brake fade in W201 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jasondew · #1 06-14-2004, 10:24 PM

what is your brake setup and what does it take to get your brakes to fade?

tonight i was out for a little spirited driving and i decided to test my brakes a bit. in the past i've tested the brakes and established that my brakes can generate enough stopping force to lock up the front tires at pretty much any speed (i have no ABS) and i can brake from 100mph to 0mph at or near the threshold of the tires without any noticeable fade. tonight i did runs braking at or about tire threshold from 70-80mph down to 10mph, immediately accelerating back up to 70-80 and repeating. on the fourth run i started to notice some brake fade. i've never tried this before and i was kinda suprised that it took so little to get my brakes to fade.

i'm running Stillen cross drilled rotors in the stock 16v size, Jurid pads in stock 16v calipers, SS brake lines, and ATE Blue fluid. it's been two years since i've flushed the fluid. i guess i need to flush with Motul 600 this time.

does anyone have any similar experiences? is it normal for a 16v with these performance brake parts to experience this brake fade so quickly?

does anyone have experience with a brake proportioning valve to dial a little more force to the rears? my fronts will lock up way before my rears. i'm thinking about purchasing one and having my mechic install it as i'm not confident in my tube cutting, flaring, and bending skills.

thanks,

MBZ190E16V · #2 06-15-2004, 02:54 PM

i have brembo cross-drilled rotors in 16v size with PBR metal master pads and Motul 600 fluid. i took my 16v to Sears Point Raceway for a track event and the cooked the brakes on my second session, and i thought they faded...but after i let them cool down, by my third session, the brakes were up to speed again. i still have my ABS on my car but i havent had to really use it.

jason...check out www.mb190.com for the new 190REV! site for the meantime till the mods figure wuts gonna happen with the old site

Joreto · #3 06-15-2004, 03:59 PM

MBZ190E16V, what happened to the 190revolution site ? I get an error when I try to access it...something about bandwidth limit. Sorry for the off topic .

MBZ190E16V · #4 06-15-2004, 04:41 PM

some @$$hole hacked into the site and exceeded the bandwidth...its better explained on the mb190 site

norman · #5 06-15-2004, 05:22 PM

if your braking technique is correct and it still fade, you can try track pads first assuming you were on street pads,

MTI · #6 06-15-2004, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MBZ190E16V
some @$$hole hacked into the site and exceeded the bandwidth...its better explained on the mb190 site

Just for clarity, the site wasn't "hacked" into, it's a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. The site is being bombarded with IP request packets from some zombie computers that are infected with a trojan. The false packets from these spoofed IP addresses are using up the allotted bandwidth to the site.

jasondew · #7 06-15-2004, 07:51 PM

well my brakes definitely started to fade. after cooldown they were pretty much back to normal. i guess i'll do a brake flush at see how that improves things. if that's not enough i'll think about switching pads. what type of pads would be good for street use? i'm using Jurid pads right now and they produce a ton of dust. anything with better street performance and less dust?

thanks,

norman · #8 06-15-2004, 08:24 PM

street pads are design for street use with good initial bite, that's what you want, what you are doing is similar to track use, but it's not recommended that you use track pads for street because it takes awhile to heat up the pads to be effective. There's a few "combo" pads out there, the ones i've tried are axxis ultimate, ferrodo 2500 and porterfields R4s, i like the porterfields best but are the most expensive out of the 3. Ryan mentioned metal master also. Hey Ryan when's the next DE?

norman · #9 06-15-2004, 08:28 PM

you can always go with 400e brake setup...

MBZ190E16V · #10 06-15-2004, 10:06 PM

next DE is july 17-18 at thunderhill...im gonna see if i can make that. thunderhill has a 1-day racing school..similar to DEs for the same price...aug. 8th

but other than that theres one on aug. 22nd at Sears again...im goin to that.

jus need to get some tires for the track set of rims.

jason...i heard the axxiss ultimates are pretty good pads too...and the PBR metal masters are ok too and really low brake dust.

jasondew · #11 06-15-2004, 11:10 PM

i definitely need something for street or combo use because this is a daily driver. i don't brake like that often but would like to know i can do i for more cycles than 4 when i want to.

MBZ190E16V · #12 06-16-2004, 12:35 AM

danny from MRP actually referred me to the PBR metal masters cuz they are a good aggressive street pad.

Michael · #13 06-16-2004, 11:26 AM

2 years is old for a fluid to be run on a racetrack - anyone would likely cook that fluid.

Once you've changed that out, I suggest you install track pads for track use, ESPECIALLY if you run R compound tires - the increased decelerative grip will cook your street pads at the first big braking event.

Lastly, remember to compress your braking zones. Use as much braking as you can for as short a period as you reasonably can-this will ultimately generate a bit more heat, but for a shorter period (and also allowslonger cool-downs between braking events).

Good luck!

jasondew · #14 06-16-2004, 06:35 PM

can repeated heavy braking in rapid succession like i did in my test damage or decrease the effectiveness of street pads. it seems like since i did that my brakes don't grab as much for the first few braking events (street driving). after a few stops they feel fine.

thanks,

norman · #15 06-16-2004, 10:31 PM

Ryan, 8/22 at sears sounds good. get some RA-1s and track pads and you should be good to go.
jason, try the combo pads if you are aggressive in street use, be aware that these pads may squeal a little...