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Welcome to my official blog!
Here's where you will find pics and updates directly from my race weekends, plus other things such as stunt driving and sometimes posts not always about racing.
Cheers! /Carl |
| Pic of the week |
Grid before the race, Nordschleife 2008. |
| Songs to check out |
1. Little Black Submarines
2. The Pretender
3. Outkast - Take Off Your Cool
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1. Redondo Beach Brew. Co, CA
2. Huntley, Santa Monica, CA
3. Pistenklause, Nuerburg
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| For Sale |
| Pair of STATUS Ring Kevlar Racing seats, lightly used, very good condition. |
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| Endless MX-72, brake pad testing @ Buttonwillow |
| Friday, August 15, 2008 |
Shortly after my successful trip to the Formula Drift Pro Am Qualifier in Tucson, I went to Buttonwillow to test the new MX-72 street/light track brake pads from Endless USA. The car I used is my own 350Z, basically non-modified, without any Brembo brakes or extra brake cooling ducts, on top of that it is a rather heavy car. The ambience temp was around 97-98 F and the track has several hard braking sections with only a few longer sections where the brakes get time to cool off. This was going to be a very hard workout for these MX-72 pads and a good recipe for a thorough test.
It was my first visit to Buttonwillow but fairly easy to get up to speed with good visibility over the upcoming turns throughout the track. My first 2-3 lap orientation run was done with pretty easy braking and Nexen 3000 tires, but out on a racetrack this still means high temp. During this initiation phase during which the pads got really bedded in, they showed some varying friction on one or two occasion, but by the third lap, they worked nicely with a good consistent effect.
On my 2nd outing I pushed really hard to see how the pads would hold up, I did not allow for them to cool off and I had also mounted some very sticky Hankook C91 tires on the car. Naturally on a heavy car with small brakes, the pedal started to feel a bit soggy after 2-3 laps. I still pushed on without traffic and although I had to start to press harder on the brake pedal to get real stopping power, the brakes went into one consistent feel throughout the session (about 8 laps) and I could use the same brake points (or even later) lap after lap, with full confidence.
The MX-72 pads have a pretty edgy initial bite but not crazy and so they are smooth to swiftly apply full brake power with, without upsetting the balance of the car. It was very easy to modulate the brake torque for trail braking.
All in all, the pads never showed any sign of changing their friction to the worse, once I had done the real heat cycling during the first session.
Riding home from the track, the pedal was initially soft, but as the overheated brake fluid in the calipers blended out, the brakes felt more like normal after a while, and brake friction is still sharp even at low temperatures.
The day after, as the brakes had cooled off and I did a lot of freeway driving going home, I could feel the rotors were a bit warped. That MIGHT have been avoided if I had driven around with the car after my fast session with light braking now and then to keep them straight while gradually cooling off. A couple of weeks later though, the rotors have straightened out again after nursing them during daily driving.
On the negative side, the pads had a squeal upon coming to a complete stop, mainly in the rear, but after some more driving also in the front. Maybe they need some cleaning(?) since again, after a few more weeks this squeal is almost gone, most noticable when the discs are half-warm. My front brakes did develope a similar squeal a while ago even with the OEM pads and also the Project Mu pads I tested, so very likely this is only related to my brakes on this particular car, and not only the pads.
Overall, if you have Endless MX72-pads, you can be very confident that they will hold up during track days and the only brake fade you need to be concerned about is depending on the brake fluid temperature. Again, I tested the MX-72 by driving very hard with a heavy car with small brakes on very sticky tires, on a track that is hard on brakes, during a very hot day. The only thing I had to do was to step a bit harder on the brakes. For daily driving, the pads still feel smooth and comfortable with excellent response on brake modulation.
There are some high performance brake fluids to use that I would recommend (if fit for your car), that has a higher boiling point, to ensure best performance. I was running with the regular OEM DOT3 fluid but I will soon start to evaluate a DOT4 high performance fluid from Endless. Also, most high performance sportscars do have real cooling ducts and bigger discs that will evacuate heat in a better way.
I cannot say too much about the level of brake dust, except that my initial impression is the they look better than older street/track light pads I am familiar with, probably due to the hardness of the MX-72. The most impressive thing is how Endless has managed to engineer such good friction at low temperatures with a relatively hard, track durable compound.Labels: Racing, Testing |
posted by Carl Rydquist @ 1:14 PM   |
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| 1 Comments: |
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It is very interesting for me to read the blog. Thank author for it. I like such topics and everything connected to them. I definitely want to read more on that blog soon.
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| Fast Facts |
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Name: Carl Rydquist
Age: 35
Home: Redondo Beach, CA
Web: CarlRydquist.com
Reel: Click to watch
Highlights: Winner of Zandvoort 500 (2005), Winner of Swedish Endurance 3h GT Racing Championship (2004), Winner of Swedish Endurance 8/12h GT Racing Championship (2001), Winner of Eurosport Super Racing Weekend Challenge (2001), Winner Super Lap Battle Lim RWD (2011), Winner Redline Time Attack Mod RWD (2010). 24 Hours of Nurburgring (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011). 24 Hours of Barcelona (2011). 25 Hours of Thunderhill (2010).
Memberships: FIA (intl racing license), SAG Stunt Driver (Screen Actors Guild), Formula D, Performance Two Stunt & Precision Driving Team (Hollywood, CA).
Teams: Berk Technology, City Tire, AE Performance, Steam Racing, STORM GT Racing.
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It is very interesting for me to read the blog. Thank author for it. I like such topics and everything connected to them. I definitely want to read more on that blog soon.