CSG Brake Pads: Details Make the Difference

Much like tire technology has evolved rapidly in the last several decades, so has brake technology. There are hundreds of brake compounds produced all over the world, and the majority of off-the-shelf brake compounds offered decades ago still exist today. These compounds that may have been great in the past may not be ideal for today’s performance requirements.

CounterSpace Garage have tried to make their mark by putting together a detailed, comprehensive understanding of the entire braking system (across numerous makes and models) as well as the general demands of the entire racing landscape. After spending years testing hundreds of discs, fluids, compounds, and calipers to identify their respective limitations, they’ve been able to satisfy a wide array of performance cars, tracks, and tire compounds.

Contrary to popular opinion, outright braking performance is only one part of the puzzle. Not only are CSG concerned with improving the pad’s outright performance, but they also think about pad control and the context in which the pad will be used. If a pad isn’t suited to the driver’s preferences or the car’s limitations, it will never be used to its full.

To improve control, maintaining consistency is paramount. If the brake pad breaks down, then it snowballs into fluid failure, excessive caliper flex, and excessive disc wear. Consistency also means friction characteristics at different pressure applications, pad modulus through the temperature range, and performance from fresh to the backing plate.

Expending Energy Efficiently

Aiming for a consistent friction material often yields higher pad stiffness, which allows for a more responsive braking feel or “bite.” This doesn’t mean the brake torque is delivered in spikes, which can cause early ABS intervention, but rather with smoother engagement and smoother release. Primarily, the driver feels a more intuitive relationship between his brake application and the way his car decelerates.

Thanks to CSG's custom setup, Gary Wong enjoys reliable, reassuring braking performance in his high-horsepower heavyweight Supra.

Stiffness has secondary benefits including: better pad wear, lower overall heat generation and less heat transfer into critical components like the caliper and hydraulic fluid compared to the existing compounds on the market. A stiffer pad is usually a denser pad, and more material means more thermal capacity.

In order to understand how stiffness plays a role in response, we should use a simple physics equation with the assumption of infinitely rigid structures:

Friction Force (Ff) = Coefficient of friction (mu) x Normal Force (Fn)

This equation helps us visualize the effect of using two different sanding blocks to hold a piece of sandpaper against a sanded surface. A sponge requires more vertical force to generate the same level of friction force at the sanded surface compared to using a piece of hardwood. Now it’s obvious why having a good pad compound can result in better pedal communication and improved control over braking events — it maximizes tire adhesion and improves peak deceleration characteristics more consistently and with less force.

Tailor Made

When we’re trying to assess the level of control their particular pad offers, we consider things like: whether or not they need to build up the threshold pressure, whether they need to reduce their brake pressure carefully like with an aero car. This helps us establish the control objectives,” CSG’s David Leung notes.

“If a driver is dealing with a lot of ABS intervention, a digressive pad can help. As it limits some of that power at higher pressures, it makes it less likely to activate ABS.

Part of Gary Yeung's remarkable speed in his normally-aspirated S2000 comes down to its ability to decelerate, courtesy of CSG.

For cars with aero, a progressive pad might be best. As temperature and pressure increase, breaking power increases at an exponential rate. However, when the aero bleeds off (often very rapidly), this compound makes it easier to reduce pedal pressure quickly enough to avoid lock-up.

All of these profiles are taken into consideration to deliver what is ultimately an intuitive braking experience that allows the driver to focus on other aspects of driving and racing.

To demonstrate the ways in which driver preference factors into the equation, consider just the well-known users of the Supra A90 who’ve partnered with CSG: Jonathan Wong, Jackie Ding, Gary Wong, Allen Patten, Dave Kramer, Drew Turner, and even Toyota Engineering have turned to CSG for their own bespoke setup.”

Thermal Constraints for Different Applications

To get the most from a particular set of pads, some turn to ducting, which helps keep a brake system in its operating window. Some pads need to operate at a much lower temp to generate the performance and better wear (especially pads that generate excessive heat). High levels of heat generation also transfers into the caliper, causing them to get soft, and also transfers into the fluid.

Some pads need heat to perform, which is where ducting can be a detriment, since heat may be required for some friction materials to improve wear consistency in racing situations. Ducting also subjects a brake system to a wider spread of temperatures, which can shorten the lifespan of various components.

Viz paint is used to establish the exact thermal parameters their brakes must operate within.

