Cobra4B

Dad and I will be running the synergy racing fall fling... he wants fresh pads, but doesn't want to do the whole swap back/forth just yet.

What do you all recommend? I was thinking oem pads from somewhere like Fred Beans. Anything cheaper or better suited to his needs?

Thanks,
Brian

speedjohnson

I'm supposing that you're running an HPDE and not an autocross.

If you run the car hard, then you'll likely use up all the pad in a day anyway.

It's important that you change to a pad that can take the heat. A race pad at least up front would be good... something like a Hawk blue, or HT10. If you want to use a street pad, then the one that seemed to hold up well were the Brute-stops avalilable fron Shucks. They're the old "Metal-master" compound and seem to have enough heat range to be a safe HPDE pad. But, you'll be missing out on all the "Plant-your-face-in-the-steering-wheel" torque of the race pad.

Cobra4B

^ Nah... I run Wilwood H's at the track. My father doesn't want to swap all that crap each time just yet. He's not driving his Z as hard and wants less hassle.

Unless anyone can recommend anythind different I'm going to have him get a fresh set of oem pads.

Actually anyone have a set for sale?

Cobra4B

After some searching etc... I'm going to have him goe w/ oem Z06 pads, they're the perfect street/track pad it seems and they're very cheap from fred beans.

VetteDrmr

Well, I've just recently found that the PFC Z-rated pads are no longer produced for C5s. , I really like them as a street/autox/casual HPDE pad. They don't dust too bad, bite nicely when cold, etc. Thanks to TedDBere I've got one more set to run through.

So, the Z05 OE pads are probably a good deal. I'll have to check with FB when I need another set.

Thanks for the info, and have a good one,
Mike

FasterIsBetter

I've been using HP Plus pads, front and rear, on my '03 Z. They held up really well through 3 days at Watkins Glen, and driving up and back. I run them on the track and the street, and they work well in both applications. The only thing I don't like about them is the amount of brake dust. But they have a nice inital bite without being grabby, and hold up well even in strong threshhold braking on the track.

As important as changing the brake pads, if you have not changed the brake fluid in the past couple of months, bleed the brakes all the way around and put in a high temp. racing fluid. Racing fluids are perfectly fine for the street, but regular street fluid is not good for the track, especially if it hasn't been changed in a while. Your pads may be fine, but if you boil the brake fluid you will not be a happy camper (read = brake pedal hits the floor and you soil a perfectly good set of underwear). Changing the fluid in the reservoir is not enough. You must bleed the brakes at all four corners and assure that you have fresh fluid all the way around. Since you'll have the wheels off anyway to change the pads, you might as well do the bleeding at the same time.

Oh, and do Ranger's clutch reservoir fluid replacement as well. Better safe than sorry.

Cobra4B

^ Yep... I'm a track nut so it's all hold hat to me We'll bleed his brakes w/ some Ford HD fluid and I've told him to start on the clutch reservior regement.

vms4evr

Brian,

He'll be fine on VIR Full on stock Z06 pads for the weekend, easily. Unless he is constantly dragging the brakes they will last longer than you might think. I went through 2 visits to Roebling and 1 visit to Road Atlanta and 1 visit to VIR-N on the stock pads before they became "get home" pads. That was on the original factory rotors too!

Instead of the Ford HD use the Castrol Syntelec (sp?) or just get some Motul etc... He is possibly going to cook the fluid in the calipers without ducts given the high speed braking on full course. I was bleeding mine at the track until I added brake ducts. Now I can skip that part.

At least plan on bleeding his front brakes a bit at the end of the day.

Other than that he'll be fine. Have a big time!!!

Graham

Cobra4B

^ Yeah but the Ford HD has a 550 dry boiling point which is like 10 degrees less than the "big name" stuff. The advantage to them is the wet boiling point, but the fluid gets flushed before every event so I'm not worried.

That's the nice thing abotu stock pads... they don't abuse rotors.

FasterIsBetter

I've been using ATE Super Blue for years in a bunch of different cars, and (knock on wood) I've never had a failure from brake fade. It's not terribly expensive but it's decent stuff. The Ford HD sounds like a good alternative though.

Interesting thought on the stock pads. I might have to go back to them next change and give them a try. I'm getting sick of the brake dust from the HP Plus pads.

Aaron Pfadt

I'd stick with the HP Plus for now. I have had reasonable experiences with them but not Z06 pads. In a 500hp C5 I only got 3 laps at Spring Mountain before the pads overheated and lost all bite. The pedal was firm, they just went to hell. In the same car with HP Plus pads I could get a whole session with no problems. The HPs don't hold up like real track pads, but overall they work. I think you will have issues with Z06 pads.

Just my $.02

good luck,
Aaron

Jason

I use HP+ full time.

ghoffman

Do you mind some noise? The Wilwood H pads work well on the street and considering that they are a full race capable pad their performance is amazing, albeit with some noise and dust. The HP+ pads are a higher performance street pad and you will kill them on the track in no time and will have to replace them anyway soon.

Cobra4B

^ Wilwood H's do work fine but they're noise and make a huge mess that will stick to your paint. Not good for some of us who are closet waxers

Dad's not setting lap records just yet and the factory pads did fine father's day weekend. When I blew the air tube off of my car and drove his 2 sessions it performed adequately.

I did get some fade at the end of the front straight, but nothing I couldn't live with.

Allthrottleandsomebottle

Z06 pad is fine..........use them on the 97 & 00 w/o issue.

xsiveone

The Carbotech Panther + is another consideration (no corrosive dust), but you're probably safe going with the stock Z06 pads as long as you do a fluid change.

Red Gump

panther + is what I used prior to going to race tires and brakes. I never used anything else so I don't know how they compare to hawks or pfc.

Too Tall Bob

Wow...I'm really surprised that you have alot of dust and noise from the Wilwood H pads. I was going to suggest using those on the street as well.

While my car is 99% track driven, I do occasionally drive it around town and found the H's to be the best I've used...both track and street use....and I've tried alot of them!

yakisoba

I'm using Carbotech XP10 front, xp8 back on the street. They make the car sound like a garbage truck, but wow, do they stop when they get to decent temp. First stop is a bit soft, but hit them hard once or twice, and the next braking is very good. Less scream when hot too.