C5Lion

I normally change my front brake pads only when I go to the track since the fronts do most of the work. Is this what most people do or do they change both the fronts and rears?

Up to this point, I have been using Hawk HP + pads up front but am looking to find something a little more agressive. I may buy a slightly used set of Carbotech XP-10 pads. How might these compare to what I am used to and do they eat rotors?

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

Carbotech pads will not eat your rotors. your pads may wear faster but somthing has to give pads or rotors. I would suggest using a xp10 front and xp8 rear. This combo can be driven on the street. you will see alot of dust and noise though. for the track if you are running stock rear pads i would start with the xp8 for the front. This should not throw the balance of the car off.

Only Carbotech uses a proprietary Ceramic and Metallic brake construction, not the carbon and iron used in conventional brake systems. Since carbon and iron combine to form carbide, which is used in cutting tools, you can imagine what those brakes are doing to your rotors.

Carbotech Performance Brakes utilize true race compounds that are "rotor friendly," eliminating the grabbing and locking up that keep so many drivers and race cars from performing at their peak. You want to go deep to gain those precious fractions of a second before you need to brake, and only Carbotech brakes let you do just that. In every turn, all race long.



http://www.ctbrakes.com/

OCCOMSRAZOR

You might talk to Anthony at LGM. I know that Cobalt has a new 1 piece brake pad for the C6Z.

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...compounds.html

Sidney004

I can't speak from experience,not owning or driving a C6 Z06; unfortunately but race pads almost always have a greater coefficient of friction compared to stock pads. This will increase your front brake bias and probably reduce overall stopping distances.
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...formance.shtml

davidfarmer

you should be CHECKING your pads regularly, and yes you will eventually need to change the rears. On a C6Z06, you'll probably go through 2 or 3 sets of fronts for every set of rears.

Race pads actually don't necessarily have a higher coefficient of friction.....they just have a higher coefficient at higher temperatures. Street pads, like street tires, are designed to work best at ambient temperature.........track pads and tires are designed to work at higher temps, which means approaching 1500degF for an aggressively driver Corvette!

The pads only need enough friction to lock up the tires......pretty much any pad can do that somewhere in it's temperature range.

If you go to "hotter" pads, you'll go through rotors faster, and you'll need to bleed your brake fluid more often. Tire and brake upgrades quickly increase the stress on every drivetrain/suspension/steering/braking component, and you need to be prepared for increased wear and maintenance!

vette ruminator

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...-corvette.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...-question.html

Gary2KC5

The stock C6 Z06 rotors hold up pretty well. the rear pads wear @ a ratio (recalling from memory) 5-6 front sets to 1 rear set (Carbotech XP12's front XP10's rear).

C5Lion

I check and bleed my brakes before every track event. I have probably done 7 or so events and have gone through a few sets of front pads and the rears are still around 1/2 the pad left.

So do you think it is a problem running stock rear pads and more aggressive front pads?

I usually remove the calipers to change my pads. Is this just as easy on the rear calipers with the E brake and all?

C5Lion

Have you run stock rear pads and an aggressive front pad?

C5Lion

How do the stock rear pads compare to the XP8 pads? I'd rather not change the rear pads for each event.

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

They dont run xp8 front if your not going to change the rear pads.

Carbotech XP8™ (1108™): A high torque brake compound with a wide operating temperature range (200°F-1350°F+). Carbotech XP8™ is the first of our racing compounds. Outstanding initial bite at race temperatures, high coefficient of friction, excellent modulation and release characteristics. Extremely high fade resistance, very rotor friendly with 100% non-corrosive dust. Excellent as a front brake pad for lighter ITA, ITB, ITC, SRF, H4, H5, and other cars that weigh less than 2,400lbs. Perfect for novice, intermediate and advanced track day (HPDE) use with any tire, and can still be driven safely to and from the track. There are several vehicles that use XP8™ on the street, autocross, and at track day (HPDE) events. Carbotech does NOT recommended XP8™ as a daily driven street pad due to elevated levels of dust and noise. XP8™ is also a great rear brake pad for almost any race car (Spec Miata-T1/T2/CMC). XP8™ is a great compound on the front & rear of most open wheel and sports racers

davidfarmer

I agree, don't mix and match extrememly different pads. If you don't plan on changing the rear, then stick with OEM fronts, or something like the HP+ you are running now. As the brakes get hotter, you will throw more and more bias to the front, creating more and more heat in the front, and likely created overheating issues due to the mis-biasing.

If the HP+ is working for you, then I'd stick with it. It's not a great pad on the z06 if you are extremely aggressive, but it reasonably priced and works well up to a point.

95jersey

I use to run a Wilwood H pad up front and XP8's in the rear. Not sure what the Carbotech equivalent of an H is, but that is one of Wilwoods top (if not top) racing pad. I would only replace the H pad in the front with a street pad after I left the track, and run the XP8 all summer long (street and track). When the XP8 is run on the rear, there is little to no noise. So you could run a 10 in the front, run and 8 in the rear and leave the rears on for street duty with no effect on braking. It's funny to see more dust in the rear, but that was really the only negative that I remember.

elh0102

Given the pad and rotor life you have experienced, I assume either your primary track is not especially brake intensive, or, your driving style isn't pushing the car very hard. The HP+ pads will not work very well under more intense use. But, as long as they are working for you, along with the OE rears, that's fine. If you go to more aggressive fronts, you really should do something more in the rear. Otherwise, the fronts are going to be doing everything, which means more heat and wear, and instability under heavy braking. I found the Hawk DTC-60 and 70 worked very well, although they are high torque and require more finesse in your braking action.

blue Z06+

I change out my pads for every track event except for parking lot auto-x with the Cobalt XR-1 1 piece pads for the C6Z. I would NOT rec: running widely different pads front to rear. As others have stated, it can sevearly play with brake bias.

I have a NEW set of Cobalt Friction 1 piece XR 1 pads for sale here if you are interested...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-p...5-shipped.html

gonzalezfj

Actually, I HAVE run OEM rears with DTC-70 fronts at VIR on more than one occasion with no discernible difference from DTC-70s all around. YMMV.

Frank Gonzalez

BEZ06

Yep - just make sure you don't have the e-brake set!!

Bob

gonzalezfj

Whaaaatt?? The e-brake is completely independent of the rear brake caliper. How would having the e-brake set affect anything about pad changing?

Frank Gonzalez

BEZ06

You're right - I just had a brain phart!!! A mind is a terrible thing to lose!

Whenever I change to my track pads I also swap to my track rotors, so I had my track prep procedure in mind.

You can remove the caliper to swap your pads or you can leave the calipers attached and just remove the center pad pin bolts to swap pads.

Bob


Here's a picture of the caliper removed so you can replace pads




Here's a picture of the caliper still attached and the center pad pin bolt removed to replace pads




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