S13 Brake fade

[SX APPEAL]

the other day I took the S13 up my favorite rural twisty backroad, ran it a little harder than usual, and got quite a shock. After only about 8 corners with I'd say about 80% braking effort from 85-90 down to 50-55 in a span of about 5 min, the brakes had faded to the point that when i tried to make a normal effort stop at the end of the route, i overshot the turn and had to back up! I'd never worked the brakes that much before so had no idea how fade prone they really are.

I have brembo crossdrilled and slotted stock sized rotors and top of the line wagner pads. I can't afford to upgrade to 300zx brakes or any other big brake setup right now but was wondering how much of an affect changing out the fluid from the worn out old DOT 3 stuff to some more performance oriented DOT 4 fluid would have. I've seen some online with dry boiling points over 600 so i figure that ought to be sufficiant to keep the fade down for spirited driving. Has anyone used any of the high performance fluids and if so with what results?

[gumby74]

Don't look at the dry boiling point. Look at the wet boiling point.The dry boiling point is based on perfectly clean, fresh, sterile fluid, none of which last more than a few minutes after pouring into your brake system. Thats where the wet boiling point comes into effect, and is usually, in most cases almost half of the dry boiling point.240sx brakes suck. They can be improved. But for the most part....suck.

[crackler]

First off, you cross drilled and slotted rotors won't help you slow down any more than a normal rotor, or help prevent brake fade. And bigger brakes won't help you slow down anymore either. They are more for better heat dissipation. Sure you can get more clamping force from a fixed piston caliper than a slider caliper, but your tires are the ultimate limiting factor. Plus you don't want to completely screw your brake balance up.http://www.stoptech.com/tech_i...shtml

There is more than one kind of brake fade, fluid will only help with one.

To properly fix your problem. . . . Did the pedal drop to the floor or did the pedal feel the same, but the car didn't decelerate like it should have?

If the pedal hit the floor, and you had to pump the brakes to get pressure back, than that was fluid fade. New fluid will help that. Motul RBF600, ATE Super Blue, or a number of other fluids are good choices. I assume this DID NOT happen, since you made no mention of having to pump the brakes.http://www.stoptech.com/tech_i...shtml

If you had a firm pedal, but the car didn't slow down properly, then you had pad fade. This is from you heating the pads past there operating range. There are a couple of fixes for this.1. Brake duckting: route some cool fresh air back to the brakes.2. get good pads, I don't recommend track pads for the street, but maybe some good autoX pads might help. But they may not, you may need an even more aggressive pad than that(see number 3) I recommend Carbotech brake pads.3. STOP DRIVING LIKE A ****ING MORON ON THE STREETS. PUBLIC ROADS ARE NOT YOU TEST TRACK, NOR YOUR PLAY GROUND. GROW THE **** UP AND TAKE IT TO A TRACK / AUTOX / DRIFT / WHAT EVER CLOSED COURSE THAT GETS YOU ROCKS OFF!

Read Up.http://www.stoptech.com/tech_i...shtml

[modulation]

Go to a junkyard.Get some q45 brakes and their rotors (including calipers, brake pads, caliper brackets) for like $120 for everything.Drill rotors to 4 lug pattern.Swap all parts.

Enjoy brakes that won't fade.Make sure you use DOT 4 Fluid.

Don't drive like a moron on public roads.