Cooling and SS lines would be my start, especially since it's easy.

Also, it may be worthwhile to use a dedicated track pad and swap to street pads when you're done. The mixed use pads never really seem to hold up to track days from what the internet at large has posted about it.

 

A pad advertised as being “good enough for the street,” is not a track pad and a track pad good on the street doesn’t exist.

pads also lasting only a full day or so are not uncommon. Race pads and rotors, especially slotted ones are a near daily consumable. So just swap pads and rotors for each track day, it’s much cheaper to do that. I recommend you use normal blank rotors like centric premiums and not anything slotted or drillled and bleed after your track day.

you can add the RS brake ducts as a very affordable cooling solution. It’s a ford part!

 

In your case, only your wallet would feel the difference between RBF660 and RBF600
You can try with deflectors but the best would be to get the big brake kit. Bigger rotors and callipers will dissipate heat faster and more efficiently. You could use more aggressive race pad with this kit.

 

Reflectors won't do anything for you on stock rotors. Intake is on the outside, reflectors are Venting the inside. RS brakes intake is on the inside, it works for them. On track duty stock rotors reach over 700 F. I have big brake kit, so far, 4 years of track duty with the same pads. Track temperature, around 380 F.

 

Thanks for sharing @STallion18, what big brake kit and pad do you have? Just curious, how many track days did you had in these 4 years?

 

In addition to what @STallion18 said about the internal vents on the rotors, the RS air guides also work in conjunction with the RS brake ducts as a total package.

SRF fluid, pads, ti shims and SS lines should fix your issues. Make sure the TC ESC is in "off" mode.

 

I would grab some temperature stickers and apply them to the caliper next time to see what max temperature your reaching

 

The ti shims will help with the fluid temperature, it shield the pistons from the pads heat to a certain point. But, if the rotor can't dissipate the heat, you are going to melt the pads.

 

Blue stuff are designed for endurance, so they should last longer. I use them as well. However they don't give me the immediate "bite" that I need with drive time. It takes a while to warm up. I prefer the yellow stuff. It warms up faster and works very well for track days

 

We have a few customers running bluestuff pads and they've been happy with them. Mostly stockish power, nothing crazy. Laguna is a very brake heavy track, so getting fade with them and fluid boiling isn't uncommon. Also with these cars and their "e-diff" they tend to really cook the front brakes a bit more than other cars with similar power/weight, especially if you're running with the TC and DSC on.

1. Brake cooling wind deflector and SS brake line - deflectors won't really help much, as mentioned by others, since the rotor vanes are on the outside. Lines are always a decent upgrade, but won't help with your issues here.
2. Better fluid RBF660 or Castrol SRF (Will the extra degree of temp matter?) - this can help a little bit. I would also suggest doing a cool down lap if you start experiencing fade, or at the end of your session you time it where you can do an extra cool down lap. On these cool downs, ideally you don't use the brakes, or hardly use them. I found that I would more often boil fluid with the car sitting in the pits after a hard session vs on track. You could also be getting a bit of pad knock-back. Gently tapping the pedal with your left foot prior to the braking zone can help seat the pads up against the rotor, so there will be less pedal travel when you get on the brakes. This is a very common racing technique.
3. Large caliper and/or dedicated track pads (I have G-loc R10 pad in hand) - a move to a BBK or even RS brakes can help. I tend to recommend the R12 compound for ST folks, at least up front.

I've been through some fun braking woes on my build, and I've got some more info in my signature below.

 

My "Track Pack" plan was to best utilize the OEM RS Brembos and their inner vented rotors as follows:

Cheap Chinese RS bumper cover with brake duct openings & adding the oem functional RS brake ducts
RS air deflectors
Add SS pistons, lines & Ti shims
Cut or fold inner fender cover "mud flaps" for more direct airflow
Frankenbrake rear to use 302mm discs

In addition to a few other track items:

Track pads
Girodisc F/R 2 piece rotors

 

Is Ti shims general to all pads or each pad manufacture supposed to have different shims according to the shape of pad? Any keyword I can search for?

 

why even bother with the RS bumper? just print a duct and run a hose to the rotors. that's what I did. (not my car but same duct)

 

What's on your other end of hose? do you have a custom fitting or just open hose direct to the rotor?

 

Ahh so the appearance more than anything else.

Putting an RS bumper on a ST is like putting a GT500 bumper on a Ecoboost Mustang

 

Ahh so the appearance more than anything else.

Putting an RS bumper on a ST is like putting a GT500 bumper on a Ecoboost Mustang

Chinese bumper doesn't say RS and it's a better design than our ST for cooling, allows the use of the of factory RS brake ducts and air guides and it would be used only at the track. Sounds like a better option then using dryer hose that melts and tears..

 

Thanks for sharing @STallion18, what big brake kit and pad do you have? Just curious, how many track days did you had in these 4 years?

Thanks for sharing @STallion18, what big brake kit and pad do you have? Just curious, how many track days did you had in these 4 years?

I have 14" on the front and 13" on the rear. Pads are Brembos carbon fiber ones. I can use an inexpensive brake pads because the temp. Is not too high. I have around 30 track days on them. It allow me to brake late and hard.

 

I ran a thread in one of the forums about my brake work. I still use the factory style calipers and rotors, but many tricks. My ST gets tracked a bunch here in the North East.

MAtt at Damon is a great source.

I took off the dust shields so the rotors get more air flow. Added the RS paddles on the LCA's. I also made up ducts under the nose to direct lots of air to the LCA paddles. This helped a TON!!!!! Look for that thread.

