I was testing out this new brake pad this manufacturer asked. OK, I tried them out instead of the Mintex M1166 that I usually use. After like 1 warm up lap. My brakes are into the firewall. Holy Moly!!!!! I have no brakes. You can hear me going, no brakes no brakes while doing my testing run. Link below.
I will not disclose the manufacturer who ask me to test their new brakes out because I signed a confidence report.
I don't get anything out from them besides getting brake rotors and pads at below distribution prices. But with the results I got Yikes!!! No way I'm using those brakes at the tracks. The braking material is all right for drag racers to come to a full stop in one go, similar to the EBC green stuff, but when it comes to 450 deg C, those buggers are gone. Regular driving wise, they are pretty good.
However, mind you that I got these brakes for US$8.00 per set anyway ahahahha. That may explain the reason why. Once they are cool below the 450deg C mark, they are pretty decent brakes. For the price and their performance, they are worth it, but not when you want to do 5-8 laps in a row. I have swtich my pads back to Mintex M1166 even though they cost me a fortune(US$180/front set) and NZ made Zonelli rotors. Damn good rotors. 650 deg C operating temperature. max temperature is 720deg C.
I do go through a new set of rotors and pads every 8 months or so.
Yes, it's a photo of me. And yes, it's My RAV4 that I am driving. No joking.
I am also uploading another run of me at night going uphill. The speedo needle never pass 180 because I was going up a 15 deg hill on the highway. On a flat, it would easily pass 180 and keep going.
No, I don't do drags at all. I hate them because they finish so quickly and I prefer cornering rather than going in a straight line.
As with biggest contribution to power? Errrr. I don't know how to say it. First of all, I don't use the standard 3S-FE engine on the RAV4. I use the ST202 Engine off a Celica, a 3S-GE.
As with mods, hmm.............. quite a few. As with most power gain. I say a cold air intake with a free flow exhaust. Then comes the fuel pressure regulator. Later on, you will want to increase the compression ratio by getting a thinner head gasket. WIth that, you want to port and polish the intake and exhaust. Later, a better computer or piggy back computer and retune the fuel/ignition mapping. That's pretty much what you can do without investing too much money.
After all these, you will go for a lighten flywheel for response rate, high angle cam(but not too high ~272 deg) and shave a little off the head to give you more compression.