Best Brake fluid for track day

[Pepscobra]

Hi Matt - can you help me understand brake fluids better?

I have a pretty much stock 2007 BFII FPV Super Pursuit ute with the Brembo 6 piston calipers on the front and the (pbr?) single piston calipers on the rear.

I'm doing a tuning/track day at Barb's raceway in a couple of weeks and want to flush and replace my brake fluid, as advised by most here.

First question; what is the spec of the standard factory brake fluid used by FPV?

Secondly; what is the best brake fluid you stock for occasional circuit work and 'spirited' street use?

I have to admit, I'm very confused... Do I need DOT 4, 5 or 6? Mineral, synthetic or silicone?? What does it all mean?

Cheers in advance,
Joe.

[FLOORED]

Originally Posted by Pepscobra

Hi Matt - can you help me understand brake fluids better?

I have a pretty much stock 2007 BFII FPV Super Pursuit ute with the Brembo 6 piston calipers on the front and the (pbr?) single piston calipers on the rear.

I'm doing a tuning/track day at Barb's raceway in a couple of weeks and want to flush and replace my brake fluid, as advised by most here.

First question; what is the spec of the standard factory brake fluid used by FPV?

Secondly; what is the best brake fluid you stock for occasional circuit work and 'spirited' street use?

I have to admit, I'm very confused... Do I need DOT 4, 5 or 6? Mineral, synthetic or silicone?? What does it all mean?

Cheers in advance,
Joe.

Joe the brake fluid in the car would more likly be a Dot 4.The performance fluid like AP Racing 5.1 raises the boiling point and AP600 is better and so on.Silicone fluid is very expensive and not used in everyday cars these days but some people use it in old cars or when storing them.The higher the boiling point of the fluid you will find the more often you should also change it as it breaks down quicker when contaminated by condensation etc.
AP Racing 5.1 is a good fluid for street and track and is $20 a 500ml bottle.If you change your fluid from any brand it is best to do a fluid flush.

[Pepscobra]

Thanks for your response Matt! really appreciate it.
The AP racing fluid seems to be the one most mentioned on the forums.
Any benefit in using the Brembo fluid over the AP racing product with these brakes?

Penrite SIN seems to be used alot too, but I believe its only DOT 4. Any opinion on this fluid?

So, to flush the system, I'll need 2 bottles then?
Seems a good price. I'll send a PM as I'll need them posted to Perth... Is this ok?

Cheers again,
Joe.

[FLOORED]

There are many fluids out there that we do not use but if forum members are having success with them then that is a good start to find out what is best.
A PM is fine thankyou

[Pepscobra]

PM sent

[Phildo]

Thread revival time.

I flushed the fluid in my taxi back in mid August. The brakes have required more pedal pressure than normal for a month or so now, so that's telling me that it's flush time again.

Took the reservoir cap off yesterday and sure enough, it was all sludgy. I'm obviously going to have to do a fluid flush on a very regular basis.

After speaking with Matt on the phone recently I was keen to follow his recommendation and go with either PBR 5.1 or AP Racing 5.1. Either one is about $15 for a 500mL bottle.

But I don't own the taxi so I have to justify costs to the owner. So now I'm looking at going with Super Dot 4 instead, which works out to a similar cost to normal Dot 4.

So:

1) Any recommendations on a Dot 4/Super Dot 4?
2) Is Super Dot 4 worth getting instead of normal Dot 4?
3) I'm going to be doing flushes often, so buying it in bottles larger than 500mL would be preferable. If I buy a 4 litre bottle, use a litre or so and then leave the bottle sealed in the shed, will the fluid become ineffective because the bottle has been opened?

[FLOORED]

Originally Posted by Phildo

Thread revival time.

I flushed the fluid in my taxi back in mid August. The brakes have required more pedal pressure than normal for a month or so now, so that's telling me that it's flush time again.

Took the reservoir cap off yesterday and sure enough, it was all sludgy. I'm obviously going to have to do a fluid flush on a very regular basis.

After speaking with Matt on the phone recently I was keen to follow his recommendation and go with either PBR 5.1 or AP Racing 5.1. Either one is about $15 for a 500mL bottle.

But I don't own the taxi so I have to justify costs to the owner. So now I'm looking at going with Super Dot 4 instead, which works out to a similar cost to normal Dot 4.

So:

1) Any recommendations on a Dot 4/Super Dot 4?
2) Is Super Dot 4 worth getting instead of normal Dot 4?
3) I'm going to be doing flushes often, so buying it in bottles larger than 500mL would be preferable. If I buy a 4 litre bottle, use a litre or so and then leave the bottle sealed in the shed, will the fluid become ineffective because the bottle has been opened?

I think you should find the Super Dot 4 will have a higher boiling point than normal Dot4 and we use a protex brand super dot 4 for many street vehicles and have no issues and this can also be purchased in larger sizes i think but i can check when i get back to work.

[Phildo]

Originally Posted by FLOORED

I think you should find the Super Dot 4 will have a higher boiling point than normal Dot4 and we use a protex brand super dot 4 for many street vehicles and have no issues and this can also be purchased in larger sizes i think but i can check when i get back to work.

Yep, scroll down towards the bottom and it's available in 500mL, 5 litre and 20 litre bottles. A 5 litre would be good. I wonder would the cost would be - there isn't any info out there about retail pricing.
http://www.atap.com.au/wn_products.html
and
http://www.atap.com.au/documents/March2008.pdf

[Tocchi]

might as well ask in here.

Matt, i use brake fluid that has a dry & wet boiling values, what's the difference in wet & dry?

[Grum]

Originally Posted by Tocchi

might as well ask in here.

Matt, i use brake fluid that has a dry & wet boiling values, what's the difference in wet & dry?

Dry refers to brand new fluid out of the bottle. Wet refers to fluid that may have come in contact with water, being hydroscopic the fluid may have absorbed some water molecules which can reduce boiling points.

Think of dry as breaking load, wet as safe working load.

PS, Hi Matt

I hope you and the family had a good Xmas and new years.

[FLOORED]

Originally Posted by Grum

Dry refers to brand new fluid out of the bottle. Wet refers to fluid that may have come in contact with water, being hydroscopic the fluid may have absorbed some water molecules which can reduce boiling points.

Think of dry as breaking load, wet as safe working load.

PS, Hi Matt

I hope you and the family had a good Xmas and new years.

Thankyou and yes i did.

[Trevor 57]

We use the PBR BF600, it is bloody great, it has never ever let us down and it is in a race car, it does get black after a while, but never ever any brake fade, never ever boiled the oil.