Need advice. am thinking of changing brake pads for a track weekend. Last time I went I fried my back brakes and experienced a lot of fade on hot brakes. There are several 100mph+ areas to brake from. As this is a once a year (maybe twice) hobby I'm not too interested in a full upgrade $$$ of the system. Could I just slip on some racing pads for improved wear and performance? I have an 04 5AT and it has free brakes for the 1st 3/36,000. I am also worried that the dealer may know that I've been jacking with the pads and negate the warranty. Will changing pads mess up the rotors that are already worn in on other pads? Will it even help since I'm not changing rotors? Are the Hawk HP pads the best recomended? All ideas appreciated.

I usually install my track pads a couple days before an event. The couple days of street driving clean off the old pad material from the rotor. I take it easy for my first few laps as well to make sure the rotors are bedded with the new pad material. A high-temp pad with a higher capacity to shed heat will help, but there's only so much we can do with the OE brakes...

If your track has a lot of hard braking sections you've probably already melted your dust boots. Did you smear the stock pads all over the rotors? If so, I wouldn't expect the dealer to replace them under warranty. I believe they have to save the worn components for inspection/warranty approval by the Infiniti factory service rep. Melted = Abuse. Also, if you're running ATE blue fluid and there's chunks of rubber strewn all over your undercarriage it's a sure tipoff that you've been to the track.

I'm not sure what's available for high temp stock replacement pads, but I would recommend something with at least a 1200 deg. F temp rating. You should expect to spend a couple of hours bleeding calipers and changing/bedding pads a day before the event. Since you only do a couple of track days a year the pads will last several seasons though. A performance street pad like Stillen Metal Matrix won't cut it, get some good ones and you can concentrate on driving vs. wondering whether you'll need to bail out at the end of the straight.

Hmm, I never thought about that before.

I would change the pads for track days. It just isn't worth it trying to be cheap. I went with the advice from THX723 to use Hawk HPS+ pads for the front and regular HPS for the rears. I also changed out my fluid to Valvoline Synthetic. This is on the '04 OE brakes. Haven't had a problem with fade for the two track days I've gone too. Still got plenty of pad material left too.