overheating brakes?

[paul]

In a short (<5m) trip 60mph road with several intersections, the outside of my front rims heat up from braking to 100F+.
I used a IR thermo. so I know it's the rotors transfering heat to the rims as opposed to say, bad wheel bearings.

On highway trips with minimal braking the rims stay at normal temps, and the car is getting 33-36mpg in mixed driving, so I know the brakes aren't dragging on the rotors.
Is this car just severely under-braked? Anyone else experience such high temps?

I feel like throwing on some hawk dtc-70s on, at least they'll be at their proper operating temps ;)

[russiankid]

I would say that is normal because on the highway your don't really use your brakes where as during intersections to slow the car down from 60mph to say below 20mph uses a lot of friction.

[cygnus x-1]

100F is hardly even warm. I'm sure mine get hotter than that just sitting in the sun.

The average internal temperature of the human body is 98.6F.

C|

[turabaka]

Yeah mine always get pretty hot after a decent drive too. Hot enough to burn your fingers anyway. Ask me how I know that one. lol. I'd say it's normal for them to do that.

[Hauntd ca3]

that'll be just normal temps for the amount of braking you are doing
the rotor temp straght after a cuple hard 60-0 mph stops would be 200 plus degrees C
i'd put a set of semi metallic pads in anyway
they just get better as they warm up

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Just because the brakes heat up doesn't mean the car is under-braked. On my 535i, the brakes are more than adequate for the car and will still get hot enough to vaporize water on contact after some city driving. Its perfectly normal. Now if you experienced symptoms of overheated brakes, such as decreased braking performance, then you could conclude that either the brakes were inadequate or malfunctioning. HTH

[Blkblurr]

I assume you have aluminum wheels on it right? They do a good job at transferring heat from the disc. 100F is not hot. It's normal.

[paul]

Ok, thanks for the input guys! Guess I'm not used to the little front brakes yet :lol:

[2ndGenGuy]

100F is cold. I'm pretty sure the Hawk pads you're talking about don't even become effective until WAY above that. Racing pads operate at up to 1200 degrees from what I've seen. Maybe even higher.


Hawk DTC-70... Optimum temperature range is 200 - 870 deg C

^^^ That's Celsius. Or 392 to 1598 degrees F.

Your "little" brakes are more than adequate to stop your car under normal street driving conditions.

[paul]

100F is cold. I'm pretty sure the Hawk pads you're talking about don't even become effective until WAY above that. Racing pads operate at up to 1200 degrees from what I've seen. Maybe even higher.



^^^ That's Celsius. Or 392 to 1598 degrees F.

Your "little" brakes are more than adequate to stop your car under normal street driving conditions.

Just a little sarcasm on my part refering to those hawk pads... ;)

[2ndGenGuy]

Just a little sarcasm on my part refering to those hawk pads... ;)

Oh hehe. What can I say? I guess I didn't pick up on it... Long day. :cheers:

[russiankid]

100F is cold. I'm pretty sure the Hawk pads you're talking about don't even become effective until WAY above that. Racing pads operate at up to 1200 degrees from what I've seen. Maybe even higher.



^^^ That's Celsius. Or 392 to 1598 degrees F.

Your "little" brakes are more than adequate to stop your car under normal street driving conditions.

With 4 wheel disc brakes they stop on a dime.:cheers:

[lostforawhile]

don't put race pads on a street car!! they are not effective until those high temps and will not function right on a street driven car. you will lose tons of braking distance and possibly get into an accident. i can't even imagine how many ricer idiots try to uee them because they think its "cool" about as cool as them cutting you out of your car because your brakes never got hot enough to work. if you want better pads i think hawker makes a good street pad, just make sure it's temp range is correct for street use.

[lostforawhile]

BRAKE TEMPERATURES
Temperatures between the pad and disc do not normally exceed 700°F even in heavy street use. In race use 900-1200°F is common on smaller cars and in Championship Cup race temps. shoot up to around 1500°F where discs will glow red or orange.
ALWAYS CHOOSE A PAD ADEQUATE FOR YOUR NEEDS. NEVER just choose a race compound because you think you’re a hot shot. Many/most race pads need “warm up” and don’t become effective till 350°F.
NOT ideal for a stoplight situation in urban traffic.
EBC Greenstuff is effective from cold and needs no warm up. Even so EBC Green feels stronger as you use the brake harder. We call that progressive braking.

[paul]

Just as a follow-up, the pads were replaced with ceramic pads, no more excessive heat & dust issues... :thumbup:

[MessyHonda]

mine get so hot they start to smell....thanks to my drilled and sloted rotors and ceramic pads....it stops good tho.....if it wasnt for my brake set up i would of been off the side of the cliff...hahaha

[RallyImp05]

mine are smelling also, and they feel a bit squishy. i know it needs a fluid change, and when i do that i will probably switch to ceramic pads...

[MessyHonda]

yesterday when i got out of my car my brakes were smoking from the rear....time to now slow down very fast

[russiankid]

How the hell do you overheat your brakes? My BMW weights 3700lbs and I pushed my car on the back roads and my brakes were fine.

[MessyHonda]

it was like 30F last night so they just looked a bit hotter than normal.

[russiankid]

What kind of driving can you do overheat the rear brakes to the point where they smoke?

[MessyHonda]

i was down like 60mph....and slowed down and turned into the driveway...got out and smoke was coming out....for all i know it could of been steam since it was cold.

[russiankid]

I've never seen that happen and I have colder weather here than you. Maybe your calipers are hanging up?

[MessyHonda]

I've never seen that happen and I have colder weather here than you. Maybe your calipers are hanging up?



yeah...i have some 1st gen legend calipers waiting to go on

[Oldblueaccord]

100F is hardly even warm. I'm sure mine get hotter than that just sitting in the sun.

The average internal temperature of the human body is 98.6F.

C|

Yeah i was thinking i like to see my tire temps around 100F or more usually if possible.

:wave:



wp

[AccordB20A]

you cant be driving your car hard enough if your brakes dont fade lol
Ive made my accords rotors red hot many times and in a civic i managed to make the brake pads catch fire and melt my center caps out of my wheels

[Hauntd ca3]

you wanna try driving round dunners
made a suposedly shit hot set of pads from repco smoke more than i do when on the booze
so dont buy trw by lucas pads
they arent much better than silverline

[3rd Party]

i'd only be worried if they glow orange like on the badass race cars...until then, no worries. unless you're changing pads like there's no tomorrow, i'd say adjust your brake pedal use. engine braking is the shit man, saves brake pedal life.