I won a contest last week on Facebook for a free set of Performance Friction pads and I went with the 01 compound pads for the front and rear. When the PFC rep called me to get some info on the car, I told him I was also interested in a set of rotors since my stock rotors are shot. He informed me they make a 2 piece front and rear rotor for the CTS-V. After seeing how most of the race teams at the Daytona 24 Hour race were running their pads, rotors and calipers (including the #1 and #2 finishing DP cars), I knew they would hold up good.

First off, these things are absolutely GORGEOUS. very fairly priced as well; I think they're around the same price as the Racing Brake 2 piece rotors. Nothing against Racing Brake, but PFC has a very good reputation and is what really swayed me to running their equipment.

I cannot wait to run these in two months at Sebring. Along with their pads and rotors, I will be running Castrol SRF brake fluid and flushing out my ATE super blue just to be safe.

Big thanks to Alex and Chris at PFC. If you all want to pick up a set give Alex Leonard a call; he is a stand up guy and will take care of you.

 

Wow...they look nice. You'll like the PFC01's, I hear they're top notch. Maybe too powerful for street rubber, but brake modulating is just another skill to learn. Seems to me like they are very forgiving when you fall below operating temperature.

As for the Castrol SRF, are you sure you want to use that? Here's what I don't like: Castrol SRF exceeds the US Federal Standards FMVSS 116 DOT 3 and DOT 4, ISO 4925, JIS K2233 and current SAE J1703 and is miscible with all conventional brake fluids conforming to these standards. However, mixing Castrol SRF and conventional brake fluids will reduce the benefits of Castrol SRF. It is strongly recommended that conventional brake fluid be drained from the system before flushing and refilling with Castrol SRF.

I am hard pressed to find an issue with the ATE fluids, it's cheap, it's everywhere, you can mix blue and gold and even Motul or Castrol. The premise of Castrol really bothers me as requiring you to be 100% Castrol...you might find an occasion when you're at a track and you need to borrow or buy someones fluid. If you use it, then you have to flush it all out to get the Castrol 100% again. I haven't even mentioned the ridiculous price the want for it. Remember, an open container should really only be kept around for about as long as you'd keep soda around....with similar rules...the more the lids off, the less time you can keep it. You're just starting in this game, and I'd hate to see you spending money in places that aren't really necessary to have fun. YMMV.

 

well the only reason I chose that was based on my instructors advice. He is running the same car (CTS-V) and has boiled his ATE super blue twice at Sebring. apparently these things are awfully hard on the brakes compared to some of the other cars, due to the shear weight. The SRF is the only fluid he has not boiled, and he has run the ATE super blue as well as the Motul RBF.

 

Before you go Castrol...this stuff is getting rave reviews: Prospeed RS683 Xtreme Performance Brake Fluid™

Here's some stuff from James Clay from Bimmerworld:

----- Original Message -----
From: "James Clay" <jameslist@bimmerworld.com>
To: "'Louis'" <louis@goldsman.com>; "'Carl Coscia'" <carl.coscia@gmail.com>;
<james@bimmerworld.com>
Cc: "'M3 SIG'" <e30m3-list@bimmers.com>
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2011 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: [M3] Prospeed RS683 brake fluid


I posed the question to the owner. Granted there may be some marketing in
here, but I also think there are few people that know fluids better. I can
tell you from my right foot the pedal feels excellent and never even
slightly soft, which is an improvement over our previous:

First, let's start with how the Wet ERBP (Equilibrium Reflux Boiling Point)
is REALLY determined. It is NOT a test in the sample material at 3%
moisture. content.

