Miaugi

I have an '06 MN6 F55 coupe and I've installed Z51 sways and tires...just ran my first 3 day event at a fast track, went through my stock pads in ~1-1/2 hours, had no choice but to get another set of stockers, they lasted about 2 hours! Looking for options/suggestions....thx!

Olitho

I have used Hawk pads and Carbotechs as well as a couple of others not worth mentioning. Both of the aforementioned are good, but I prefer the Carbotechs. Currently I use the XP 10s in the back and XP11s in the front. They handle the abuse well for about 4 track days.

You may want a less agressive pad unless you are going to the track often and driving hard.



PS. A note to sponsors, particularly Carbotech:
I learned of these pads from Chris W. Ingle - 2005, 2003 Southeast Division T1 National Champ in car #7. You are getting your moneys worth from Chris. I tried these pad and liked them. I just ordered two more XP11s and one set of XP10s this past Monday.

gkmccready

I had good luck with Performance Friction 01 compound pads on my '06 Z51 ... PFC01 front, PFC Z compound rears. I still managed to melt my piston dust boots even with DRM ducts but didn't have any issues with fade. Ran Motul 600 for brake fluid... six 20 minute sessions in >95F heat.

http://www.petting-zoo.net/photos/Brakes-2006-07-03/

63Corvette

A) Cooling
B) PFC-01 pads
C) Did I mention cooling

Olitho

I have the full DRM brake duct set-up and spindle plate brackets. I have run extensively with and without. I find the cooling set-ups to not be of any discernable benefit. If I had it to do over again, I would not spend the money. I would use the money ($400, plus a lot of time in mounting properly with poor instructions) for more brake pads... not that I think I would wear them any faster without the ducts. I would also not have the frustration of worn DRM ducts from my 305s, hoses to fight with mounting, etc. That is my experience....

96GS#007

Set the active handling to Competition Mode.

Use Carbotech pads

Cooling is beneficial *all* the time. No cooling leads to pad fade and boiled fluid which leads to no brakes and bad things.

Don't late brake so much

If you're new to this, I bet there are a lot of areas that you were braking but didn't have to. Let the car do the work.

Seat time, seat time, seat time.

Olitho

I agree that cooling is good. I am just coming to the conclusion that DRM brake ducts and spindle duct holders are ineffective on the Z06 the way the car, ducts and hoses are set-up. If someone has factual and scientific data to prove me wrong, I would like to see it. I am telling you that having run both extensively, I cannot say that I see better pad life, less fading, etc. with or without the ducting systems in place. My experience comes from about 20 track days in the last year and half with ducts and another 20 plus track days in that same period without them. In other words, I am citing my experience of 40 days on the track, in the same car, mostly the same pads, in the same 1.5 year period.

jlucas

But how to you quantify how hard you run at the track with regards to needing cooling or not?

Meaning how fast do you run? and is there a point at which it does make a difference (for example, T1 type lap times)?

AU N EGL

DOT 4 brake fluid - Super blue / Gold, Motul 600 or Castrol SRF

Race pads- Most popular ( NO order ) PFC-01s, PFC-03s, Hawk, DTC-70s, Hawk Blue, Hawk Black, Carbotech XP12, XP11, or Wilwood H

There really is not a street and race pad. Two differnt pads and need to be changed.

Cooling, and I found cooling to allow one more weekend out a set of rotors.

Miaugi

Thanks everyone for your input.

So where can I get more info on these and who has the best pricing on the Carbotech pads?

I checked out your link...great pics. One thing I noticed is the tie rod joint wrapped in something...but what is it and are there other solutions? I have roasted both of mine as well as at least 1 lower ball joint boot! They are all history...Does anyone know where you can get just the replacement boots?

It seems cooling is a good thing huh? Where can I get info on the PFC-01 pads?


Did that....and it saved our butts at least one time....big time!

Will look into these

My instuctor also told me the 3 most important things in good braking are, cooling, cooling & cooling!

You're right, being new I'm sure I probably used them way too much, but I'm certainly going to do other events and got to address my brake needs, having serious fade was no fun!

wtknght1

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All those CYA modes burn up brake pads. Turn everything off and learn to drive the car. Those modes are teaching you some very bad habits...and burning up your pads.

Carbotechs just can't be beat! They rock!!

Miaugi

Some of the guys I was with also suggested the Castrol SRF, so I think I'll go that route. As for brake pads, can anyone give an idea of pricing on some popular options? So far the stock rotors don't look bad, but I'm sure with a more agressive pad that will change.

You are right I'm sure, but in my moment of "no brakes" I was sure glad to have it on as it got me around a corner that without it I would've eaten a tire wall!

How about shields for the rubber boots on the tie rods and ball joints.....anything available?

yellow01

Well, without the computer you won't push as hard to the point of fading to no brakes (that's a good thing)...it's give and take. I've done alot of track days with and without the computer, and I'll be up front - it's a lot better ride without it... the first thing that happens is the fact that your are merely mortal stares you in the face and you think about things in a different way. You work up to the turns with tire walls at exit a little slower... all this is good. JMHO.

As far as the rubber boots, just grab some 1" or 1 1/4" header wrap from Summit or someone and use that to shield the tie rod ends. I zip-tied some on there and it's worked wonderfully.

BBQ

went through a new set of pads in 1.5 hours? huh? something is not right here. They shouldn't wear that fast.

96GS#007

[QUOTE=wtknght1]I agree if the person has experience. However if it's someone that's brand new, has been using AH and is burning thru equipment at an alarming rate I prefer to ween them off the bottle rather than go cold turkey In the original post it was unclear the experience level of the driver

96GS#007

Figure $250 - $325 total for a set (front & rear) of Carbotechs. The specific price will depend on the compound you choose. Tell them you're with the forum and you'll get a 10% discount. Do a search on "Carbotech" and their website will pop up.

Olitho

If you are referring to my post that questions the effectiveness of DRM brake ducts and spindle duct holders, I would say I run fairly hard. On track days with 50-80 drivers I will on occassion set the fast time of day. I am almost always in the top five fast time of day ranking.

My last time out I was running the POC Short Track Series. The air temp broke 100 at 10 AM and it was between 105 to 110 degrees in the afternoon at Willow Springs Raceway. Track surface temps were reported at 140-150 degrees. I won the EX class that day and had the 5th fastest overall lap time of about 70 drivers.

I have also run of course in much more moderate temperatures. I am only raising the question that we should question the effectiveness of the cooling duct systems on the Z06, plus the aftermarket add-ons. I am not so certain they do much at all. If someone has validly derived analytical information, I would like to see it.

Miaugi

[QUOTE=96GS#007]Just so everyone knows, I've been driving for 33 years, safely, no points/tickets/accidents for 8+years @ about 30K miles per year of city & highway and that includes 4 years of Corvette driving where I'm not shy about sometimes adding a little excitement!

However besides going to the drags ~10 - 12 days and doing ~6 autocross events (both slow & fast track layouts) this was my first road track HDPE event, ran green for 2 days, went to yellow on day 3.

Would like to continue for at least a few more HDPE's to improve my skills but need to get better stopping power.

02impactblue

Are you running the stock z51 drilled rotors? Any problems with cracking rotors with the pfc's

gkmccready

Nope. I swapped out the Z51 rotors and caliper brackets and ran the cheap NAPA rotors...