BoostedEBZ06

I'm trying to get my C6Z set up to do a few HPDEs a year maybe 4-6 at most.

I've had a lot of experience with C5Zs but am new to C6Zs.

I'm looking into doing brakes right now and getting those sorted out. From what I've read the C6Z calipers aren't the best but they should work good for my usage. Although I have been slightly interested in the AERO6 caliper from Wilwood.

I usually ran the Raybestos ST43 with NT01 on my C5Zs and I loved those pads.

Looking for them for the C6Z they're only available in padlet form.

What are the advantages to a single piece pad compared to the padlet? Any recommendations on a single piece pad?

Also what's so bad about the stock C6Z calipers? I know the pad thickness and price is one issue 13mm vs. 17/20mm.

For tires I'll be running R888s or possibly PSS haven't decided yet.

ErnieN85

single piece pads are easier to change if your removing the caliper to change.
the bolts get stuck and then you have to remove the caliper.
the biggest problems are pads & padlets are more expensive,
and the dust boots burn off when they do more moisture gets into the system and requires more bleeding
this isn't too bad if it is a track only car but I found I had to bleed mine every two weeks, plus before and after a track session.
I will be going to the willwoods soon!
pads are a personal choice depending on how hard you are on brakes.
Willwood H for track is very popular as are Carboteck 12-16 front and 12-10 or 8 rear
Hawk DTC 70 front and DTC60 rear also good
and also the Cobalt XR series however these are rivited and can not be used as long

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

1 piece by far I will be happy to set you up with some Carbotech XP series pads. XP10 on front or if you have a better tire we can discuss.

We have finished our redesign of our C6 Z06 One Piece pad for the front and rear stock calipers (PBR Calipers). We were the first to release the padlets almost four years ago, and then we were the first to release the One Piece over a year ago. That design that we worked with GM on wasn't perfect. That's the same design you see other companies using now.

We set out to redesign the new One Piece all on our own. We wanted to make sure it was perfect and even more user friendly. This new design will drop right into the caliper and you don't have to take out the caliper pins or spring clips. The spring clips are critical in keeping the brake pad square to the rotor surface and ensuring that the pads slide smoothly along the pins. The spring clips also assist in reducing the noise inside the caliper.

This new one piece will make changing pads a lot faster and easier. The newly designed Carbotech One Piece will give longer pad life and a little more bite as well. We are molding the new One Piece pad just like we do with all the C6, C5, and C4 brake pads.

We are also using industry leading NRS technology. If you're not familiar with NRS technology it gives molded pads up to 8 times stronger sheer strength vs. conventional molded brake pads and riveted pads. NRS technology also helps in reducing noise and vibration of the brake pad inside the caliper as well as aiding in longer wearing pads. We use NRS technology on all C6 & C5 front and rear brake pads.

Here is a link to explain further what NRS technology is exactly: http://www.nrsbrakes.com

The new One Piece is available in ALL compounds and are in stock as of right now.

rocsvette

Carbotech 1 piece absolutely. Have been using them for years on my Z which has 106k, all original and about 40% are track miles. The car has been driven by pro drivers, some of my students the 2 brake improvements I've done are the 1 piece pads and solid rotors not drilled.

BoostedEBZ06

Thanks for the reply!

Where do you get blank rotors from? How much do they run you?

I think I've seen them from KNS and on eBay. I ran those on my C5Z as they were cheap and expendable.

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

Mike, all you need is the centric premium rotors. Check Amazon for best price.

Bill Dearborn

I used both padlets and single piece brake pads.

The advantage of the padlets is you can swap them around in the caliper and from front to rear or rear to front. That gives you some ability move them around to compensate for wear. The padlets tend to taper in funny ways depending on where they are located in the caliper. Sometimes they taper with more wear on the bottom, sometimes with more wear on a corner. I found that if I wanted to increase life I had to move the padlets around in the caliper at the end of each track day.

The single piece pads get rid of all padlet style taper but will taper like other 6 piston caliper pads will taper.

I updated my calipers with the DRM Stainless Steel pistons to reduce heat transfer into the brake fluid but the calipers still tended to boil the fluid. I added titanium shims to the rear calipers to reduce heat transfer in the rear but had to stop using them as they continually interfered with the movement of the pistons by hanging up in the caliper. I had a constant soft pedal that wouldn't go away until I removed the shims.

The biggest problem with the calipers is the tendency for the padlet guide pin bolts to freeze in the caliper once the calipers have gotten up to a high temp. That forces you to remove the caliper to change padlets so there is more work replacing them than just replacing single piece pads (you have to hold all 6 padlets in place while placing the caliper over the rotor).

