waddisme

May be doing a VIR track day next Friday if Blackstone says my motor is OK. I will be running the SL6s with Polymatrix B front pads for the first time. I have XP10s on stock calipers currently for the rear. Will this be OK or do I need something with a little more bite to balance the 6 pistons up front? Tires are Hoosier R80 slicks on 18" Z06 wheels all around.

TIA.

0Todd TCE

From my years of pad experience with the Wilwoods (20+) my gut says you'll find the Poly B pads to be acceptable but depending upon how hard you run a bit lagging. I normally suggest this compound for both cost and 'learnability' of new drivers to a track. They'll stay under you unless you push hard and become faster- in short sort of an entry level pad.

The more aggressive and heat stable Poly H will prove to be the choice in the near future.

It's hard to say how and what balances out well with these as many stock pads don't offer matching coefficient of friction charts to gauge from. Nice thing about the Vette is the ability to use a bit more rear brake than many other cars. Take to the track and run a day or two and see how you feel about both the feel and response, balance and any fade. Learn from it and see what you want to try the next time out.

waddisme

This is a typical lap at VIR for me with XP12s and XP10s:

RedLS1GTO

I always had great balance with Poly A/Poly B with SL6s on the front and stock rears on my C4

In the C5 with AP fronts and stock rears, I only tried the A/B combo for 1 day but it seemed to be pretty good. The Hawk DTC70/60 combo also worked well for me.

I also agree with Todd. I had a set of Poly Bs on the front once and blew right through them.

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

You may have more rear pad then front.

waddisme

So I shouldn't even waste my time with the Poly Bs - just go ahead and get the Hs? The Bs came with my kit that I bought from a forum member. They haven't even been opened or bedded onto rotors. One of the things most people don't mention about slicks, is the added grip for braking, not just cornering.

0Todd TCE

Re reading it I'd say yes. (and not just because I sell them! lol)

The B pads are exactly as I described them; great for the first time outing and the newbie. On the other hand if you are more experienced, running quicker, braking deeper you'll burn thru them pretty quickly.

The other thing is your tires. You'll want pads that can keep pace with tire adhesion. If you were running a street perf tire I may not be so adamant about it. But slicks create stick, stick requires more brake torque to maximize that stick. In the case of the B pads you'll have less Cf for rotor bite. That in turn means you'll need more pressure- you'll push harder on the pedal. That elevates line pressure and leads to to much caliper pressure, flex and pedal travel.

CHJ In Virginia

My recommendation is use the Wilwood "H" pad on both the front and rear of your car. I have run them for the last 4 years and find balance and proportioning just fine. Ran the SL6 caliper front and stock C5 caliper rear. The "H" pads also provide great initial bite and stay linear throughout the braking process. You will like them ! Todd at TCE also has the best pricing I have found + great vendor service.

Bill Dearborn

Go with the Hs, get yourself some pad spacers to keep the pistons inside the caliper as the pads wear and some phenolic spacers to reduce heat transfer to the pistons titanium spacers. You can use old pad backing plates for spacers if you have a belt sander that can remove the old pad material. I purchased the Superlite pad spacers and ground off the top pin hole to make them match the Superlite 6/4 pad shape. Also purchased the SL Phenolic Heat shield for the Superlite and carefully ground the same pin hole from them. The phenolics at $11/ea are cheap compared to titanium spacers and are just as effective.

Todd at TCE can probably help you with most of that stuff although I don't know about the Phenolic spacers. I got them from Behling Racing in Wisconsin (see page 12 in the brake section of their on line catalog http://behlingracing.com/wp-content/...-12-97-117.pdf ).

I found the pads tended to taper somewhat so every day or every other track day I would flip them from one side of the car to the other. That way I was able to get about 10 track days out of a set of 7420 front pads. The spacers keep the pistons inside the caliper when the pad gets worn quite a bit and when you are down to the last little bit or remaining pad the phenolic heat shield and pad spacers together keep the fluid from boiling. I used to use the Ford Super Duty DOT 3 brake fluid (Dry Boiling Point of 500 degrees) and the only time I boiled it was when the pads were really thin and I didn't have the Phenolic Shield.

Other than going through NAPA rotors ~ every three days this was a great solution for a C5 brake system. Not sure what can be done about the rotor issue since any other solution is not as cost effective as the NAPA solution.

Bill

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

Take a look at the new xp24 for the front since you already have 10 on the rear.

XP24™ is the pinnacle compound of the extremely successful XP™ Series of compounds engineered by Carbotech™. This compound is based on the same fundamentals that exist in all other Carbotech™ formulations. XP24™ has even more initial bite, more overall bite, and more torque along with the most linear torque curve we have ever offered. The thermal characteristics are of the highest Carbotech™ offers along with one of the highest coefficient of friction ratings offered by anyone in the braking industry. This compound is the longest wearing compound Carbotech™ offers as it was originally engineered for endurance applications at the highest pro racing levels. This revolutionary new compound has been extremely successful with open wheel, closed wheel, sprint and endurance applications. XP24™ has a temperature range of 400°F to 2000°F+ (204°C to 1093°C+). Carbotech™ XP24™ is NOT recommended for use as a daily driven street pad due to possible elevated levels of dust and noise along with the necessary heat required to work properly.

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

The only time I used the A or B pads was on a vintage car that was running vintage spec tires with no grip. If you are going to stick with Wilwood pads, I agree the H pad is the better option and I would run the same on the rear of the car but that is my preference.

If you don't want to stick with Wilwood pads then I would run a Cobalt XR2 front and rear on the car. I seriously know of no better pad made.

RedLS1GTO

When I used NAPA rotors, I got about 2 weekends usually. When I used the Wilwood 2 piece slotted rotors, they seemed to last forever. I would get 5+ weekends out of each pair of rings and usually when I did pull them off they were still good enough to carry as spares.

The NAPA rotors are cheap but IMHO going with a better rotor more than pays for itself in longevity.

0Todd TCE

Pad Wear Spacers = SERVICE PARTS

waddisme

Ordered them from Amazon for $205 shipped right before you posted this. Tried to cancel but too late as I like supporting forum vendors.

Thanks for the detailed info. Will definitely do the spacers and shields. Ran titanium on my stock calipers and this is what they look like after 15 track days:

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Brakes came with 2 sets of wilwood rings, but I have about 5 sets of stock fronts rotors to use.

Thanks for the input.

0Todd TCE

I promise I won't beat you up over $4.

waddisme

I guess I will be ordering from you after all. Ordered 7420 when I needed 7416s. Who knew.