The Mustang Forum for Track & Racing Enthusiasts

Taking your Mustang to an open track/HPDE event for the first time? Do you race competitively? This forum is for you! Log in to remove most ads.

  • Welcome to the Ford Mustang forum built for owners of the Mustang GT350, BOSS 302, GT500, and all other S550, S197, SN95, Fox Body and older Mustangs set up for open track days, road racing, and/or autocross. Join our forum, interact with others, share your build, and help us strengthen this community!

Dark Horse OEM Pad wear per track day - does this sound Reasonable?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

I was monitoring them and wanted to see how the stock pads wore. It’s was pretty impressive. New pads going on asap for fall track season. Started at 15 mm and 24 plus track sessions down to 5mm
 
I was monitoring them and wanted to see how the stock pads wore. It’s was pretty impressive. New pads going on asap for fall track season. Started at 15 mm and 24 plus track sessions down to 5mm

This sounds pretty similar to what I got with my initial set. We’ll see how this second set (bought from the Ford dealer) does. Hopefully the same.
 
Yeah hopefully it’s the same compound. Let us know i would not be surprised it different “made in mexico”

Going to GLOC we shall see how that works

I got a deep dive question: So most brake bias is made by rotor size and caliper size. Why does gloc recommend 2 different compounds for the big pig mustang? you would think the bias is built in. Most times you use the same compound on both sets it seems.

In any case seems to be the norm
 
Yeah hopefully it’s the same compound. Let us know i would not be surprised it different “made in mexico”
Ugh. That would be terrible. I was really hoping replacements would have the same performance as the original set - maybe hold me over until Ferodo gets around to producing S650 brake pads, and by then maybe my driving ability will have surpassed the stock Dark Horse pads.
 
Yeah hopefully it’s the same compound. Let us know i would not be surprised it different “made in mexico”

Going to GLOC we shall see how that works

I got a deep dive question: So most brake bias is made by rotor size and caliper size. Why does gloc recommend 2 different compounds for the big pig mustang? you would think the bias is built in. Most times you use the same compound on both sets it seems.

In any case seems to be the norm
The Split on brake compounds in the rear is because the ABS Ice Mode is triggered from the rear pads. This was the reason I got back to OEM rear pads and Ferrodo DSUno pads even though I had R16/R12 pads that are used like 2 times on track. The car was dangerous to drive with the high GLoc compounds as it was giving me Ice Mode almost every lap. And not having consistency in braking really mess up my lap times. If you look through flyhalf thread you will see what issues the high level drivers are having and you can chart your path better than them.
 
I can say that from one track session, the car stops just as well with these replacement pads. Still no noise, no brake fade, or anything of the sort. We'll see how long they last. Car is due for an oil and diff fluid change and I'll look closer at the pads then.
Thank you very much for the update. This is the only place in the world where I could have learned this information.
 
The Split on brake compounds in the rear is because the ABS Ice Mode is triggered from the rear pads. This was the reason I got back to OEM rear pads and Ferrodo DSUno pads even though I had R16/R12 pads that are used like 2 times on track. The car was dangerous to drive with the high GLoc compounds as it was giving me Ice Mode almost every lap. And not having consistency in braking really mess up my lap times. If you look through flyhalf thread you will see what issues the high level drivers are having and you can chart your path better than them.

Serious question here - all of the complaints I see are S550 and older cars.

Do the S650 cars have the same ICE mode complaints?
 
When I was talking to Tim at OPMustang about GLoc pads for my car (before I saw how good and how long-lasting these stock pads were) he said the split was to help even out braking, since the rears don't get as hot as quickly and the lower compound won't need as much heat to get active. I'm probably butchering what he said but he didn't mention anything about the ice mode.

On my S650 I have run it in "slippery" mode (when it was raining heavy out) mostly to test the system, and while it was more aggressive in both ABS and traction control (pulling power) I didn't observe anything that seemed to be like an ice mode. Braking was still good. However other than that and briefly trying sport mode that same day, I only ever run my car on the track in "Track" mode.

Again, I've only run my S650 with the stock pads, so no idea what it will do with something different, either.
 
When I was talking to Tim at OPMustang about GLoc pads for my car (before I saw how good and how long-lasting these stock pads were) he said the split was to help even out braking, since the rears don't get as hot as quickly and the lower compound won't need as much heat to get active. I'm probably butchering what he said but he didn't mention anything about the ice mode.

On my S650 I have run it in "slippery" mode (when it was raining heavy out) mostly to test the system, and while it was more aggressive in both ABS and traction control (pulling power) I didn't observe anything that seemed to be like an ice mode. Braking was still good. However other than that and briefly trying sport mode that same day, I only ever run my car on the track in "Track" mode.

Again, I've only run my S650 with the stock pads, so no idea what it will do with something different, either.
My track time is limited, but I have never encountered it, either. In fact, I could not get my ABS to activate on track. I just stood on the brakes like I was doing a leg press with 800 pounds, and the car just instantly shed speed. It was great. But everything on my car was stock, untouched, including low mileage Trofeo RS 180 tw tires that were all hot and sticky.

But that is not what I meant.

