Yes, Although brake pads are one of those personal setup items. One driver may like a progressive bite while another likes a hard initial bite. Carbotech will make recommendations based off historic data from previous users and what the heat ranges and forces the pads will see.

 

Wish I had enough experience to know what I wanted. All I know is I'm wasting time braking so early and the initial bite is no existent

 

No need to overthink this. Any true track pad you buy is going to be a big performance increase over what you've used already.

 

You get experience by doing, I think the xp12 or 20 will be positive for you. The good thing is Carbotech's lineup is so large that if you decide you want less initial bite or want easier modulation its easy to figure out your next pad after you wear out this set.

 

Seeing that my car gets less then 5k a year I doubt the pads would ware anytime soon

 

If you are doingfull track days in that year you might...

 

Raybestos ST43/42 are amazing on track. Street driving, you'll get a slight squeal coming to a stop.

A gradual, hard bed-in worked best for me with these pads. My first bed-in attempt, I followed the guide on StopTech's website of 11 consecutive braking events from 80-40mph and the brakes squealed like crazy no matter how much heat I put in them.

Scotts300 suggested re-bedding them and adding heat gradually (thanks, bud!) 40mph to a roll, 60 to a roll, then 80 to a roll 3-5x each and it worked like a charm.

 

My car hasn't had a license plate since 2010, so not much of a concern to me.

 

I don't care about noise. Especially if I'm going to track only them

 

Depends on how many days you go to the track, I buy new pads every year and sometimes sooner

 

Yeah see and I don't want to run a pad I'm not happy with for a year


So over thinking a little is okay

 

A set of Carbotech XP-12s lasted me for only 3 track weekends. One at VIR with very little wear, two at Carolina Motorsports Park which promptly finished them off and put deposits on my rotors. (Brake ducts and better driving might have helped this some).

Just pulled the Hawk DT-60s off my car after a weekend at CMP. I only ran 6 of the 8 sessions but the pads look good. Probably a little less wear than the Carbotech pads but a lot less chunking of the pads and the rotors look pristine (even after a session in which the brakes smoked for several minutes). I was running comparable times to previous CMP events. Ambient temps in the mid 80s.

Not sure if the Hawks are handling the heat better or if the Brembos really make that much difference. Overall pleased with the Hawk DT-60 performance and wear.

As mentioned, will try the DT-70s, then Porterfield R-4s and after that I'll probably give the Carbotechs another try.

 

Another important thing to know about the Carbotechs. They have to be used on new or clean rotors initially. This is important when you bed them and the bedding process is more involved than the Hawk and Porterfield process. Now, once you have bedded them and run them on track you can use the same rotors as long as you want unless you run a different (street pad for instance) between events. If so, you will need to have the rotors cut (minimal amount) and then re-bed.

Others say you can sand the rotors yourself and get good results and I have done this and it worked okay. But, it is a pain and you have to get the material from the other pads off the rotors.

This was not necessary with the Hawks. I ran a new set of rotors with street pads for a month or so then just popped the Hawk pads in, did a brief bedding procedure and ran them at the track. No issues. Hawk recommends cleaning the rotors but I didn't even do that. For me this is important because changing pads before and after every event is easy, changing pads and rotors every time gets old fast.

 

Okay yeah that would be a problem

 

I've swapped XP-12's in and out with stoptech street pads without issue. Each time I put the Xp-12's back in I just re-bed them.

 

What are your guys process?


I usually do 5-6 stops from 60 back to back. Drive the freeway to cool the brakes. Then in a hour or so repeat the process and my Akebono have not made any noises


My daily with autozone pads and rotors....now that's another story

 

Brake system: Brembo (stock 2007 Grand Touring)
Manufacturer: G-Loc
Compound: R16

Operating temperature range: 255°F to 2000°F (123°C to 1093°C).
Coefficient of friction:
Price paid: I bought fronts for $200 but I have a discount with my supplier. Unsure on retail pricing.
Durability: Really good. I have 3 track days 5, 20 minute sessions and the pads are still at 75%. (DTC 60s only lasted me 3 track days total)
Rotors friendliness: Good for a track pad.
General impressions: These work well and will last you a long time. They are a track only pad, they do require heat to fully work. I suggest keeping a set of rotors specifically for the pads and only use them for track days. You should be fine making it to and from the track on them, just not ideal. The bite comes on gradually and they are easy to modulate. At first, this led me to believe they had less bite than DTC60s I had on previous but ultimately stopping power felt about the same to me. Although the manufacturer states they have a much higher coefficient of friction than the DTC 60s.

 

Here's an update on Cobalt Friction, which I've used on my Touring 1/2/3 350Z for the past nine seasons:

Manufacturer: Cobalt Friction (http://www.cobaltfriction.com)
Compound: XR2 Front / XR2 Rear (Carbon/Ceramic)
Operating temperature range: Unknown
Coefficient of friction: Unknown
Brake system: OEM Brembo
Application: D2D road course
Price paid: 400$ (250FR/150RR)
Durability: extremely durable (see notes)
Rotors friendliness: among the most rotor friendly I've ever used

General impressions: I've stuck with the XR2 compound for a number of reasons. First, it consistently delivers strong performance with good initial bite, and linear torque curve with clean easy release. My braking technique has been honed around these consistent pad attributes. Cobalt Friction has also changed and improved the manufacturing process of these pads over the years and I love the way the pad material is riveted and bonded to the backing material. Never had a failure or any problem with separation. For durability, I tried running the entire season (six weekends, 16 separate races) on ONE set of XR2 pads. Just replaced them before the '16 Runoffs and still had 2 mil of pad material left, with no flaking or other damage. Rotors still look good after two seasons of use. and that's after plenty of glowing red action from a pad that doesn't eat them up!

 

There are several recommended ways. Usually each manufacture tells you how they want it done. Me, I have carbontech 10/8 with they're own set rotors and i just did what you did (no issues, outside my poopy driving). And since I'm not racing (yet) I couldn't care how precise the bedding process was done. And then run whatever street pad i have with old rotors. Since my car see more track then street i dont even switch anymore. I keep the track pads on and wait for the next track day

 

Took a look at my pads the other day.....six track events and 9k of street miles. They still look brand new. Ugh