Edit - The thread - https://www.focusst.org/threads/a-u...rake-duct-idea-based-on-the-rs-cooling-mod.174082/?post_id=2752245#post-2752245

I run the G-Loc R12's on track, EBC red on the street up front. EBC red in back all the time.

Currently using D&S rotors, they are living with the extra cooling. Yes, air intake from front, but having the air flow in back keeps them cool

I turn off traction control usually, as it keeps the braked pads closer to the t=rotors, and kicks in all the time, raising brake temps. DON'T trail brake, that will bring in lots of heat. Hit and off.

 

Hi @Chepsk8, thank you for sharing. After removing the dust shields, did you see any thermal issue for the ball joint close to the rotor?

 

So youll pay a shop to paint a bumper but won't pay a welder $40 to weld 2 pieces of pipe to a backing plate?

Ill make it even easier for everyone-

I will weld a piece of pipe to anyone's backing plate for $40 plus shipping.

And that includes a piece of pipe.

 

So youll pay a shop to paint a bumper but won't pay a welder $40 to weld 2 pieces of pipe to a backing plate?

Ill make it even easier for everyone-

I will weld a piece of pipe to anyone's backing plate for $40 plus shipping.

And that includes a piece of pipe.

Lol no paint just a cheap plastic Chinese RS clone bumper cover that even comes with a lower plastic tray 😉

I do think it's great of you to offer the welding service and hope some folks take you up on it! 👍

I have considered the route you and many others have gone and looked at various kits and DIY setups but at the end of the day I decided I wanted to do the RS style package. Actually I have a spare ST bumper cover I was going to hack up and try and retrofit the ducts but it made more sense to just grab a cheap China rs style knockoff for exclusive track duty.

 

If you put it in the right spot, you can fit 2.5" ducting. I too have done simple pipes welded to the factory shields with great success. Hell, we thought about offering a duct kit with these, but there's not many folks out there tracking these as I'd like to see. This is with an RS knuckle which give a bit more room, but I ran 2.5" ducting to the brakes on my old ST shields/knuckles too.

We've also modified a customer's RS plastic ducts to accept 2.5" ducting to the knuckles. He said it was a decent improvement over the factory ductinging and deflector, and this was at Road America.

 

Nobody has mentioned the other obvious brake temperature helper: a limited slip differential. The LSD will cut down on the amount of brake vectoring as you power out of corners, even with all the nannies turned off.

 

I attended the STOA Acacemy in ‘18, I am no race car driver by any means, but their cars were completely stock cars except for a few safety items like bakes.
They were stock rotors and calipers, CarboTech pads, stainless braided lines, front brake cooling and a higher temp brake fluid.

After a full day on the track, I never felt any brake fade under those conditions.

I was able to be lucky enough to purchase one of the STOA Academy FoSt’s when they sold the fleet off. It came just as it was setup there. After driving the vehicle on the street for about 2500 miles I checked brake wear, it was minimal.
Braking difference between that one and my daily driver were night and day difference, and the only thing different for all practical purposes were the CarboTech pads.

I wouldn’t recommend those pads for the street though, they like heat and will chatter on the rotor cold. And they’re dirty, massive amounts of brake dust.

 

I also attended in 2018! Anyway I did get brake fade and mentioned it to the instructor and he said it happens. The STOA was not really a normal track day where you are ballz out for 3 or 4 20min sessions. It was more of a lead follow. I pushed the lead instructor in his Mustang and stayed on his rear until he pointed me back in the pit. It was a great time!

 

During the session in Utah, air is thinner, 4K feet. Hard on the engine and brakes cooling. I had plenty of brake fade, instructor didn't want us to use the parking brake when we stopped the cars. Car didn't feel to have too much power either, I tried 3 different ones. I was pedal to the metal, my stock car at home felt stronger. The ti shims, you can make your own, buy a Ti sheet and cut it like the pads shape, attach it with brake pad silicone.

 

I went a little crazy with my upgrade and put Wilwood 140-13019-DR in the front and 140-13031-DR in the rear. I ran these at The Ridge in Shelton WA, Pacific Raceways in Kent WA, and Oregon Raceway Park (ORP) in Oregon. I never experienced brake fade with this install. I was running a BT setup with about 350WHP. With my new setup I have these same brakes and installed an LSD in the transmission. looking to get to a track near me this season if i can get the motor replaced again.

 

...

 

I though GT meant godawful turd ?!
🤔😁

 

8FocusD,

That's the intent of my set-up, the pads and airflow are the keys.

One other area not mentioned by anyone is time on the brake pedal. I do not trail brake, or keep on the pedal. Just hit and off. The longer you stay on the brakes, the heat just multiplies. Use threshhold braking, downshift, and pull (power) the car out of corners, don't brake through them. (I should know, I am a 20 year NASA Instructor, and track my ST)

 

I tracked my ST at a NASA event in Michigan and had problems with overheating running into limp mode.
What do you do to you’re ST for track day events?

Maybe PM me since this is a bit off topic.

 

If you are going to do track time, even with stock engine. You needs to improve the cooling everywhere you can. I mean, 3 pass radiator, oil cooler and a capable intercooler. Otherwise, the engine will go into limp mode. A tune can help keeping it out of limp mode but the engine still will dangerously overheat. The RS are even worst at that, the central drivetrain transfer unit overheat after a couple of laps and the car goes on front wheel drive only.