A summary of the process to determine Wet ERBP is:

"Summary of procedure. A 350 ml sample of the brake fluid is humidified
under controlled conditions; 350 ml of SAE triethylene glycol monomethyl
ether, brake fluid grade, referee material (TEGME) as described in appendix
E of SAE Standard J1703 Nov. 83, ''Motor Vehicle Brake Fluid,'' November
1983, is used to establish the end point for humidification. After
humidification, the water content and ERBP of the brake fluid are
determined."
(from
http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/Vehic...res/Associated
%20Files/TP-116-04.pdf)

More specifically, 350 ml ± 5ml of the material (brake fluid) sample (the
material of which we want to determine the Wet ERBP) is poured into an open
corrosion test jar. A duplicate of the test fluid is prepared in the same
manner. Two test jars of an equal amount (350 ml ± 5ml) of a referee
material (brake fluid) are prepared in the EXACT same manner. The referee
material is SAE TEGME (triethylene glycol monomethyl ether) as specified in
SAE J1703, Appendix E. One test sample and one referee sample are placed in
a desiccator. This is duplicated with the other two samples. The two
desiccators are placed into a 122 °F (50 °C) controlled oven and the
desiccator covers are placed on top. Periodically, the covers (rubber
stoppers) are removed and using a long needled hypodermic syringe, a s ample
of not more than 2 ml from each referee TEGME is removed. No more than a
total of 10 ml is to be removed from the TEGME sample during the
humidification process. Now this is the critical part. When the moisture
content of the TEGME sample is determined to contain 3.7±.05 percent by
weight, the two test sample are removed from the oven and allowed to cool
for 60 - 90 minutes to 73.4° ±9 °F. Then the moisture content of the test
samples are measured and the ERBP test procedure is executed. This gives the
Wet ERBP of a brake fluid. Please note that nowhere in this is the it stated
that the test sample material is to have a specific level of moisture
content. In fact, the moisture content of the test material can vary from <
3% to over >4.5% depending on the sample material being tested.

Now that we understand how the Wet ERBP is determined let look at other
parts of the questions...

As to the reason SRF has a higher Wet ERBP than any other brake fluid has
ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with its rate of water uptake (absorption). The
reason is Castrol SRF use Silicate Ester as a base material whereas Prospeed
RS683 and all DOT 4 compliant brake fluids use borate ester as a base
material. Silicate ester is a material that is related to silicone. Please
note it is NOT silicon but is related. This fact allows the silicate ester
based brake fluid to have a much higher wet ERBP. However, the downside to
silicate ester as a base material in brake fluid is increased
compressibility and a shorter shelve life. Note the rear panel label of SRF
specifically states not to use it if it is more than 18 months old. The
shelve life of Prospeed RS683 is 24 months and its full performance is
guaranteed for that period.

Many people judge the quality of the brake fluid on the boiling point(s).
There is much more that goes into the quality of the brake fluid like,
materials (the components blended to make the specific brake fluid), high
temperature stability, density, viscosity, pH, stroke (lubricity), corrosion
resistance, effect on EDMP (seals) the blending process, bottling/packaging
and other factors. One of the performance characteristics of Prospeed RS683
is it's reduced compressibility and an industry leading high temperature
stability. What these performance characteristics mean to the customer is a
firmer, better feeling brake pedal and that this firmer pedal is maintained
over a wider range of extreme operating temperatures i.e. the customer that
is doing tracking days often can relate to the experience of having the
pedal feel "go away" after 10 - 15 minutes of a lapping session. And/or that
customer has a habit of bleeding his brakes in between sessions to ensure a
solid, firm, good feeling pedal. With Prospeed RS683 the customer will not
have either of these issues. He can go out and run 100% from beginning to
end of the session without losing "pedal" and he will not have to bleed the
brakes in between session just to guarantee a good pedal.

A solid sales strategy is to ask the customer if he has ever experienced
either of the above scenarios. Assuming a "yes' answer, then ask the
customer what that track day/weekend cost him. And not just the daily fee
but how much does he have in tires, brake pads, fuel, oil, wear/tear on
equipment, etc. Needless to say, this is going to be a significant amount.
Now ask him what is it worth to eliminate all brake fluid related issues?
More often than not (in my experience) the cost delta of RS683 relative to
any of the other brake fluids whether it be ATE, Motul, AP Racing, Endless
or Castrol SRF will typically become inconsequential.

*****************
And there you have it...

James Clay
BimmerWorld - Race Proven Performance
http://www.bimmerworld.com
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com
http://www.nextleveldriving.com
http://www.powerflexusa.com
877.639.9648