Brake Pad Selection?

[marshall_mosty]

With all the possible flavors of brake pads out there, how does one find the "right" pad for their combination?

I know that some calipers have more available than others, but most of us have at least 6-8 different compounts.

Just a smigen of the offereings that I found are:

Carbotech
XP8
XP10
XP12
XP16

Cobalt
VR (discontinued as of 01/06)

Ferrodo
DS3000

Hawk
9012 Blue
HT-10
HT-14
DTC-60
DTC-70

Pagid
RS4 (Orange)
RS14 (Black)

PFC
97
01

Porterfield
R4
R4E

[GlennCMC70]

use what the guy whos faster than you use's. :P

[RichardP]

I use the R4 pad on the front and generic Autozone lifetime replacement warranty pads on the rear.


Richard P.

[Al Fernandez]

Through Tony G you can probably do sufficiently better on the Carbotechs price wise than anything else to justify writting off the other ones. If that is true, then pick the front based on heat capacity and your car/brake system, then pick the rears to match.

If price isnt a factor...then the same applies but you're likely to go through many many more iterations of experimenting before you settle on something you like.

[marshall_mosty]

Al,
I've already been through a two different sets of Carbotech pads. XP-10's (2 weekends) and a set of XP-16's (2 weekends plus one day).

I'd like to find something that can last maybe... half a season??

[GlennCMC70]

i'm getting at least 4 weekends on fronts. my current fronts have been on since the day before TWS last year. this also includes Nationals. i checked them just last week and i'm sure i'll get TWS in April out of them too.
my guess is your not bedding them correctly.

[marshall_mosty]

I don't know what I did wrong... followed the instructions to the "T". For the XP-16's (the last set), I went to MSR-C and ran a member day on the 1.7. Went out for about a 15 minute session bringing the brakes up to temp gradually until I was pushing 9/10's on the last lap before cooling down a lap.

Parked the car and waited for the calipers/pads/rotors to come down to ambient temp (low 60's that day)...

I'm confused.

[GlennCMC70]

that is NOT how Carbotech says to bed pads. read the little note that comes w/ them.
30 mph, hard stop.
40 mph, hard stop.
60 mph, hard stop.
rinse and repeat. put the car up for at least a day.
and i have no cooling ducts on the car, so my results are not due to that.

[marshall_mosty]

Proper bedding of pads and rotors will result in greater performance and longevity of both pads & rotors.

1. All new brake pads/shoes require a bedding process; start the process by pumping your brakes a few times to assure proper installation. Once on track perform several moderate (medium) speed near stops (usually requires at least two laps) to thoroughly warm up the pads/shoes and rotors. This transfers a thin layer of the pad material to the micro-grooves present on all rotors.

2. After the pads and rotors are warm, perform a series of hard near stops until some brake fade is felt. Do not lock the tires. Once this occurs, slow down immeadatly and stay off the brakes (as much as possible) and bring the vehicle into the pits or paddock.

3. Allow the brake pads and/or rotors to cool down to ambient temperature; NOT less than 30 minutes.


WARNING: Failure to properly bed in your pads could cause the friction material to chunk and break up resulting in poor pad performance and pad life. This can lead to overheating and cause your pads to glaze. Glazed pads can result in the vehicle not being able to slow properly or stop.

I ran the car for enough laps to get the "series of hard near stops" completed...

[Adam Ginsberg]

Cobalt
VR

BTW - this particular compound is no longer available, in any outline, from Cobalt. They stopped producing them in late '05, with the last 2 sets of PBR/D412 outlines shipped to TX in early '06.

The replacement is the XR/XR2, however, it's unknown when the new compound will be made available to the general public for the outlines we typically use.

I wasn't particularly thrilled with the lifespan of the VR's - 2 weekends/4 hours was the best I ever got from a set, regardless of bedding procedures. Hopefully, the new compound will survive longer - only time will tell over the next few months.