I'll be participating in an HPDE event at MidOhio in early April. I'm looking for options on a set of brake pads for the track. What are you guys running ?

I've read about the cobalt pads on this topic https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....highlight=pads.
Anybody tried the Spec VR compound yet ? I'm planning on driving for a week or so with the pads to bed them in before the event. But with a temps range of 350-1550 F it might be impractical in current weather (low thirties).

I've had a bad experience with Performance Friction metallic pads (machined the discs to cones within 4,000 miles, pads gone, had terrible fade and costed a sand blast and repaint of my front mags...). So forget these.

Project Miu's are great but way to expensive ! (Had a set of HC Titanium, really nice!)

How about Hawks blues?

And Porterfield R-4? (I have R-4S on my daily drive and I like them)

I'll but running these on my stock brembo brakes.

Thanks for your inputs

 

I ran Porterfield R-4S and they only lasted one day on the track. The R-4 might hold up better. The dust from the 4S was unbelieveable.

Have heard good things about the Ferodo dedicated track pads, the 3500 I believe.

 

Well, I'll be running the Cobalt VR for the first time in a week and a half. I'll try to chime in after that event.

On the last event, I used the Axxis Ultimates with the 14" stoptech front kit, and smeared the pad onto the rotors. Luckily, I didn't leave any uneven deposits, and it came off over the course of the month. I thought going with 14" rotors would lower my operating temps enough so that I could run high performance street pads...nope.

On a side note, I noticed that you mentioned putting in the VR's, and bed them on the street. I can't find any public roads that would allow me to do brake from 100mph to 20 mph, 8 consecutive times (suggested by Cobalt for their VR line of pads), then repeating this after a 10 minute cooldown. I'm tempted to wake up at 2:30 am, and do this on the freeway. If I decide to do this on the track, however, I end up throwing away a session just to bed in my pads properly. I just don't see how you can bed in these pads properly and on public roads without doing what I just described.

 

I'm surprised to hear you had bad luck with PFCs. What compound did you use? I ran the entire year of T2 racing + 3 DEs with 1 set of PFCs. I couldn't believe it!!!

I have a set of brembo pads for the Track brakes....very little use....only $100 shipped if anyone is interested. I'm going to post them in the 4-sale section when I take some pics.

Regards,
Jason

 

I use the Cobalt GT-Sports and I love them. I have seen Porterfield's completely melt away in the third session at a track event and weld itself to the brake piston, all while melting the piston seal and causing all the fluid to drain out, resulting in a brake failure and a very muddy 350Z. This was at the Racer Factory event at Buttonwillow last month, and the Z went straight off Star Mazda with no brakes.

 

I've been using the VRs for about a year and a half, and have been quite happy with them. Very linear feel, but are quite noisy on the street. I had a set that lasted 11 track days last year, but my latest set only lasted 4 track days (but on slotted rotors).

 

I have been using R4 pads for years with good luck. I get about 6-8 days out of the fronts and 1-2 days out of the rears
I might try switching to pf 97's up front next per recommendation of porterfield to place more bias up front. They last forever but the big downside for me is that the dust is highly corrosive and will get embedded into your paint. They create a cool spark show though.
I really am at a loss for the rears. Even my r4 pads are getting overheated and glazing over.

 

Ouch ! What compound were they? I was thinking of getting some R-4E so they would last longer.

The Cobalt VR seem to receive good comments. More choice is good.

And Ferrodo (thx mikecline), had forgoten about these!

Jason H, sorry I don't remember the exact PF compound. I was basically running a gravel brake setup from Prodrive's Group N rally cars. Here are some pictures after 4 000 miles... (that was on my Impreza)

 

Yep, you've nailed the big bed-in dilema.

Of course I would not do anything illegal on the road. It's just that, one morning the brakes would be beded-in...

 

I don't know what compound the Porterfields were. The guy who this happened to is on this forum. His screen name is Sosa. PM if you want his opinion on what happened with his Porterfields.

 

ive got endless pads and ive used them on teh track a couple times and at a drift event.
love them, and great pedal feel.

 

John, do you run the VR pads front and rear?

I’ll probably get the VRs as well.

I haven’t researched means of getting the ABLS off-line yet. (I’ll get to it later this week) But judging from you guy’s comments on the rear brakes wearing faster than the fronts, the ABLS might be overheating the brakes a bit. Those of you who have EBD and ABLS, do you run different pads front and rear? How would the car react to a milder pad rear?

 

I'm surprised about your reaction to the PFC 01's as well...they were a very popular pad among pro drivers for a long while...

Here's what we offer for stock Brembo's...you might like the Pagids. I have guys running those on everything from Honda Civics to 800 wheel hp Supras.

Pagid RS 4-4 Orange club race pads for the front of the 2004 Nissan 350Z Track Model.

$251.96 - Item No. 63-830-0960

Performance Friction 01 Compound race pads for the front of the 2004 Nissan 350Z Track Model.

$202.00 - Item No. 63-660-0960

Hawk HT10 race pads for the front of the 2004 Nissan 350Z Track Model.

$228.00 - Item No. 63-490-0960

 

I don't know what happened with the PFC. I did a good bed-in and didn't even got to lap with them even once.

No pads for the rear calipers?

I know lots of team runs race pads on the front only, but I'm affraid of cooking the stock rear pads with the ABLS. Something that race car don't usually have.

 

I've just ordered a set of Cobalt VRs for the front and GT Sports for the rear.
It should be here next Monday. A good bed-in and I'll be set for Mid Ohio the following week-end.

Thanks for your comments guys, appreciated.


Stay tuned for onboard videos :-)

 

Looking forward to the videos. I saw a few of the vids from your site, and especially enjoyed some of the rally car clips.

 

Looking good!



Very good response. Can't wait to try them on the track...

 

Well, a week ago, I did have a chance to run the VR's at thunderhill. I had some problems with pad deposit, but I suspect it may be due to inadequate bedding procedure.

I bedded the pads on public roads late at night, but it was kind of cold, and I really couldn't get going more than 65mph. So, I did 10 consecutive braking maneuvers from 60ish to 5 mph. I let them cool down a bit, then did another 10 maneuvers.

A couple days later, I hit the track. My first session was done at 6/10, and it caused a lot of pad deposit. My front brakes were shuddering like mad, so I took it easy for the remaining 15 minutes. I saw uneven pad deposit on both rotors, so I suspect that I didn't bed them in enough. Subsequent sessions turned out much better as the deposits cleared, and the shuddering subsided. In the last two sessions, I went ***** out on the brakes, and I think they did much better.

In the end, I still have some left over smearing (see photo). I'm not inclined to say I like or not like these pads yet. I'll give them one more run before I pass judgement.

Just make sure you bed them in at higher temperatures, and maybe you can avoid the mess I made. The Axxis Ultimates I bedded in several months ago worked great, and I never had problems until I hit the track with them...

Also, the Hawk HPS held up, though I suspect, barely.

 

http://www.zeckhausen.com/avoiding_brake_judder.htm

take a look at this article. If you bedded your brakes in and drove them around on the street for a week, you cleaned all the material you previously bedded on your rotors. Even my R4's will do this if I drive them cold too much.

 

hmm... good info. Sounds to me like I need to drive with my race pads for a a day or two to scour off the street pad layer, then either bed in my race pads right before the event or dedicate my first track session to bedding-in the race pads properly. Makes a whole bunch of sense now...thanks for the link!