NTMD8R

I know... this subject has been beat to death a thousand times.
But I need help.

I posted this in the C6 tech forum, but not a lot of response.

I have an '07 Z51 with a few "upgrades".... GT2 Coil-overs, Pfadt "fatty" sway bars, 18x10 front wheels, and 19x11 rears, running Toyo R888 tires.

We use this car mostly for Autocross (8 - 12 sessions per year... 2 or 3 drivers), and one or two track days a year, then some (little) street driving.

We've been doing this for over 30 years, so I do pretty much know what I'm doing.

But the Brake SQUEAL is really getting to me.

I now have Carbon Lorraine pads (RC5+) installed.
Street driving is driving me NUTS... the squeal is REALLY BAD.
I've bedded them in many times, but the squeal keeps coming back.

I've tried Hawk HP+ for many years ... some squeal but sort of bearable.

So.... what do you "Gurus" recommend ?????

I want little or no non-corrosive dust, minimal squeal while driving on the street, yet GREAT BITE and GRIP on the autocross course.
I'll accept whatever comes out of this for the "easy" track days.
("easy" in that I realize I am going to compromise, so my track days I run at about 7-8 tenths)

I have done the "trailering" with my race car years ago; now I am just out to have fun, and still show the "young 'uns" a thing or two once in a while.

redtopz

If you are happy with the CL RC5+ then why not just run them for auto-x and track? Only takes maybe 30 minutes to swap pads and you can run stock pads on the street. Plus it's a good idea to pull your wheels off before an event for inspection anyway. Otherwise, a track pad will either squeal, create lots of brake dust, or chew up rotors on the street. I personally would not worry about swapping rotors, just pads.

jaa1992

OK, How cold does it get where you are for "street" driving?

Really cold (below freezing) - maybe the carbotech autox pad and a set of front xp8 for the track days.
If it doesn't get really cold - I used xp10/xp8 combo for a while on the street and driving to track events. There can sometimes be a little squel until they warm up. I only heard it one brake application in the morning on the way to work. If you stay ahead of the dust it isn't too bad. Its not corrosive.

NTMD8R

Thanks for the responses so far.

I am now at the point where I do not want to change pads for an event.
That is why I accept that I must compromise.

As I said earlier, we've trailered for quite a few years, and now I just want to arrive and drive.

Not SUPER cold (Vancouver)... and in the winter we don't drive it anyway.

Fundamentally the only street driving is to/from an event,
and an occasional cruise
(although we do use my wife's '67 convertible for that usually).


Maybe Carbotech Adam, and Jeff Ritt, and ???? could chime in ?????

Joy of 6

I think the CL's have built in noise generators. Haven't heard of anyone saying the did not squeal like a pig. You might want to try a softer Carbotech pad. They have a series called the bobcat which should give you a better bite for AutoX without having to warm them up.

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

The Carbotech 1521 will work for you as a quiet street pad and decent Auto X pad, but with R888 I would like to see you use XP8 compound. The XP8 will make some noise when cold but once up to temp you will be fine. I would recomend the AX6 compound but the noise is more than the XP8 and on R888 and track days the XP8 is better option.

F $187 R $161 Less 7% forum discount. Please contact me to place an order at my info below. Questions ask away.


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.


Brake Compounds

Carbotech™ Bobcat 1521™

The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known for its awesome release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. Like our AX™ & XP™ line of compounds, Bobcat 1521™ is a Ceramic based friction material offering minimal rotor damage and non corrosive dust. Bobcat 1521™ offers outstanding performance, even when cold, low dusting and low noise with an excellent initial bite. This compound’s virtually perfect linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Bobcat 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 900°F. Bobcat 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle, police cruiser, and has won multiple SCCA Solo 2 and Prosolo National Championships. The Bobcat 1521™ compound has been found to last two-three times longer than OE pads you can purchase at a dealership or national retailer. Bobcat 1521™ compound has also been found to extend the life of your rotors 2-3 times. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use.

Carbotech™ AX6™ (1106™)

The AX6™ takes the place of the Panther Plus™ compound that was so successful. AX6™ was specifically engineered for Autocross applications. A high torque brake compound delivering reliable and consistent performance over a very wide operating temperature range (50°F to 1150°F +). Advanced compound matrix provides an excellent initial “bite”, high coefficient of friction, and very progressive brake modulation and release characteristics. AX6™ offers high fade resistance, rotor friendliness at all temperatures, excellent cold stopping power, and non corrosive dust. As a result, AX6™ is an excellent choice for Autocross & AX6™ has gained tremendous popularity with SCCA Prosolo/Solo2 competitors for its fantastic bite, release & modulation. Many drivers use the AX6™ for street driving as well, even though Carbotech doesn’t recommend street driving with AX6™ due to possible elevated levels of dust and noise. AX6™ is NOT a race compound, and should not be used as such. AX6™ shouldn’t be used by any intermediate or advanced track day drivers, and should not be used with “R” compound tires (racing tires).

AU N EGL

take off your mufflers and run straight pipes. Never hear brake squeal again



I use PFC-01 or Wilwood H

RaleighSS

I will chime in the PFC 01 Pad.. This is by far the best pad I have used. Well should put it like it worked the best for me and my setup on the track. Great life and not too hard on rotors. But this pad is not for the street at all. No noise to speak of but the dust is killer esp if it gets wet. I swap to a ceramic pad for street use. Net here probably not the pad for you if ya street but if ya decide to swap the PFC 01 is ok.

geerookie

Try the Cobalt Friction CSR compound.

