If it was your first track day, they probably faded just from excessive use rather than anything else (not a reflection on you as a driver, people who are new to the track just tend to ride the brakes more).

Following too close as a reason for brake fade is ridiculous; even if you were following an indy car 18" from his exhaust pipes you might have air that's 40 degrees warmer than without being behind someone and 40 degrees F is not going to translate into the additional temperature needed to boil the brake fluid.

I would suggest, politely, that your instructor doesn't know what the hell he's talking about then. The Exige will cream a Gallardo around the corners (or at least all the race Exiges i've used, and believe me, being a Lotus stalwart here in the UK that's quite a few).

I would also point out that a much bigger factor in brake fade is pad compound and use of the brakes, as boiling your fluid is usually an indicator rather than the root cause of anything being the problem. Changing your compound to one better suited for the track (are Pagids available?) and ensuring you brake progressively and follow the racing line. Changing your fluid regularly is good practice, but once every track day is ludicrous and bordering on skewed commercialism.

I think the instructor, once he got me driving smooth and fast, was excited about the additional power. The body roll comment was more from my perspective, as we did half an hour in the Exige at the limit and no question it rolls like a log comparatively. He'd have to brake to settle the car before changing directions; there was no need to in the G.

Quite frankly, I thought the brake fade was a figiment of my imagination. When my line got disrupted, I suddenly noticed many things going wrong, which I ultimately have to view as being flustered as the culprit.

As far as hot air is concerned, I'd have to do the engineer thing and put a bunch of sensors in the brake ducts to see if following could cause an issue.

If you take a look at the roll (or relative lack of it) on the pic of my Elise on the previous page, you'll note that the corner i'm going round is about a 270 degree left and it's loaded up like anything, on R-spec rubber. It's the first time i've seen a wheel off the floor which is why I kept the picture as I like it a lot. I guarantee the Gallardo in the same corner would be at least as leant over/wallowy. Yet mine is set up as a road car on 400/475 springs.

I don't have to brake to settle the Elise (and the Exige is little more than a hardtopped Elise) because my setup is right. If your racer wishes some free information on how to set up his Exige for racing, feel free to PM me about it. Incidentally, S1 or S2 it doesn't matter, the tub's near enough the same for the same tricks to work.

I had to wonder myself what suspension set up he was using.

What impresses me about the G is that it doesn't handle like a big car. It's got big car stability, but small car road dynamics at the limit. Tracks around here are a bit divided. The Countach was a nightmare on a short twisty track, as was the Diablo. The G does just fine in the twisties, and is just as competent on an oval. It has gotten and deserves the world's adoration as a do-it-all supercar.

That was my impression as well; you can't fling it around as easy but when it starts to get loose a tap on the throttle usually brings it back inline thanks to the awd; my Radical is definitely less forgiving of bad input.