172 Brake upgrade

[scott8629]

Just seen that Prima racing have developed a 315mm brake disk conversion for the 172, goes for around the £300 mark.

Any good? I would rather make my car stop faster first.

Scott

 

[RobFenn]

Yeah i would too, are there any complications with a Cup over a 172 though?

 

[KDF]

Err, arent the brakes on the 172 pretty damn good already ? other than for less fade after prolonged periods of braking (eg trackdays) what reason is there to upgrade ?

 

[telford_mike]

I didnt realise how good the brakes were until I did a track oriented driving course. A 172 will outbrake virtually any car you can mention. They do fade on trackdays but then so will any brakes that are also suitable for the road.

 

[RobFenn]

On a full trackday you can completely overheat the 172 brakes and they become pants, the cups better but id still uprate to more track biased pads.

 

[telford_mike]

True, I usually limit myself to 6 or 8 laps at a time then let things cool down. Really need to upgrade the brake fluid too though, and Im not sure I could be @rsed with that.

 

[RobFenn]

Mike, are you insured on track, if so how much does it set you back?

Cheers

-Rob

 

[telford_mike]

I bought insurance for the first trackday that I did, I think it was £55 for the day. The cover wasnt great - huge excess, only about £5,000 worth of cover. Could have paid more for extra cover but the excess (£750 I think) was always large.

I figured that I was only going to have 2 sorts of accident. The first would be a bit of paint-swapping on a corner - the insurance wouldnt cough up for that on account of the large excess. The second was a massive shunt at full chat into a barrier - again, insurance not much use as it would not be enough to replace a written-off car.

So in the light of all that, and having seen how well trackdays are run and how responsibly (as a rule) people tend to drive, Ive never bothered with it since. I probably would though if I could get it as an extension to my normal policy, but paying for it by the day just doesnt seem to be value for money.

 

[RobFenn]

Fair point, as its dawned on me that soon i might have to drive my own car on track.

Has anyone sampled any disused airfield circuits? What are they and how would you rate them? Ive only been to bedford, which is great, but i miss the bumps and crests of a real track!

Thanks,

-Rob

 

[telford_mike]

Airfields = cones! The only damage Ive ever done to my car was at Heyford hitting a bloody cone!

 

[scott8629]

I would like to do an airfield day.

Where is the nearest on to me in Hull?

Any websites?

as regards to the cup/172 brakes, i thought they were the same???

scott

 

[RobFenn]

No cups are laguna items and non abs.

We should do a cliosport meet at an airfield track, its cheap at not dangerous. Ive found you another mission area rep Tom!

 

[Tom]

Ok ok will check it out god gimme 5 min

 

[RobFenn]

lol

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by scott8629 on 05 February 2003


I would like to do an airfield day.

Where is the nearest on to me in Hull?

Got to Elvington near York... thats not far away.

Ive been 3 times now!



Use either Bookatrack or Easytrack or similar.



As for brakes -

I did an airfield day there a few months ago in my mates mk1 172 and I found that the brakes did "just" about last, but they would fade and the bl00dy ABS kept kicking in.

Now on my old 106 GTi I used to use a standard brake setup, but change the front pads and uprate the fluid and it was more than adequate for both fast road and track use.

Pads that Ive used (and found to be good are) Mintex M1144, Ferrodo DS200 or Pagids and a high temp fluid, I used Mintex C-Tech stuff.

I founbd EBC Greenstuff ones to be cr@p though.

 

[paddymph]

Anyone have any pics etc of this Prima Conversion?? It would look ace having 325mm brakes I reckon?

Ta

 

[petes]

http://www.uktrackdays.co.ukhttp://www.uktrackdays.co.uk

 

[simonf]

Also bear in mind some companies do offer track day insurance for free. It also depends where you go - some tracks have more run off so not as important as less chance of hitting anything

Tescos do give track cover with their policy - as long as you are not racing and its not timed.

Simon

 

[RobFenn]

Cheers Simon, thats worth knowing.

-Rob