kwhiteside

Can anybody tell me from experience how these two might compare with equal pads on both.

I'm used to C5Z06 with Wilwood SL6 and DTC70 pads. If I had a C6 with Z51 larger rotor brakes, and the DTC70 pads, would I have the same stopping power?

Oh, stainless lines Type200 racing fluid.

Thanks in advance, Ken . . .

ErnieN85

Ken, They surprised me at VIR last year, worked very well. The C6 calipers are more rugged than the C5 and seem almost as good as the wilwood's I'm happy with them.

gkmccready

Stopping power isn't the problem with the C5 or C6 brakes. It's longevity, both in terms of performance and in terms of pad life. The SL6Rs can deal with the heat generated for much longer so you don't have to start to wonder about brakes as the session or sessions go on. And the 7420 pads are cheaper and they last longer and they don't taper.

So, the answer to your question is that stopping power is probably the same, but repeated stops you'll be wanting your Wilwoods back. BTW, they should just move, but you'll have to double check rim clearance. The C6 wheels don't have near the room of the C5Z for brakes.

Bill Dearborn

The C6 caliper has the same problems as the C5 caliper. It tapers the pads which causes a long pedal over several sessions. With the larger Z51 rotor the pads might last a little longer but the caliper isn't fixed and no matter how new the parts are there is some clearance so will still rotate some on its guide pins.

You obviously know the Wilwoods so I don't need to say anything about them as far as cost or performance.

Bill

longdaddy

one advantage of Z51 system is that the rotor can take more heat before it starts to degrade (bigger rotor-more material-bigger heat sink)

"stopping power" is determined mostly by your tires until your pads are overheated or tapered to the point they do not work/feel right anymore. or your rotor cracks.

kwhiteside

So guys, I'm not feeling the advange of the C6 if I still have to get a better radiator/eoc and my old brakes are still better. I've got about everything left to turn any C5 into a nice track car, or I could sell all that stuff and use it towards a C6. I was thinking I could sell 3-4k worth of stuff and use that towards the C6 and not have to mod the C6. Add to that some posts from guys who just got their LS2 tuned and it still only has about 380rwhp like the LS6 does with headers and intake.

Leaning back to getting another old C5 car.

gkmccready

If you've already got the C5 parts, some of them would work on a C6, but the C5 seems to swallow bigger wheels and tires easier, and the LS6 seems bulletproof... don't get me wrong, I like my C6 an awful lot, but I have all the usual C5 mods done to it...

ErnieN85

Wish my Z06 (c5) had not broken at such a bad place

longdaddy

the only advantages of C6 Z51 I can think of are a little better torque at lower RPM, trans cooler from the factory (how well does it work? how about a diff cooler?), and, as mentioned, slightly bigger front rotors. I also heard that hatch body is better than FRC when it comes to aero, but I imagine that most of us here will not notice the difference.


when you factor in the base car cost/value, LS6 reliability and slight weight advantage, it's a pretty even trade that comes down to personal preference.

if you already own a C5 or C5-only parts, there is really no reason to "upgrade" to C6 for track duty unless you just want a new look, need to have a convinience of a hatch for daily duty, or willing to shell out the $$ for a Z06

ace996

You know what to do... find another C5Z and have at it.

Good luck and have fun,
TomK

dcvee

You're not getting tapered pads on your SL6's from caliper spread? Granted, I've only used them once on a BMW application but I had spreading much like the stock C5 Calipers do. Stopping power was fine and pad choice was ok.

Don

kwhiteside

Ya, that's the EGO part of it. The C6 looks so sweet. I want to justify it, but am coming up short.

Add to that I used to pass a lot of C6's and that was fun. But I'm thinking about leaving the Headers and FAST92 off this time so I'm TTA ready some time in the future.

That might feel slooowww

drivinhard

stock C5Z is good for 150 mph at road atlanta, how much faster do yo want to go

kwhiteside

Point taken, gotta remember there are so many different levels out there. Newbies like myself get kicks from coming out of turn 7 at RA, then booting it past all the stock cars, of course I then granny brake down the hill (pissing the good drivers off) heading to 10a.

Then I get to know a few of you guys and realize that it is nothing special with my mods and wider tires, and what I really need is more seattime to learn how to drive.

Thanks for keeping it honest guys.

gkmccready

Haven't seen the issue at all yet.

longdaddy

I get that with SL6. it is easier to manage as the pads are thicker overall and in my case, they do not taper quite as fast.

Bill Dearborn

My Wilwoods tapered the pads but the brake pedal didn't go long like it did with the stock C5 calipers. Since the calipers were fixed they didn't move back to a rest position after the brake pedal was released so the pistons didn't have to move as far the next time the brake was applied. The tapering was easy to manage if I swapped the pads from one side of the car to the other and flipped them upside down before I started the next day. I could pretty much wear the pads evenly down to the backing plate and could get 8 to 10 track days out of a set of 7420H pads. After a couple of years I started using pad shims in the calipers after the pads had worn some. This seemed to help reduce taper as well. Not sure why the shims had that affect.

Bill

0Todd TCE

Because using pad wear spacers helps retain piston to caliper body compliance. The pistons are in the bore deeper and thus have greater contact with the body of the caliper and will not rock as easily in the bore. As the piston moves out more there's is less support on the walls and as the tapering begins to wear the piston/bore alignment becomes matched to the angle of the pad....from there it's down hill. Now there is less retraction of the piston when pressure is released and the pad drags more causing more wear and then more extension, more angle....

dcvee

I think you and Todd are talking pad taper front to rear(of the pad)...which can be dealt with by swapping pads as you both describe. I'm talking about pad taper due to caliper deflection, or opening up under load. Which gives you taper top to bottom of the pad. If I misread, sorry...

D

John Shiels

spacers do work great I have a few sizes and a few material types.