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 The NZV8 series is set to be more competitive than ever before with all cars to run a complete Performance Friction brakes package for the 2010/11 season. The three year deal demonstrates the category’s commitment to improving the braking performance of their racing series.
NZV8 competitors got a taste of what’s to come, when they ran an interim Performance Friction front disc rotor as well as front and rear brake pads during the 2009/10 season.
With the opening round at Pukekohe Park Raceway this weekend, initial testing commenced with 14 cars attending pre-season testing at Pukekohe (Friday 15 October).
Unfortunately, reigning champion Craig Baird was unable to attend due to prior commitments although his rebuilt Falcon was present to undergo some slow “shake-down” laps by team owner Garry Pedersen. Championship runner-up John McIntyre was present in his new liveried Blackwood-Paykels Falcon as was Kayne Scott with the new look Fujitsu Heat Pumps Falcon.
Other drivers running were Tim Edgell, Angus Fogg, Haydn MacKenzie, Simon Richards, Martin Short and William Bamber, Andy Booth, John Penny, Andrew Anderson, Paul Manuell and Nick Ross.
 The NZV8 control brake package was specially designed for the BNT NZV8 category and includes 4 piston monobloc front and rear calipers for superior stiffness. The front and rear disc rotors feature our patented Direct Drive V2 disc attachment system and patented slot pattern for more bite and less drag. Carbon Metallic® pads are at the centre of the system, providing the ultimate in bite, torque and release characteristics.
The biggest improvement is the increase in rotor sizes from 328mm to 355mm (front) and 310mm to 323mm (rear) using single piece monobloc four piston calipers on all four wheels. The same brake pad compound will be used front and rear with pad thicknesses increased to 29mm (front) and 19mm (rear).
Performance Friction is a brake manufacturing company that designs and engineers every attribute of every key component to work together as a system to give drivers the result they are looking for. The objective of the new NZV8 caliper technology is to allow cars to squat more evenly under heavy braking. Reducing the amount the car pitches to the front during braking will ensure the rear of the car maintains tyre contact with the road surface and prevent the rear breaking loose. The new pads should also see cars completing a full race weekend on a single set thus reducing costs. Drivers testing on Friday have already provided positive feedback on having a firmer brake pedal and more confidence under braking.
Performance Friction Brakes Australia’s Mike Edwards was present for the test and said “Driver feedback from the test day was all positive and with some minor tuning of master cylinders and cooling packages should produce some exciting racing from the first lap to the drop of the chequered flag”.
Commodore driver, Andy Booth, thought the brakes were fantastic. “A lot less modulation required through the braking zone to keep the car balanced” and “looking at the data, when you modulate the brakes, the bias stays absolutely dead even, unlike it did with the old brakes”
 Peter Turk, technical engineer for Performance Friction Brakes, was also on hand to assist teams with car setup.
Martin Short, new full time driver for season 2010, did “120 laps on a set of brake pads and they still looked fantastic”.
John McIntyre, holder of the current lap record at Pukekohe, was “already getting close to outbreaking our qualifying time from last year on old tyres so that says something about the efficiency of the brakes.”
He said, “Brakes are so important in a race car and I think the new set-up with provide fans with even more exciting racing. There will be more passing under brakes and the confidence to pass under brakes later in the race when our previous brake package might have been running out of steam.”
The seven round championship commences at Pukekohe on November 6th-7th and concludes at the ITM 400 V8 Supercar weekend at Hamilton on April 15th-17th.
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Performance Friction first entered the race market in 1986, developing competition brake pads for racers around the world. As they pushed the envelope of brake pad technology, a need for improvements in disc metallurgy and design were evident. Performance Friction’s improved disc offered increased thermal stability, improved release characteristics and reduce drag. As the premier disc and pad manufacturer in international motorsports, Performance Friction applied experience gained in pad and disc development to design a line of low drag, quick release monobloc calipers utilizing numerous proprietary technologies. “Controlling every major component of the brake system allows our brakes to outperform the competition in every aspect, including bite, torque, release, drag and most of all, driver control”, Don Burgoon, Performance Friction President.
Championship winning race technology developed at tracks around the world is directly applied to the products Performance Friction produces for the street. With the goal of making the absolute best brakes on the market, No Compromises™, there is no doubt that Performance Friction continues to prove itself as the world leader in brake technology.
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