are expensive so you have to way up your options.

[Nextgen]

Am currently running in a full set of EBC drilled/grooved fronts, EBC plain rears, Red Stuff all round. I'll let you know how they do ;-)

[prestigesec]

I uprated discs, pads, fluids, braided lines the lot on my subaru and still cooked them on track!!! Finally i stumped the money up for some 6pot racing ap's with ferodo ds2500 pads, they are alright on the road when cold but once you get them on track and warm them up the stopping you get is just rediculous you wouldnt think it possible to scrub speed that quick and remember good brakes on track is worth more than trying to get a bit more power out of car.

At the end of the day you get what you pay for, i tried the cheaper route 1st with pads an all that but if am honest didnt make drastic improvements. If you can afford it then go for ap's i promise you will not be dissapointed.

Forgot to mention go for grooved discs not drilled if your taking it on track as drilled will crack in no time.