Ducting does have some benefits especially when you’re operating a spec/homologated brake system that may have undersized calipers/discs (they usually get replaced after each race) and require the brakes to be regulated in a more consistent temperature range.

At the end of the day, ducting should really be a fine tuning tool, not a complete solution to resolve brake issues. It all comes down to designing for the appropriate application and optimizing the performance zone.

Maximizing Both Ends

“We also assess the rear brakes’ utilization. Regardless of whether they’re optimizing their rears to work with the factory bias or they’ve added a proportioning valve, we want the brakes to aid in slowing the car and assisting in rotation.

Jackie Ding's able to make his Supra turn like a much smaller car thanks in part to the well-chosen pads at the rear axle that facilitate usable rotation. 

By maximizing the rear brakes, we can utilize the tire grip from all four corners of the car. Using tire grip from all four tires means better distribution of brake load, maximum deceleration, better wear, and better temperature management to keep the brakes in the optimal operating zone.

A Compendium for All Invested

To take every conceivable factor into consideration is how CSG has been able to develop a wide range of pad solutions. It’s also due to driver feedback and motorsport data, as shared with them by their loyal customers. This information is then filtered down into a range of solutions that meet spirited driving activities to racing at every single level between HPDE and professional racing applications.

"All relevant areas of braking performance must be understood to provide a truly premium product," David adds.

CSG have made countless strides towards finding the right products for most of today’s platforms, They’ve built a compendium of braking data over years through internal development goals, brake dyno work, interacting with their customers, and using their feedback to tailor their products to the customer’s demands. They offer a huge array for different conditions, setups, and for different driving styles.

“CSG is a premium product and the costs reflect that. With that cost, we offer free consultation since we want to meet our customer’s needs and optimize results. All we ask is that they provide data. Ideally, this comes in the form of telemetry, but onboard video, photos, and anything else that can contribute to a clearer picture of what’s happening at the track,” David adds.

The brake system is an ecosystem in itself, which is better understood through constant communication between customer and manufacturer. This interaction is the backbone of CSG’s feedback loop, and only through this and the high-quality data it relies on has high-grade deceleration been made available to drivers of all stripes.

Braking Basics Explained: How to Find Time on the Anchors

Jackie Stewart said that braking is the last thing a driver learns to do well, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start doing it decently now. There are some basic concepts to cover, and a little bit of technique to study, but the initiate should be able to digest every bit of it with a couple hours of practice.

We must make our inputs smoothly. This is a tenet of racing taught by every single racing school and track day outfit across the world. However, if not fully explained, it might mislead drivers in the braking department somewhat. True, the brake pedal is released smoothly, but the initial application of the brake should be done as forcefully and deliberately as the grip available will allow.

Threshold Braking

As the car is moving quickly, it has more weight to transfer to the front axle than it has at a slower speed. Therefore, the initial phase of the braking zone—we can divide it into three phases—is where the brunt of the braking takes place. Transferring this weight to the front presses the front tires into the pavement, thereby giving the front axle lots of grip. As the speed bleeds off, our overall level of grip diminishes somewhat and we need to release the pedal accordingly.

Credit: the-contact-patch.com

We try to keep the car straight, build up to peak braking pressure almost immediately and maintain this pressure for a period of time. As we get nearer to the turn-in point, we will begin to release the brake pressure slightly until we’re able to fully release the brake pedal and either coast or begin to reapply the throttle. This is threshold braking in a nutshell.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean we necessarily stab the brake as hard as possible, but instead of building up the pressure linearly, we try to reach peak pressure very early in the braking zone. The softer the suspension and the lower the grip level, the more gradually we need to build this pressure up, but even in a stock Volvo, the ramp builds relatively rapidly, then tapers off.

Overcoming Fear

Pushing the brakes to the point of lockup worries some drivers, and rightly so. However, it is something which can be overcome. What we need is a sense of how much grip is available for braking, and what we must do if we apply more braking pressure than the tires can handle.

If we have ABS, we can use it as a tool to show us where the limit is. Find a longer straightaway, ensure nobody’s behind, and then apply the brakes as forcefully as we dare. Eventually, we’ll feel the ABS intervene. The more sensitive drivers will notice how the ABS intervention point will change depending on how warm the tires are. If they’re cold, it is fairly easy to trigger the ABS, or, for those of us without ABS, lock tires.

