Titanium Brake Pad Shim Heat Shield Set; Scion Fr-s Front on 2040-parts.com

Titanium, along with being extremely strong, hard, light weight, and corrosion resistant, has another property that is highly beneficial and desirable to the braking system of an automobile.  Titanium is a very poor conductor of heat, and makes an excellent heat shield.  The engineering literature and various sources state that titanium has 1/20th the thermally conductivity of aluminum and 1/8th the thermal conductivity of steel.  It makes an excellent material for preventing heat from transferring to the brake fluid in an automobile's brake calipers, and preventing the brake fluid from boiling.  This is why it is commonly used in extremely expensive brake pads, as backing plates, and extremely expensive brake calipers, as caliper pistons.

But those of us using normal steel backed brake pads and steel or aluminum pistoned calipers can still benefit from titanium's heat shielding properties, by using titanium shims between the brake pad and the caliper.  These shims form a barrier, preventing heat transfer from the rotor and pad to the caliper and brake fluid.  One high end brake manufacturer cites a 25% reduction in heat transference, at one spot in the middle of the heat range showing a reduction in heat transfer from 525 ° F, to 375 ° F, using a thinner .020 inch thick shim/heat shield.

Benefits:

Performance Benefits:

• Prevents brake fade caused by boiling the brake fluid, by reducing the amount of heat transfered from the rotor and pades to the caliper and fluid.
• Allows the braking system to be pushed farther/harder while preventing brake fluid boiling.

Economic Benefits:

• Increases usable life of brake pads.  As the pad wears down, the piston and fluid become closer to the rotor and friction surface (heat source).  Some drivers complain that heat transfer through the pad and into the caliper occurs more quickly as they wear through their brake pads and the increase in brake fade is noticable enough that they replace the pads more frequently and throwing away pads that still have half of the friction material left.  Using titanium brake pad shims reduces heat transfer and allows for more complete use of the pads before they must be discarded.
• Increases the life of the calipers, pistons, and seals, by reducing the heat level that these parts are exposed to and reducing the frequency of of the need to rebuild the calipers.
• Reduces the frequency of the need to bleed the brakes by preventing and/or reducing the chances of boiling  the brake fluid, and reducing heat degredation of the brake fluid.
• May eliminate the need for higher temperature racing brake fluid, and reduce the opperating cost for the vehicle over the long term.  Given the cost of racing brake fluid, this savings may be significant. 
• Lasts the life of the vehicle and will not require replacement.

Racing Application

This item is particularly useful for SCCA and other club racing or road racing use, in classes which require the use of the original equipment caliper, but place no restriction on the choice of brake pad (and brake pad hardware).  Particularly for Improved Touring (IT), Super Touring Lite (STL), Production (P), Showroom Stock (SS), Spec Miata (SM), B Spec (B-SPEC), Touring (T), and the Spec MX-5 (SM5) regional class.

This item is also particularly useful for autocross and gymkhana use for drivers using left-foot-brake technique, and any racing venue which involves heavy use of the brakes for a short duration, followed by the car sitting still in the grid or paddock while waiting for the next run.  In these cases, the car is sitting still and brake ducts are of no benefit all.  Heat transfer from the brake rotor and pad, into the brake caliper and fluid, can ONLY be prevented through the use of a thermal barrier, such as titanium brake pad shims.