Another first DE - brake help
 

Aloha - I did my first DE Thursday. What a blast! I have a question about brake feel though. I couldn't get too close to the corners because my brakes didn't feel that strong. I changed out the fluid (Synpower) and bled them last weekend, several times around. I know my instructor wanted me to stay on the power longer but I still would stand on the brakes coming into a corner and they would feel mushy and I didn't feel too confident in their ability. Could this be old brake lines, or did I not do a good job of bleeding. The pads are > 70%. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. also still grinning. Boy was I exhausted last night.

Did the brakes feel that way all day, Speed Buggy, or did they feel worse as the day went on?

I don't believe they were real strong to begin with. I don't know if they got worse throughout the day, or if I was pushing it more each session and noticed it more. This was my first session so I was probably paying more attention to the track to begin with and more on the car as the day went on.
Mike

How old are the rubber lines? If they are old they expand which can give the feeling of a mushy pedal. Also, did you pound the calipers with a rubber mallet vigorously when bleeding? You could have a few small air bubbles in the system.

Doug

Didn't "excersize" the calipers. I don't know how old the lines are. I will replace them. I can't imagine the PO did much in the way of maintenance now that I have been under the car. I will also bang the calipers while bleeding after the line replacement. Thank you.

Cheers, Mike

Stock pads at 70% ??
Try a performance pad like Porterfield or Pagid...
How is your braking style....hint..get on them rather hard after they first "bite-in"...then gradually let up until you come to the end of your braking zone before you turn-in. Most newbies "slide into" the brakes and brake harder-and-harder in the braking zone before they let up to turn-in. This style *really* tends to fade the brakes !!

---Wil

I will try different pads. My instructor took me for a ride in his M3 and showed me the difference between the way I applied the brakes on my first run and the way you describe. My second and subsequent (sp?) runs, I was getting the head nod at each corner when I hit the brakes. Obviously on my first track day I was not great at it, but my instructor said the brake application was correct, (or beginning to be). Thank you
Cheers, Mike

Mike, Let me know if you need help doing those brakes, I did mine last fall and they turned ouut great. Plus it would be a good reason to take the 911 for a ride.

Is this what they mean by "trail braking"?

No...this is not trail braking.
Trail braking is not completing your (amount) of braking while you're in a straight line, and thereby you're still braking as you enter the turn.
For most 911 drivers...and especially newbies..don't trail brake. Get all your braking done in a straight line before you "turn-in"...
Trail braking induces...as you would imagine...a degree of oversteer that would be very hard to control...especially at the end of a high speed straight.
---Wil