I have been running their pads for years and love them.
I don't use the CSR any more. I run the XR2 compound which isn't very noisy unless they are cold.
The best thing about all their compounds is that they are easy on rotors and have great initial bite even when they are cold.
If you want something a little more aggressive you may try the XR4 but I don't know if they make it in pad shapes for factory brakes and I'm not sure how much more agressive they really are.

mfquinn

My two cents worth:

I had the CL pads for track use, the rears were so loud I sent them back. I was never happy with them at the track. I have tried most of the others and mostly use DTC70s with DTC60s. They stop great but destroy your wheels and squeal so you don't want them on the street. What I did discover along the way was the EBC blue stuff. For dedicated track pads on a vette, NO WAY. I just couldn't get the bite out of them. But....

For autocross they are good and for the occasional track day or two they will hold up fine. I just didn't like having to use my full foot hard on the brake peddle to stop the car at 100+ speeds. My DTCs only require pressure on the outside edge of the peddle for good threshold brakeing allowing me to easily blip the throttle for downshifts.

And....

The EBC blue stuff pads were quiet on the street (when I was too lazy to change them after a track day) and little to no dust. I just recently used the blue stuff on the rears (had to replace my pads and only had new 70s for the front) for 4 tracks days (Daytona and Roebling Roads - 140 - 160+ mph speeds) with my DTC70s on the front and they did well. I now changed my DTC70s on the front to the Hawk HPS pads for the street and decided to just leave the blue stuff pads on the rear. No noise and no dust.

The blue stuff also don't need as much heat for initial bite as the DTCs and the other very aggressive pads that are designed for track use.

Again, just my two cents worth.

steponc

I run PFC Z rated pads. They are quiet and much less dust than any other pad I have used. I think they will meet your needs very well, since your principle use is autocross. Other race pads need to warm up before the better bite begins.
The Z pad is better than stock pads at the HPDEs and the wear level is very good also. I have three 2 day HPDEs at Spring Mountain, 2 2 day HPDEs at Thunderhill, and two seasons of A-X with about 18 events per year with 4 or 5 one day only events.
There is still more life in them but I will be changing them out this winter just because I bought two other sets when PFC was changing there production windows. I didn't want to buy when they weren't readily avaiable.

Steve

RX-Ben

For me:
CLs were super loud, worked well (6 and 6e)
PFC01s are great - very rotor friendly
Raybestos ST43s - kinder on rotors than DTC70s, but not much, supposed to last longer than the PFCs but I haven't used them long enough
DTC70 - rips face off rotor a bit, only marginal when cold

I drove all of the above on the street and track and all felt usage. 70s were by far the worst, but usable. Everything else is totally streetable and all are quiet except the CLs.
At this point, I cannot tell the difference in braking between compounds. So I use the cheapest, which are PFCs and the Rays.

MYRX

Try CL type RC6E. Been using them for 1.5 years now. Mine do not squeal. However, they may not be the best for serious track use. Perhaps more bit than the RC5.

socalspringmountain

Hi there!
Just to chime in, we use the hawk HPS brake pad on our zo6/gs cars here at the track. They don't squeal and perform well for most drivers. Even in our level 2 or 3 program they hold up. They dust a bit more than
The stock pad but not much. We wash our cars religiously so build up isn't a problem.
Hope this helps!

mikefili

There is really no dual purpose pad for both applications. on my C6 I used XP10 and XP8
along with Toyo 888 tires, great set up, the brakes were great on the track and after driving 25 miles or so on the street they would lose that great track bed in coating and squeal like a pig both cold and hot. Lucky you have C6 non Z calipers on your car, they take about 30 mins to change out. I do not think that any track pad will keep you happy on the street.

Sidney004

Here is another two cents worth
Again strictly a dual purpose pad, on the street, no noise, no dust, stops fine from cold, excellent pricing. Trackworthy in the sense that they have an excellent wear rate, easy on rotors, no fade(I have a low kinetic energy C4 so this may not be true with a big power C6)stopping was fine but no comparison to a full race ST47 that I just took off. The EBC Yellow DM 1793.

fred_S

During a two day track event on the Zolder racetrack in Belgium I used a full set of pads per day, that's two full sets of EBC Bleustuff NDX. The Zolder track has a 90 degree turn where you brake down from 140+ mph to near zero and a nice chicane, both take their toll on the brakes.

(NDX is the new version, there's also an old version without the NDX)

I contacted EBC about this, and they said that Zolder is heavy on the brakes and they can't do anything for me. I also disliked the amount of pressure it takes to make them stop properly. They never faded and survived the day, but that's about it. I also used HP+ the year before, that pad destroyed my rotors but did a better job on the track compared to the EBC Bleustuff NDX.

I will be switching to Carbotech XP10 for the front and XP8 for the rear, see how they hold up.

This may sound like overkill for street use, but I live near the German unlimited Autobahn and go there to have a blast on my way to the Nordschleife (old Nürbürgring).

Fred

Zenak

Did you try here:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...e-learned.html

DCW1

Agree re Hawk HP+ vs. EBC Bluestuff. I have a 2008 C6 coupe w/ Z51 and do around 12 tracks days per year with HoD here in Norcal.

I tried the EBC's early this year. As others have stated, they were low dust and rotor friendly. However, they didn't last very long. I went to the HP+ and have been much happier. Much better initial bite and overall braking performance. Also seem to be lasting longer, even after I moved up to Toyo R888's. Tougher on the rotors and some squeal on stops on the street, but you can't have everything. Significantly better performance is worth it to me.

Z06trackman

I run Carbotech AX-6s for the street and autocross. They provide enough cold friction for Hoosier A6s (the stock C5Z pads did not), and they are quiet on the street. They make a ton of dust, and they are harder on the rotors that stocks pads. I love them.

However, the AX-6s are not recommended for the track. I use AX-10s.

I don't believe you will ever be satisfied with a pad that spans all of your requirements: cold friction, quiet when used lightly and cold, very hot use.