Track pads only in the front

[wahwill]

When I used to take my E36 to the track, I would swap out only my front pads for track pads. This was very common and sufficient for HPDE on the e36.

Is it also the case for the e92 m3? Are there any reasons not to swap in track pads only in the front?

[Datka]

E9x m3 is not e36. It is much heavier and more powerful.
Stock rear brake pads are not sufficient for this car on the track.

[SYT_Shadow]

You need front and rear track pads. End thread

You would completely messing up brake bias

[scotty_miller]

I wouldn't try and skimp out on one of your most crucial components at the track :

[bigjae1976]

I've done that on my E46 but wouldn't dream of doing that in my E90. Mostly because you'll cook your front pads really fast. If you drive M mode or DSC on, DSC will put a beatdown on the rears.

Other than that...your brakes will work fine with front track pads, stock rear pads with DSC off.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

I've done that on my E46 but wouldn't dream of doing that in my E90. Mostly because you'll cook your front pads really fast. If you drive M mode or DSC on, DSC will put a beatdown on the rears.

Other than that...your brakes will work fine with front track pads, stock rear pads with DSC off.

Bigjae nailed it. I run with Euro MDM at the track and I can smell the rear pads sometimes.

Here is a thread where someone had their data logging software overlay individual braking effort on their GoPro footage. You can clearly see the rear brakes being dragged mid-corner to help keep the car on-line:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=821800
(note, in particular, how long some of the applications are and that it might even brake an individual wheel while you are at WOT)

Personally, I am fine with the safety net MDM provides. More rear pad swaps is a small price to pay. You may not need dedicated track pads in the back, but I would definitely go for something more aggressive than an OEM pad. Ferodo DS2500 might work. It will largely depend on how old your rotors are, your driving style, the specific track, ambient temps, etc.

[roastbeef]

MDM mostly uses the front brakes, and rarely utilizes the rear brakes. dogbone has shown lots of data to prove this.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

MDM mostly uses the front brakes, and rarely utilizes the rear brakes. dogbone has shown lots of data to prove this.

It uses the front brakes if the rear end steps out? I assumed that it would use the rear brakes...that seems to make more sense to me.

I stand corrected.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

It uses the front brakes if the rear end steps out? I assumed that it would use the rear brakes...that seems to make more sense to me.

I stand corrected.

yep. they also explained this a little at the M performance day i went to here in socal, but dogbone was able to provide aim data and show what was going on in a turn when mdm was activated.
in an oversteer situation, the outside front brakes are used to reel the rear back in. i'm not sure if it does much in understeer.

[dparm]

It will lightly brake the inside tires to help pull the car through the corner, yes. You can see this in the above thread I linked, and I have seen it on my own car. On several track days, the wheels on one side of the car have gotten much dirtier than the other side.

Also, remember that EBD uses more rear braking at times to prevent excessive nose-dive (which would cause the rear contact patch to decrease and possibly reduce stability in a corner). If you have the brake pedal to the floor, this is irrelevant, but if you are only using a portion of the pedal travel, it is possible that the car would apply the brakes more heavily in the rear.

OP, don't interpret these posts to mean you should run a more aggressive pad in the rear than you have up front. I apologize if this wasn't clear.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

It uses the front brakes if the rear end steps out? I assumed that it would use the rear brakes...that seems to make more sense to me.

I stand corrected.

I was also surprised when they explained that at the M track day I attended

[bigjae1976]

Well...I learned something today! Thanks!

[jakob66]

Originally Posted by wahwill

When I used to take my E36 to the track, I would swap out only my front pads for track pads. This was very common and sufficient for HPDE on the e36.

Is it also the case for the e92 m3? Are there any reasons not to swap in track pads only in the front?

I've done exactly that for the most part in 2016 for all kind of reasons, with all nannies off, works just fine.
However, I then changed the rears to XR2 pads (OEM were worn down) and I can brake much later, more fun.

[NoCarrier]

I can't speak to running the combination of track pads in front and OEM in the rear, but I ran two track days on OEM pads and absolutely obliterated the pads and rotors, front and back. I was shocked because I tracked my e46 for years without swapping pads for events.

Your e9x experience may be different, depending on how aggressively you drive.

I get that you want to make prepping for each track day as simple as possible, but you have to accept that this car is very heavy and very powerful and you need the right equipment to get the job done.

[iBoosted]

I've run PF08 in the front and Z-rated rears without issues.

[dj_dub]

I'm gonna be running Carbotech XP20s in the front and StopTech Street Performance pads in the rears in a couple of weeks...hopefully I'll be good with this setup for my driving style at the track. If not, I'll upgrade the rears to Carbotech XP10s.

[lutfy]

Originally Posted by wahwill

When I used to take my E36 to the track, I would swap out only my front pads for track pads. This was very common and sufficient for HPDE on the e36.

Is it also the case for the e92 m3? Are there any reasons not to swap in track pads only in the front?

NO NO NO! This is a safety issue. I had a student with brand new set of track (front) pads with stock years cook the rears to the plates in day 1. The rears will overheat and create all sorts of issues. When doing brakes (pads have advanced a lot unlike back in the days when folks ran diff compounds for bite/bias etc. PLUS ABS / TCS is also very advanced yet equally sensitive on these cars) stick with same compound front to back. Trust me on this.

Lutfy