We tend to recall force application and resistance levels quite well, which means that a few stabs at the middle pedal, assuming we’ve got our analytical minds working, will give a good idea of how hard we can brake—and we can replicate this corner after corner. If we’ve got the mental reserves to observe how well our car slows, we can begin to approximate just how long we need before our car slows to a reasonable speed.

If we overdo it, we must cadence brake. This is true whether we have basic ABS or not. Cadence braking is the process by which we relieve the braking system of some pressure to allow the tires to roll again.

Photo credit: gran-turismo.com

While reducing the braking pressure mid-lockup seems counterintuitive to the beginner who’s terrified their car isn’t slowing as fast as it usually does, it’s not as scary once it’s been practiced a bit. Once we sense the fronts have locked, relieve the pedal of some pressure until the tires begin to roll again, then press it again. Some pump the brake, while others roll their toes inside their driving shoes. Either technique works.

There are two things to remember during a lockup:

• We must unlock the tires quickly. Not everybody has the presence of mind to accept that their tires are locked, but the sooner we can react to that telltale shriek or a noticeable slide during braking, the sooner we can address the problem.

• Once the tires are rolling freely again, we must reapply enough pedal pressure to slow the car, but not so much to re-lock them.

The first attempts might result in embarrassment and a flat spot or two, but those are small potatoes compared to head-on with the wall.

Of course, it helps to have some wiggle room when getting acquainted with this counterintuitive technique, so finding a safe spot with plenty of runoff is important.

To figure out where to actually brake, we should start by braking on the verge of lockup or at the point of ABS activation. If we brake hard at certain point and we’re still over-slowing the corner, we have a lot of space left. 

The next lap, we should move the braking point several feet deeper and brake hard again. Using that same brake pressure, we push the point nearer to the corner until we're almost missing our turn-in point. Then, we smoothen the brake release and balance the car toward the apex. Now we know the real braking point.

Saving a Spin

We must also recognize the time to embrace full lockup. There are occasions when, due to low-grip conditions, an unbalanced platform, and/or poor vision, improper braking will cause a spin. In these instances, we must remember to try and use all the braking power at our disposal to slow the car. “In a spin, two feet in,” the old adage goes.

Though the previous section explained how to avoid excessive lockup to continue going quickly, once we’ve gotten into an irrecoverable spin, our objective changes—we aim to avoid hitting anything stationary. To do this, we need to lock our brakes to bring ourselves to a halt as quickly as possible; the time for cadence braking is long past us.

Unfortunately for ABS-equipped cars, the ability to fully lock the wheels under deceleration is, at best, limited.

The Right Dose

Cadence braking is not always appropriate. Certain corners do not require much deceleration, and will often punish it. A fast kink usually does not need this sort of abrupt application because the emphasis at higher speeds is on maintaining a “flat” platform. Braking too hard will shift the weight forward, thereby unloading the rear and promoting some instability. Instead, we “rub” the brake in preparation for these faster corners if any braking is necessary.

A shorter, softer application of the brake is what’s needed—and a spike of pressure must be avoided. As we turn into the corner, we will typically return to the throttle to help stabilize the rear. Whereas lockup is the issue we typically concern ourselves with in slower corners, destabilizing the rear is what we must avoid when nudging a car gently into faster corners that do not require us to bleed off much speed.

Credit: driver61.com

Generally speaking, the faster the corner/the more obtuse its angle, the less a major deceleration moment is beneficial. In other words, the speed change required is usually minimal in these types of corners. Therefore, the braking moment must be relatively short and gentle so as not to overslow the car and to avoid loading the nose too heavily. Prolonged unloading of the rear at higher speeds is likely to destabilize the car, as it is more pitch sensitive at higher speeds.

Loading the Nose to Facilitate Rotation

There are times when loading the nose for a long period of time and encouraging a little rotation at the rear is beneficial—usually when entering a slow, tightening corner where some mid-corner yaw will help straighten the car sooner. Because the corner is relatively slow, this slide will not incur serious penalties if it gets out of hand; slides are more easily caught at slower speeds.

Unfortunately, delving deeper into this will have to wait. This falls into the realm of trail-braking: an advanced technique which deserves an article of its own. Hold your horses—we’ll get there soon enough. Until then, get out there and find some time by stepping on the anchors a little more assertively.