A reason behind why I said this is that if it were anything as extreme as is being suggested (sticking pins, etc)

you'd have had boiling fluid and smoking rotors on the way TO the track..

Brakes are the opposite of tires. Tires you baby, brakes you give as much time to cool as possible - which means using them hard.

Did you brake hard and short? If you're ever braking and not using them 100%, that's going to overheat them in a hurry. Find your marker, get on them HARD, and hold them at the threshold (or on the floor, with ABS) and then roll off quickly but smoothly before turn-in.

Here's a question: do you have ABS? Did it come on? If you do, and it didn't come on in every corner, you were not braking hard enough.

Also, Bendix pads are not good for high-temp work. How many laps did you do? Did you let off the throttle or hold it all the way to the braking zone? You've got to baby your brakes on track. My Miata is probably the cheapest car available that comes with brakes deemed worthy for track useage - they're the same size as those on my overweight, front-heavy pig of a Contour. Without at least pads, and probably rotor upgrades, Contours need to run short sessions and be watched carefully. Your car may stop with the Bendix pads being piles of molten goop on the backing plates, but it's going to eat through them ina hurry.

Most of the time I wasn't using 100% of the brakes. I'm not sure if my ABS is working as it should... There's a "clicking" sound, but I don't really seem to feel anything in the brake pedal. I think my car was skidding to a stop, meaning that my ABS was not working properly...

I'm a little confused by your post though, first you say that the brakes should not be babied, then you said they should? It was my second time at the track so I don't really have much experience, but should I be babying the brakes or should I be doing 100% on every turn? I figure either way whether I get really good pads/rotors or some cheap no-name pepboys brands they're going to end up [censored] after a day of racing, so why spend the money?

I think by baby, he means let off the throttle some before braking, use engine braking. Only brake as long as you need to. Staying on the brakes longer than you need to is going to heat them up.

Definitely get your abs checked out. You should really feel it and not be skidding.

The only real trackable brakes you're gonna get for a contour are bigger rotors, maybe different calipers, good pads, and good fluid.

Basic pads are gonna get killed under real track use.

I hope with warmongers brake upgrade (300mm front, 280mm rear), carbotech pads, and good fluid that I have something that will last decent for 2-3 laps on a track if I ever get to one.

so bendix brakes are not advised if you plan on doing track time? (like twice a year)

The bendix pads are great, but considering they'll bust down after 1 good day of track use, I have no need to spend the money on them. I can get all 4 rotors and pads for $100 brand new from pepboys, so I think it would be wiser to just buy a new set everytime I go racing, since spending $400+ on a good set of rotors/pads would maybe last me twice as long.

I had Bendix all the way around for pads.....stopped everytime. Went to the track, went on the Tail of the Dragon, and I drove fast and nothing. A little smoke but always stopped.

Originally posted by Tourige:

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so bendix brakes are not advised if you plan on doing track time? (like twice a year)

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Out of the easy to get brake pads, I guess they're not bad, but if you are really pushing the car at the track, they're not gonna do so well. Like I said, the only really trackable brake setup on a contour is going to involve bigger brakes. My escort stops on a dime with just hawk pads on stock rotors and has great fade resistance. But the escort weighs about 500lb less than the contour.
So I guess out of the options available, bendix aren't bad, but they are going to smoke a lot and fade. If you want something a bit better, contact carbotech and get some pads. And if you really want better stopping power and a lot better fade resistance, get bigger rotors.