I do not recall any S650 owners complaining here on the site about ICE mode. We have several S650 owners. @krisk comes to mind as somebody who has a lot of track time on his car, now (not a Dark Horse, but it is an S650).

If it turns out that Ice Mode is not an issue with S650s (and that is a big IF), then we should look into why, that is, what changed.
 
Serious question here - all of the complaints I see are S550 and older cars.

Do the S650 cars have the same ICE mode complaints?
The S650s have more modern ABS and brake-by-wire so pressure in them is managed in a different way than in an S550 cars. Not sure if there is Ice Mode in them as I never driven one on track fast enough to know if it's there or not. But consider the fact that the G8x BMWs use similar system from Bosch with very much the same calipers and they complain of ICE Mode on track (namely Jackie Ding in his G87 M2) I wouldn't rule it out for the S650s.
 
The S650s have more modern ABS and brake-by-wire so pressure in them is managed in a different way than in an S550 cars. Not sure if there is Ice Mode in them as I never driven one on track fast enough to know if it's there or not. But consider the fact that the G8x BMWs use similar system from Bosch with very much the same calipers and they complain of ICE Mode on track (namely Jackie Ding in his G87 M2) I wouldn't rule it out for the S650s.
Oh, I am definitely not ruling it out. I am just asking, because I do not recall seeing complaints about it. I posted a thread question on this issue only in the S650 Tech subform. I also posted a thread over at mustang7g since that is all S650 owners.

We'll see what we get.

The pool of S650 track cars is a lot smaller than S550, so even the lack of complaints may not prove anything.
 
I wasn't aware of ice mode on the car. I can tell you that I've gotten ABS to activate even with the Trofeos, but it isn't as obvious as it was on older cars as the pedal doesn't do the push back you used to get. I've driven an S550 (GT PP) on the track and I like my brakes way better, but among other things I don't have a vacuum brake booster like the S550 does. What I've run into on the S550 was running out of vacuum for the brake booster, and the pedal gets hard due to lack of boost. This is well documented.
 
The Split on brake compounds in the rear is because the ABS Ice Mode is triggered from the rear pads. This was the reason I got back to OEM rear pads and Ferrodo DSUno pads even though I had R16/R12 pads that are used like 2 times on track. The car was dangerous to drive with the high GLoc compounds as it was giving me Ice Mode almost every lap. And not having consistency in braking really mess up my lap times. If you look through flyhalf thread you will see what issues the high level drivers are having and you can chart your path better than them.
I did a day at the Ridge track this weekend with the upgraded front pads (GLOC R12) and stock OEM rear pads, and thought it went great. Pedal feel was solid all day, braking was consistent, and I had confidence in braking lap after lap (42 laps over whole day). I'm still running the stock wheels and michelin ps4s 255/275 F/R and would still classify myself as high-novice maybe approaching low-intermediate skill level so I'm not sure if I would encounter the same ice issues mentioned at my current pace. I was planning to install the G-LOC R10 rear pads today ahead of another track day this weekend.

That said, the mentioned experience of ABS "ice mode" issues with higher-aggression rear compounds now makes me a bit nervous. I still think I'm going to give it a try, but I'd appreciate to hear if/how I can plan ahead to test the car safely on track to see how much this ice mode problem comes up.
 
I’m finally at the point of replacing my front pads after about 12 hours of track use, almost entirely at Ozarks International Raceway. The brakes are still working fine.

Also, I’d noted who was listed on the back of the new pads as the manufacturer. I checked the OEM pads and, as you can see, no markings. They also may have burned off with use.

I had originally planned on aftermarket pads, but after seeing how well these work and how long they last, I’m planning on keeping with OEM. We’ll see if the replacement pads do as well as the originals did.

Rears are still fine for me, so I’ll wait on those.

View attachment 111218

View attachment 111219
Including photos of my front oem pads to compare- I can still vaguely make out the text on the pads and while it does look similar to what yours have on the new ones - I did notice that the last numbers after ‘w’ are slightly different - mine have ‘23’ vs yours which have ‘25’ , which would make sense if that indicates the year they were made but idk for sure -

IMG_3299.jpeg

IMG_3298.jpeg

IMG_3297.jpeg

IMG_3296.jpeg

IMG_3295.jpeg
 
I did a day at the Ridge track this weekend with the upgraded front pads (GLOC R12) and stock OEM rear pads, and thought it went great. Pedal feel was solid all day, braking was consistent, and I had confidence in braking lap after lap (42 laps over whole day). I'm still running the stock wheels and michelin ps4s 255/275 F/R and would still classify myself as high-novice maybe approaching low-intermediate skill level so I'm not sure if I would encounter the same ice issues mentioned at my current pace. I was planning to install the G-LOC R10 rear pads today ahead of another track day this weekend.

That said, the mentioned experience of ABS "ice mode" issues with higher-aggression rear compounds now makes me a bit nervous. I still think I'm going to give it a try, but I'd appreciate to hear if/how I can plan ahead to test the car safely on track to see how much this ice mode problem comes up.
You can give it a Try for sure as we discussed S650 has a totally different brake system and better rear brakes. In the S550 the Ice Mode happens with high grip 200TW tires, aggressive pads and a driver who stab the brakes really hard in the brake zones without hesitation. Hope that helps.
 
Top