Brake Pads and SS brake lines.

tsmith · #1 (**permalink**) 05-04-2006, 09:02 PM

Hello everyone,
#1 Can anybody tell me if adding SS brake lines will be a useful upgrade?
#2 What is the best brake fluid to use in the Elise?
#3 What are the best pads for street and track use?
Thankyou!!
Tsmith
2005 Chrome Elise
Sports package

dat351 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-06-2006, 01:53 AM

#1 Need to know what you use the car for. Street use waste of time. Not sure what you call SS brake lines. Here we call them Steel Braided brake lines. These are a saftey issue if you race the car in club events or serious racing. Even more so if you run a race pad and ABS brakes (extremly dangerous).
#2 Again depends ABS or None ABS. ABS needs a good quality DOT 5 or DOT 6 Equivalent (very high temp fluid) However must be flushed very very regularly. Non ABS Elise's have no brake booster and quite successfully work perfectly fine with a normal DOT 4 brake fluid and race pads and even standard rubber brake lines. (bleed brakes after every race meeting)
#3 Non ABS Elise, Green EBC Pads front and rear are perfect for racing and road as well. ABS Elise's and Exige's we have found that Ferodo 2500 are great. We are now replacing all the Disc rotors with a two piece rotor that is not drilled (these crack from the drill holes out). The two piece rotor has an aluminium hat that bolts to the rotor, they are slotted but not drilled and unlike the genuine units these are directional and there for the cooling vanes actually work. We just finnished a 500km race with 8 Non ABS Elise's and 8 ABS Exige's. The brakes worked perfectly all day. There are a number of modifications that are made to make these cars easier to drive. Give me an Email.

tsmith · #3 (**permalink**) 05-06-2006, 04:19 PM

dat351
I use my car for street use but I take it to at least 3 driving schools a year.
I'm looking for the best of both worlds. I was talking about Steel Braided brake lines.
#2 I do have ABS on my car. So with that said, Do I need to completely drain all of my brake fluid and replace it with Dot 5? And how often is very often to change it?
Thankyou.

dat351 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-06-2006, 04:34 PM

Hello, The problems we have had is when you complete about 10 or 15 laps in a race the heat from the brake rotors bursts a hole in the front flexible brake lines right at the caliper. Because of this we have had a couple of cars go off at high speed (luckily only one hit the wall). On all our Exige's we changed the fluid and yes you have to flush the system, and for some reason because of the ABS unit its a nightmare to bleed, so be patient, bleed the car circulating around the car 2 or 3 times untill no more air then drive the car for a bit, then let it sit overnight and bleed again the next day.

dat351 · #5 (**permalink**) 05-06-2006, 04:43 PM

Sorry missed the bit on how often. problem with DOT 5 & 6 fluids is that they are affected by moisture far worse than Road DOT 3 & 4 So when you buy the fluid talk to the sales man & carefully read the instructions. There are plenty of good ones out there Castrol SRF, AP Racing 600, Motul 600.

tsmith · #6 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 10:59 AM

dat
Can I use braided lines with a quality dot 4 Motul fluid.
Thankyou again
Tsmith

dat351 · #7 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 07:43 AM

Yes thats fine, the only reason we went to a DOT 5 is because when braking, these Exiges with ABS, under initial braking the weight transfer momentarilly lifts the rear wheels to the point that the ABS starts to activate and reduce pressure to the rear brakes in turn making the front generate more heat. It takes about 7 or 8 laps at a track thats got long straights with slow hairpins at the end and then boil the fluid.
During your racing have you noticed inconsistent braking distances and or inconsistent pedal and sometimes no pedal. To drive these cars with ABS is a different style altogether, you need to apply the pedal with sufficient force to transfer weight then when all the movment has settled really apply the pressure to stop the car. Having said all that, every driver in our series has told us that now that we have disabled the ABS (for this years series) the brakes can be applied at the same spot in the braking area lap after lap, where as last year one lap you would apply at 100 metres and the next lap you could apply at 120 metres and still have no chance of stopping, and next lap 100 metres again, it was to erratic and unpredictable, would wear front disc pads prematurely because of the extra heat and crack and warp the disc rotors. Have i explained it correctly or confussed you. To disconnect the ABS it takes about 30 seconds and you can even do it during a practice session to compare it back to back. Give me a yell if you've got any questions, Tony.

tsmith · #8 (**permalink**) 05-10-2006, 06:13 AM

I have an 05 Elise with the LSS package.
Can I turn off my ABS? And how do I turn it off. Everything you have explained so far has been great. Thankyou.
TSmith

dat351 · #9 (**permalink**) 05-10-2006, 06:45 AM

Can you explain what the LSS package is. Also you say 05 Elise is that cable accelerator or electronic? I assume thats a Toyota engine Elise?

dat351 · #10 (**permalink**) 05-10-2006, 06:52 AM

By the way the name is Tony. Can you tell me what the time is there, and the date. At the moment here it is 9.50 PM 10 May 06. Just trying to work out is your time zone in front or behind.

tsmith · #11 (**permalink**) 05-10-2006, 07:29 PM

Hi Tony
My name is Tim the time is 8:30 pm May 10/06 est USA.
LSS means I have the sports package and I do have the Toyota engine.
It is a cable accelerator (I think) Maby somebody can answer that for me.?
Thankyou Tony!!
TSmith

dat351 · #12 (**permalink**) 05-13-2006, 11:20 AM

Hello Tim, If your car is cable accelerator then no dought the brake pedal is to low in relation to the accelerator pedal which makes it very difficult to heel and toe, this can be fixed by either raising the brake pedal by ajusting the booster pushrod or adding a pedal extension to the accelerator pedal (this is the best method). We source these from Japan. Another problem with these cars is that the steering wheel is to far away from the driver in relation to the brake and clutch pedal, to solve this we can source a sports steering wheel that not only has an extension on the boss/hub but it is also quick release so you can remove the steering wheel (just like a formula one car).
During the course of building these cars for our racing series over here we have also fabricated alot of parts to make these cars safe and reliable, Full roll cages which are CAMS approved and identical to the FIA approved ones that can be purchased through Lotus (only difference is where they mount at the front near the front speakers) our cages mount through the side of the chassis not on top, which makes them stronger, also our cages have an extra brace on the front legs as per the latest regulations.

dat351 · #13 (**permalink**) 05-13-2006, 11:31 AM

Tim we also fabricate our own rear toe adjuster kits that have threaded rose joints on them and a joining link to stop the rear subframe from cracking. We fabricate our own baffled sumps, braided brake lines race brake packages, rotors and pads, and a heavy duty gear selector cables. So if you have any problems give me a yell because chances are i have come across the problem before.