donistook

We raced at Watkins Glen on the 22nd...sat on the pole but were made to start from the back (37th) due to a fueling infraction. The officials at impound totally drained our fuel cell, pumped the pumps and filters and lines dry and then refilled our cell and pressurized the lines, as well as filled the filler neck. Our car held 20.4 gallons instead of the 20 gallon maximum capacity, so they made us start from the rear of the field.

At the start of the race, Alex, my codriver went from 37th overall to 1st in class in 5 laps...quite a feat! In doing so, a competitor turned into Alex and damaged our right front fender and then the left front fender as he spun. After about 10 laps, the right front intercooler mount that was damaged in the crash failed and the intercooler upper hose tore away. We had to pit twice to make lasting repairs, so we lost about 4-5 laps.

Here is the point of my story...along the way we SMOKED our brakes...wore new pads down to the backing plates in 2 hours and 20 minutes. We melted the aluminum pistons of the Brembos against the steel backing plates, warping them so you could see the imprint of the piston on them, and totally wore the friction lining away so the backing plate basically bonded to the rotors. We dropped out of the race at that point because we couldn't effectively repair it without rebuilding the brakes.

We went to Virginia International the next weekend (last thursday) for the next race. We decided to try to reuse the STOPTECH rotors just for the first practice season, but we were thinking that they would probably be warped. With a grinding wheel, we polished off the melted pad material...it was not a pretty site...but..hey!, lets give it a try. We installed some used pads, thinking that we would ruin those on these rotors. During the practice session, the brakes worked perfectly...pulling the S4 down from 140 with ease. After the session, we inspected the pads...they looked fine...and the rotors now looked perfectly normal. We wound up using those rotors for all of the practice and qualifying sessions...and even used them in the 3 hour race...they performed flawlessly.

Guys...we are sold on STOPTECH rotors. I have raced cars a long time and ruined many a brake rotor. I had a long talk with Steve Ruiz from SOPTECH at the track...he really knows his brake theory and the metallurgy of the rotors.

Check out the technical information on their website. They really do produce a superior product

AlanL

even comes vaguely close to the abuse you are describing. Adds new levels of confidence to having them on my car.

Thanks for the story.....

donistook

332s...same as their street S$ kit

Milpitas2.7T

Where is Fletcher.. SToptech convo!!!

AlanL

<grin> Thanks - warm fuzzies all over</grin>

RR

session on at least partly bare metal. It did melt the piston boots....but the bare metal actually cleaned up the rotors fairly nicely.

I saved the bare metal pads just in case I pad print the rotors.....kinda like a "road lathe" system.

RR

LCP

Here's the kit I have.<ul><li><a href="http://www.apracing.com/roadcar/caliper/data.asp?family=CP5200">http://www.apracing.com/roadcar/caliper/data.asp?family=CP5200</a</li></ul>

jyoteen

hmmm. worth an investigation. Stoptech rotors fit on my Brembo kit, albeit it was 355mm to 355mm.

LCP

332 only increases radius 1mm -- that could be made up with a 1mm shim on the caliper bracket.

Jason @ Streetwerke

Yes, they are good. Really good. I have put them to the limit many times.