The pins freeze into the caliper very hard and I broke off a very good Torx bit when trying to remove them. When I sold my calipers to Ernie the Torx bit was still in the guide pin bolt head after two years. However, if you get the pins hot they will unfreeze and that is the major problem with them. I checked mine to make sure they were tight before a track day. About half way through the track day I had a student out for a ride when we made a hard left and felt the car vibrate like hell and heard a loud buzzing sound. When we got the car back into the garage I pulled the right front wheel and found a pin had backed out and hit the rear of the wheel spoke. A wheel repair shop said the wheel was still good so I was lucky. However, others haven't been as lucky. Regular contributors on this forum have had wheels ruined due to the pin coming out and others have lost brake pads out of the caliper while driving since pins on the inside of the caliper backed out and let the pad fall out of the caliper.

That was the last straw for me and I went with Wilwoods.

Bill

ErnieN85

it is sill in there

speedwaywhite

Bill, I agree with the benefits of being able to move the padlets around to prolong useful life, I switched to after market pins with 10mm hex head, no issues since, (I expect you are carrying much more speed and generating more heat I do). Am I correct in thinking the padlets help cooling as the air can get in around the pad and piston? I also agree the caliper could and should be more robust, just had my RF Caliper replaced on my 12 GS by chevy dealer (leaking through the bleeder seat). They did the LF last summer for same issue. I wonder if the C-7 calipers are any better.

Bill Dearborn

Not sure whether the padlets help with cooling all that much. As for how long it took my pins to freeze in the calipers it was the first day I took the car to the track. I had GY EMTs and GM stock brake pads that had about 13K miles on them. I had purchased the car about 3 weeks before the event. I did a pre event check and removed all the guide pin bolts and the pads checked everything over and reinstalled everything. Two days later when I went to check the pad wear after my first track day and none of the pins would come out.

Bill

BoostedEBZ06

You guys are making me want to go ahead and buy the Wilwoods. Lol

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

As far as I have ever seen the padlet idea was there to try and stop pad taper. They tried the same thing in racing 20 years ago by cutting the pads and letting each piston push on a smaller area. They have since found out that by sizing the pistons correctly and adjusting pressure points on the pads differently you can stop this and still carry a larger one piece pad.

Now that being said the C6Z uses the same piston size in all locations so they were just trying to save money on parts and machine work to the calipers for production.

Because the caliper itself flexes so much, we have not really seen any draw back by going to a one piece pad, and typically it helps cure some of the radial taper wear (inside to outside diameter wear). I would say that wear issue causes the pads to be replaced more than anything.


Now we have used, and still do use the Cobalt Friction one piece pads for all of our track customers. They were one of the first, and even tested by GM with the highest approval of a one piece pad for use in the PBR OEM caliper. These have been tested and raced since the first quarter of 2006.

Cobalt's one piece design not only filled in the area where the stock pad was split for the padlet but also filled in other voids left by using that design so you also have a pad with a larger surface area than the smaller OEM pads too.

For serious track guys, you need to loose the OEM caliper, but for those that want to keep them on the car, this is a must do by going to the one piece pads.

ErnieN85

that is the idea if you can afford it do it you won't be sorry

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

You can do those, or StopTech, Brembo....any number of good packages out there. Any would be more than 4 steps up from the OEM set.

rocsvette

Check Rock Auto Parts and get centric premiums. For track you need to consider pads and rotors like oil, a consumable.

speedwaywhite

Anthony, thanks for the informative back story on the C-6 brakes. I probably don't qualify as a 'serious track guy' (I run 10/12 track days a year with Chin at Sebring with stock GS) but I do have serious fun! I have been considering the Cobalt product and your endorsement is very persuasive. I appreciate your contributions to this forum.

Bill Dearborn

For a couple of years I was running the Wilwood caliper kit that used the stock rotors. I could get about 5 track days out of a stock C6Z front and rear rotors. At about $100 ea shipped to the house they weren't a bad deal. Funny thing about the rear rotors. When I went to two piece rotors (either Coleman or Wilwood) I stopped cracking rotors and started wearing them out instead. I literally wore the slots away on a set of slotted Colemans and had to throw them out because they dropped down to less than minimum thickness. The AFX/Coleman two piece front rotors only lasted 7 track days before cracking so they weren't cost effective at more than double the price of the stockers. The Wilwood GT 72 vane Spec 37 front rotors made it through 12 track days and at the price I can buy replacement rings they are cost effective.

Bill

BoostedEBZ06

Well for the price it looks like I can't beat doing the Wilwoods on all four corners.

Looks like I'll be selling my stock set up and going Wilwood!

quick04Z06

For a C5Z, which Wilwood set would you get, and what pad would you use for track and street? I assume the Wilwoods use the stock MC/booster, correct?

ErnieN85

Check with Forum vendor Todd at TCE
http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com
He can set you up