Introduction
I'm going to share a little secret with you: As delivered from the factory, the brakes on your car are not capable of handling repeated lapping on a racetrack. They're also probably not very good for Autocross, drifting, or rally racing. I don't care if your calipers are painted red or gold, if you have gigantic carbon ceramic rotors, or if your car is advertised as being optimized on the Nordschleife. Do you know why your brakes are not up to the task of a serious thrashing as delivered? It's the lowest common denominator rule.
In the US in particular, manufacturers try to make every car as accessible to as many people as possible. That includes the guy who probably has no business being behind the wheel. Despite the hardcore enthusiast's wishes, that's why you don't see fixed-back race buckets in a stock Corvette, and why stiff, manually adjustable coilovers aren't standard issue on a 911. It's much easier to push a button in the cockpit. The same is true of your car's brake system. If a manufacturer delivered a 'track-day special' with an extremely noisy brake pad, there would be countless complaints and warranty-related service calls. The Nissan GT-R is a perfect example. The owner's manual clearly states that the car has high-performance brakes, and that they could make some noise. I was browsing one of the GT-R forums the other day, and of course there were a number people complaining about brake noise. Go figure.
So, how do manufacturers address this problem? They compromise, sometimes heavily. The fundamental dilemma of taking a street car on a racetrack is that it was designed to do so many other things besides going as fast as possible. A purpose-built racecar has no such identity crisis. The brakes fitted to your car as standard are one of the most glaring examples of this dilemma, and they're often the first vehicle system to wilt when leaned upon under heavy use.
