I'm having a pair of Axxis Ultimate front pads for my non-Brembo brakes shipped for an upcoming driving school. Andie at CobaltFriction.com is ordering a bunch in case anyone is looking for pads that are high performance street / moderate performance track for their non-Brembo calipers. He said anyone on this forum can get 15% off of his product prices. That makes for a very reasonable price! Products were listed at https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....ighlight=axxis

I also supplied him images and dimensions of the rear pads so he can research if anything is available. At first glance he hasn't seen any like them before. Aftermarket rear pads for non-Brembos have been hard for me to find. Wish Andie luck on this project!

I didn't know this, but Andie said that the Brembo front calipers art true Brembos, w/ 4 pistons. The backs, however, are a Nissan design built by Brembo, a 2-piston sliding caliper. If so, this isn't the great value I once thought it was.

 

Is there any drawback to replacing only the fronts with a higher-performance pad while leaving the rears stock? I've got close to 8000 miles on my stock pads and I too am waiting on a full set like a lot of people. I understand the brake bias is somewhere in the neighborhood of 85% fronts and I'm just curious as to whether there's a cut-off mileage wise were you should have a complete set of new pads going on versus just the fronts.

 

droidekaus,

Did you consider going with Endless? I plan to try out a full set of either their NA-M or CC-X pads. The NA-Ms seem like a good compromise between a circuit-spec pad and street-practicality. The CC-Xs may be too aggressive for the rotors, since they're a Ceramic Carbon Metal pad.

www.endlessusa.com

 

For street driving and recreational auto-x, using the Axxis Ultimate in the front with the OE-spec pads in the rear will still work quite well, though it is admitted not "optimal". The drawbacks are a non-issue for street driving, and only under very aggressive (sustained temperatures of 600F+), repeated use will the negative factors of accelerated front pad wear be noticeable.

I am still working on the rear pad identification...been tied up with race series sponsorship agreements...but will get to it this weekend for sure.

The Axxis Ultimate is an excellent choice of compound for street, autocross, and weekend HPDE use (novice level track driving on street tires). It is fade free to 1000F, and the braking torque is 15-20% greater than OE, while being rotor friendly with good cold braking performance. The dust level of the Axxis Ultimate will be similar to OE, perhaps a touch higher.

The low-dust solution is the Ferodo DS2500, but we have been unable to stock this pad shape in good quantities...there were a few individuals who picked up the last sets last year, but since then, it has become difficult to stock this part for the 350Z application.

Cobalt also has our GT-Sport compound for the 350Z Touring as well as the Brembo/Track edition. The GT-Sport compound is a dedicated Pro Solo2 Autocross compound, and has a very strong initial bite, with a fade point of 900F. It will provide world-class braking performance for autocross use, as well as extremely aggressive mountain/canyon driving. However, as it is designed as a competition-spec compound, with street use being a secondary factor, it will tend to squeal when used on the street, and the dust level will be somewhat high. The GT-Sport is also roughly 15% more rotor aggressive than the Axxis Ultimate when driven cold on the street. If you are looking for a class-beating Pro Solo2 compound, however, we feel that the Cobalt GT-Sport "does the business" and then some.

I hope this information has been helpful...and do apologize for not being able to find more time to post on my350Z.com. As a reminder, my350Z.com members receive a 10% discount from Cobalt Friction Technologies. Lastly, the first 20 sets of Axxis Ultimate brake pads sold for the 350Z Touring edition will receive a 20% off discount...we expect them to arrive shortly (2-3 more days), and will take orders on a first-come first-serve basis.

Best Regards,

Andie Lin

 

The Endless CC-X makes for a good intermediate-level use track compound, and on the track, will outperform the Axxis Ultimate. The Axxis Ultimate, however, makes for a much better street compound, as it has a lower dust, and dramatically lower noise level.

If your priorities are track use, then the Endless CC-X is, really, a good choice. Cobalt has considered carrying the Endless product line, but due to the high prices of these products, we feel that other products which are available at a more reasonable cost to our customers, may be better choices, albeit at some compromise depending on the type of driving being done.

Best Regards,

Andie Lin

 

Well, it has been a _long_ time since I posted on my350Z.com, and I thought it was time for an update.

Currently, what we have available for the 350Z Touring Edition are the Axxis Ultimate brake pads for the front axle only. Ron Titus was so kind to fax a tracing of the rear pad a while back, but I have been unable to identify it, to date, as a standard available fitment, and thus a brake compound is not available at this time for the rear axle. The Axxis Ultimate is an excellent choice for high-performance street, autocross, and entry level weekend HPDE use.

For the 350Z Track (Brembo calipers) edition, the Cobalt GT-Sport compound is available for the front and the rear. The Cobalt GT-Sport is designed to be a world-class Pro Solo-2 Autocross compound, but can be used on the street if you can tolerate some noise and a higher than OE dust level. It is fade free to 900F, with a fade-critical temperature of 1000F. The braking torque of the Coibalt GT-Sport is far improved versus OE, with a coefficient of friction of 0.50mu.

We are looking to have our Cobalt GT-R.spec(VR) compound molded for the front fitment of the 350Z Track edition, if there is sufficient interest in a full-on race compound. This compound is currently being used by several Formula Car and GT-Class road racing teams/drivers, as well as on Cobalt's own Grand Am Cup RSX Type-S race vehicle.

Best Regards,

Andie Lin

 

Ummm... not true. The rear Brembo is not a sliding or "floating" caliper design. It is a two piston fixed caliper design. One sure give-away is the TWO bleeder screws on the caliper. It may be a Nissan spec design built by Brembo... who knows.

You have sliding or "floating" calipers on the front and rear of the non-Track model 350Z. This is a very common design for automtive brakes. Read here for more information about single-piston floating calipers http://auto.howstuffworks.com/disc-brake.htm

PeteH

 

I don't recall the exact discussion, but my understanding is that the Brembo calipers are made by Brembo to Nissan spec...the front pad shape is actually used by BMW as well. The rear pad shape is used by Alfa Romeo, BMW, Lotus, and Opel, in addition to Nissan.

I believe the discussion was whether the Brembo calipers were real "race caliper"...IMO, they are not...but are made by Brembo.

-Andie

 

I finally got some track time in on the Axxis Ultimate pads. They did real well as far as I could tell. I don't know how they compare to stock pads, but they instilled confidence even in hard braking from 115MPH. I have to admit that it was kinda funny seeing smoke streaming from all four corners when I rolled into the pits after a run. The odor was a constant from all of the cars.

As far as wear on the pads, the Ultimates and the stock rear showed little wear. This is due in part to the fact that we didn't get the time on the track that we planned since it rained one entire afternoon. So, I really only spent about 75 minutes total at high speed on a 2.5 mile circuit with 9 turns.