When it comes to brake bleeding, there are 4 ways to bleed your brakes. 

We'd like to look at general improvements you can make which will enhance your safety during drivers education events. Each month or so, we'll cover upgrades in the areas of brakes, suspension and tires, the interior, and the exterior. At some point,  discussion of safety upgrades bleeds over into a  performance upgrade discussion. Our goal is to stay on the safety side of that line.

When you first start drivers education, your stock brake pads are OK, however, you'll find shortly that combined street and drivers ed events leads to a significantly shortened pad life.

In previous Cross Thread articles, we've talked about brakes and upgrades you can make to enhance your braking capabilities at the track. These involve basics such as fresh, high temperature brake fluid and recently bled brakes, removing the front backing plates, piping air into the brake rotor, recent rubber or stainless mesh-covered brake hoses, and the choice of brake pads.  In this two part article, we'll cover why you might want to upgrade your brakes and discuss what's involved.

In many homes, March madness is associated with college basketball. In others it can also be associated with warming (garage) temperatures and the first drivers education events of the year. If you're planning on attending DE events, early March is a good time to get some basic maintenance taken care of.

If you've participated in any CVR driver's education event this year, then you already have a fire extinguisher, which is now required in all run groups. If you'll be adding a hand-held fire extinguisher to your Porsche, you want the extinguisher mounting bracket (which holds the extinguisher) to mount to something firm that won't let go at an inopportune time.  Brey-Krause has a line of stainless brackets ($70-$110) that mounts the extinguisher either in front or behind the seat. If you have a rollbar, there are adaptors to mount the extinguisher to it. Also, some mount the extinguisher bracket to the floor tunnel. If you do that, be sure the bracket mounts against the metal flooring, not carpet.  Consider using Loctite blue on the screws/bolts.  The extinguisher itself should be minimum 2 1/2 lbs size, preferably with a metal (vs plastic) head, and have a two strap bracket. In addition, you might want to consider getting a halogen extinguisher as opposed to a garden variety $9.99 special. The benefit of Halogen is that it doesn't leave a chemical residue in the knooks and crannies of your aluminum engine after the fire's put out.  Expect to pay around $125 for a halogen extinguisher and bracket.

Written by Bill Gregory for the "Challenge", monthly publication of the Connecticut Valley Region, Porsche Club of America.