Brake oil opinion

[Andrea]

Hi all, in a couple of weeks I should be able to finally drive my long awaited Emira!

I was thinking to change the brake oil from the stock, with I don't remember what it is, to this one (immediately after having the car):

Castrol React SRF Racing​

which has better performance (checked comparing the two products) while remains a Dot 4.

The aim is to track the car every once in a while but nothing too serious, just for fun but I want to make sure I have a good oil both for performance and to stay on the safe side without "pushing too hard" on a dot 5 with all the related maintenance issues I don't want to have, mainly it will remain a week ends car!!!!

What are your thoughts?

PS another topic will be the brake pads, but that's another story

 

[Eagle7]

You don't need to spend a fortune on that or a DOT5 fluid. Motul RBF600 is a proven track capable DOT4 fluid, and will be more than adequate and not cost an arm and a leg for a full fluid change.

You're right about pads though lol.

 

[Andrea]

You don't need to spend a fortune on that or a DOT5 fluid. Motul RBF600 is a proven track capable DOT4 fluid, and will be more than adequate and not cost an arm and a leg for a full fluid change.

You're right about pads though lol.

I had MOTUL RBF660 and I was very happy with it but Castrol has better specs, would the Castrol be so much more expensive? I need to check

regarding the pads I absolutely don’t want any noise during regular driving, I don’t know if I can find pads which can do both or looking for dedicated to swap every time (quite sure too much hassle for me), lastly check the stock ones how they are (I’m quite sure they would be good for the road but not for the track, but…..who knows!)

 

[kitkat]

Hi all, in a couple of weeks I should be able to finally drive my long awaited Emira!

I was thinking to change the brake oil from the stock, with I don't remember what it is, to this one (immediately after having the car):

Castrol React SRF Racing​

which has better performance (checked comparing the two products) while remains a Dot 4.

The aim is to track the car every once in a while but nothing too serious, just for fun but I want to make sure I have a good oil both for performance and to stay on the safe side without "pushing too hard" on a dot 5 with all the related maintenance issues I don't want to have, mainly it will remain a week ends car!!!!

What are your thoughts?

PS another topic will be the brake pads, but that's another story

Your car isn’t compatible with DOT 5, only DOT 4 and DOT 5.1. In regards to performance these standards only define the minimum boiling points of new (dry) and old (wet) brake fluid.

Performance of SRF far exceeds both of those minimum standards but only qualifies as a DOT 4 due to the viscosity of the brake fluid.

 

[Andrea]

Your car isn’t compatible with DOT 5, only DOT 4 and DOT 5.1. In regards to performance these standards only define the minimum boiling points of new (dry) and old (wet) brake fluid.

Performance of SRF far exceeds both of those minimum standards but only qualifies as a DOT 4 due to the viscosity of the brake fluid.

Correct, I wrote DOT 5 but I meant DOT 5.1. Thanks!

 

[Eagle7]

If you're just tracking every once in awhile, not too serious just for fun, you really don't need to worry about racing level performance brake fluid. The worry about brake fluid is IF you're running lap after lap at the maximum performance level your driving skill is capable of, which includes being on a track with high speed straight sections followed by hard braking tight corners, THEN you'd need to be concerned about brake fluid, but more likely pads than fluid.

Unless you're a high level driver pushing 8/10+ on the track, you don't even need the Motul RBF660; the RBF600 will be fine. There's no point in paying 2x to 3x more per bottle of brake fluid that won't have any effect on your braking performance. Better pads and track focused tires will be more beneficial, but if you're just doing the occasional track day, and mostly for fun, street tires are probably good enough. Pads would be the area to look at upgrading, which you would also benefit from on the street as well.

 

[jmn444]

I disagree, novices tend to overuse/overheat brakes more than fast/experienced drivers from what I've seen. Any person on a track with any level of repetitive braking should take the precaution of using high temp fluids and proper pads. I certainly don't want anyone near me on track that doesn't.

 

[jmn444]

The general argument for srf vs motol is longgevity. I use motul, but i don't mind bleeding/flushing the brakes a few times a year, it seems srf is good for a full season from what I've read about it, so overall cost may be similar depending on your maintenance routines.

 

[kitkat]

I disagree, novices tend to overuse/overheat brakes more than fast/experienced drivers from what I've seen. Any person on a track with any level of repetitive braking should take the precaution of using high temp fluids and proper pads. I certainly don't want anyone near me on track that doesn't.

I agree that novices use the brakes more but the structure of most novice sessions are structured as a lead follow or with instructors and don’t allow passing at all or unless with a point by in designated straights.

Most here are broken down into groups based on skill level and anyone who misstated their experience level gets flagged pretty quickly. So I don’t see that as a risk in my advanced groups.

I think the OP is fine on their first couple track days with stock fluid and pads depending on the structure of the HPDE.

 

[jmn444]

that's fair, diff tracks/groups definitely do run things differently... historically i've done about half of my annual days in a "club" setting where it's just open track for members so i'm more sensitive to the mix of skill levels involved. I've seen enough offs/wrecks over the years due to brake failure that it just isn't worth it to NOT do fluid and pads IMO though. Eliminate the variables you can and your odds of bad things happening drops. win/win

 

[Ft.S]

I disagree, novices tend to overuse/overheat brakes more than fast/experienced drivers from what I've seen. Any person on a track with any level of repetitive braking should take the precaution of using high temp fluids and proper pads. I certainly don't want anyone near me on track that doesn't.

I am not sure about the "longevity" of SRF from a time or duration perspective, at least I do not think it has better moisture absorption resistance or not compared to RBF660. SRF certainly has a significantly higher wet boiling point than any other brake fluid, I think by 100 degF.

The cost and ease of brake fluid change are minimal to all other maintenance items IMHO, I used to bleed before every event, and do a complete flush every other event. In my case, RBF660 made more sense. However, if I was a novice and attending only 2-3 events a year, I would assume an annual SRF flush should be sufficient.

 

[Andrea]

I am not sure about the "longevity" of SRF from a time or duration perspective, at least I do not think it has better moisture absorption resistance or not compared to RBF660. SRF certainly has a significantly higher wet boiling point than any other brake fluid, I think by 100 degF.

The cost and ease of brake fluid change are minimal to all other maintenance items IMHO, I used to bleed before every event, and do a complete flush every other event. In my case, RBF660 made more sense. However, if I was a novice and attending only 2-3 events a year, I would assume an annual SRF flush should be sufficient.

I think that’s my case, I’ve only attended track days quite rarely, moreover choosing an oil which has a higher wt boiling point, given what I’ve just said, puts me on the safer side.

shall I open another thread regarding pads or we can continue here

 

[kitkat]

I am not sure about the "longevity" of SRF from a time or duration perspective, at least I do not think it has better moisture absorption resistance or not compared to RBF660. SRF certainly has a significantly higher wet boiling point than any other brake fluid, I think by 100 degF.

The cost and ease of brake fluid change are minimal to all other maintenance items IMHO, I used to bleed before every event, and do a complete flush every other event. In my case, RBF660 made more sense. However, if I was a novice and attending only 2-3 events a year, I would assume an annual SRF flush should be sufficient.

I change SRF once a year when I do 12+ events a year. They claim their formulation is less hygroscopic than other brake fluids, I won’t test that

 

[TomE]

I think that’s my case, I’ve only attended track days quite rarely, moreover choosing an oil which has a higher wt boiling point, given what I’ve just said, puts me on the safer side.

shall I open another thread regarding pads or we can continue here

Start a new topic for pads for track use please, it makes it easier for people to find