MaddMatt

Alrighty, so all the parts are due in tomorrow. We'll have all materials necessary to make front AND rear brake pads for both the track and standard models in any of our street or competition brake compounds. Contact info is located in my sig.

I appreciate everyone's patience.

Matt

D'oh

Sounds cool!

I just replaced my rear pads with stocks, but maybe I can get some track pads to swap in for the occasional track day. I'll have to think about this.

Thanks for the info!

-D'oh!

LS350Z

I always loved my Panther Plus & XPs (2 sets of Plus and one set of XPs I went through) on my Honda and my Panther Plus & 912 combo on my Rabbit is wonderful as well.

westpak

iTrader: (19)

I posted this on another thread but here goes just in case you don't see it there:

Matt, are you guys working on a track pad for the rears and fronts for that matter? I mean strictly track.

I went out the track and my stock rears were toast but a friend of mine had the bocats in back and the Hawk + in front and they got toasted as well as his rotors.

LS350Z

Any of the Carbotech Panther pads are great track pads. I'd say some Panther Plus or Panther XPs is what you'll need. Both of these will destroy Hawk HP+ pads in braking, feel, bite, and fade resistance. Actually nither of these I'd personal run on the street except to get to or from a track. These are my deductions from owning all 3 of the above listed pads as well as several other pads from Carbotech and other brands (Porterfield, Axxis, and others). I've bought nothing else but Carbotech pads over the past 2-3 years and I don't think I'll ever switch.

MaddMatt

We have SERIOUS track compounds and we can put those serious compounds on any backing plate. And since we have all the 350Z plates.....

Was that Rick? Yeah, I made the mistake of not giving him an aggressive enough material. I guess I figured a car that new and expensive, the owner wouldn't be going out there and driving 10/10ths. My mistake. I believe I sold Rick Panther Plus for the front and they didn't work out for him at Sebring-long course. I recommended that compound for him because it is our most streetable track compound and generally perfect for HPDE/lapping day. I should have gone with Panther XP. When he calls back, we're getting serious with his brake selection

westpak

iTrader: (19)

Yes that was Rick, and those pads looked like they had a meltdown. And in Rick's defense I don't know how you can't go all out with this car it just begs to be driven.

Whe you come up with a combination let me know as I would be interested as well, I want a track dedicated pad, I might even go with track rotors also. I had some Axis Ultimates and they fared OK but I think it was because I didn't go at it hard until the second day and I think I am going to reinstall my stocks as they do not sound so good I think the surface of the pads got coocked.

Autox is not as hard on the pads as they do not get as hot, but autox pads just don't cut it on a track, specially Sebring where you have basically 3 stretches where you get going before slamming the brakes on, it was fun though.

dougrace zs

iTrader: (2)

Hey Matt went to little Taladaga last weekend and the panthers did fine on the front but we got to have some rear pads.
By the time we got done last Saturday I completely distroyed the rear pads and had to drive the car on metal to metal rear brakes
all the way back to Nashville

MaddMatt

That combo would likely be our Panther XP all the way around. That material is currently THE stuff to run in T1 and T2 (big, heavy Corvettes and Camaros). Mark and Jordan Sandridge finished 2nd and 3rd at the Valvoline Runoffs last year with that material. You don't do that with sub-standard brakes. Phil Croyle is another customer of ours who just lowered the T2 track record at Road Atlanta last weekend by 3.5 SECONDS!. It will stop your car. However, keep in mind you have a 3200+ lb car with over 280 hp and brakes that are off an Altima, with no brake cooling. This is the same thing that some of my Honda racing customers are facing. They're taking their GS-Rs out to compete (wheel-to-wheel racing) against Mazda RX7s and E36 3-series BMWs with brakes that come standard on a Civic. Oddly, they have trouble stopping their car. Add in Sebring's known reputation for being very hard on brakes, and that is the perfect recipe for brake problems.

So...yes, we have better race compounds available. At the time, I didn't think to recommend that to the driver of a brand new $30K car doing a driving school.

Doug, we've got the rears now

westpak

iTrader: (19)

Trying to read between the lines, do we ned to find a way to get better cooling to the brakes? Or are suggesting that a big brake upgrade is needed like a Stoptech, which I was actually considering for the fronts.

MaddMatt

Air=good! I'd start by removing the splash shield (aka heat retainers!) on the backside of the rotor. That goes a long way. For most people that will increase pad life by as much as 40-50%. Still not enough? Air ducting my be necessary.

Certainly worth investigating. I think you guys are seeing why Nissan put the big Brembos on the "Track" model But I'd start with getting more air to the brakes. That's cheap. Always evaluate the least expensive option first, it might save you a couple grand.

MaddMatt

Data point: The pads I sold Doug were the same pads I sold Rick: Panther Plus. Same car, same pads, different track, no problems. That illustrates the variation in braking requirements you'll see from track to track. P+ just wasn't enough for Rick at Sebring.

Quick

Okay, now i have a quick question..... I just bought the P+ front/ bobcat rear for my track model Z. I am heading to Mid-Ohio in 2 weeks. Did i order the wrong pads??? I drive extremely hard as i am extremely competitive... I hope i won't be wishing that i got the XP's...

westpak

iTrader: (19)

I don't know what Mid-Ohio looks like but Sebring has three spots where you go all out full throttle and can get to 125 on one, 115 on another and around 90 on the third after which hard breaking with the last one being a hairpin turn, in total there are 17 turns in 3.9 miles with about 7-8 being hard breaking ones, and on this track the Panther + up front got worn out and groved the rotor pretty badly and the bobcat's on back warped and wore out and also grooved the rotor pretty badly, people there were like "I have never seen anything like that!!" He got them turned today but if you go all out hard and the brakes will get hot like they did at Sebring I would suggest going with a track only pad, I don't know enough yet about which ones so can't recommend but high performance/autox/light track pads are not recommended to stop this beast if you want to go hard and have fun and turn in some competitive times.

alphaz

Quick,
I'm curious how these pads hold up under HEAVY track conditions. I have the same pad setup for my Brembos, that are still in the box. They have to be sent back to Matt for a rework, too tight of a fit.
Are you running with the stock brake fluid and lines ?
Good luck at Mid-Ohio.

Quick

well, currently everything is stock. The pads are still in the box. I haven't even trie d to put them on yet. If i need a heavier grade pad though, i want to send them back so i can get the replacements before my race!

westpak

iTrader: (19)

Definetly check with them because I think they are learning from our experience last weekend that we do want to run these cars and have fun.

I would suggest changing the fluid, I used ATE Super Blue.

alphaz

I ran at little Talladega Gran Prix , which is a mile and 1\4 flat "U" shaped track for 5 sessions at 5 to 6 laps each session. In the back and front straights I was hitting between 80 to 90 mph . My stock brembos held up great. The only upgrades were to the brake lines and fluid. Needless to say I was impressed.
But I'm always looking to improve the setup over stock....hence Carbotech

mcclaskz

Matt, thanks for the quick order. I recieved the bobcat pads for my rear Performance/Touring brakes today. I will be going to the New Bern AutoX on Sunday and will put them and the Panther+ on my fronts to good use. See you at VIR next week.

westpak

iTrader: (19)

I think a lot depends on the track plus the driver. Sebring was probably one of the worst in that you slam the brakes to make hairpin turns after coming down at 90 or so to drive up to 60-70 or so to then slam them again to make a 90 degree turn. So not much time to cool down in between, I will definetly go with track pads next time.