Phoenix64

I've searched and searched. Everyone says you can't have a street track pad.
But...

My main concerns are no fade, no pad knock back, and no squealing. I want to be able to lap the car with total confidence in the brakes.

I've done the wheel tire brake swap at the track. Not a fan.

I've also daily driven brakes that squealed like a freight train, not a fan, but don't care about heavy dust.

I run 300 T/W street tires 245 square. So brake bias is a concern too.

I might move back to a 265/295 setup, but still 300T/W.

I want to turn my C5Z into the ultimate drive it to the track, run it for the day and drive it home car.

I've run under 8min BTG at the nurburgring in an E92 m3 on 245/265 street tires, and 1:38 at rd atlanta in my firebird, so I'm a moderately fast driver.

What brake kit would you run?

CHJ In Virginia

I used the Wilwood G Stop kit from LG Motorsports on my C5 - Z06. Used the Wilwood H series pads front and rear. IMHO a great combination for track performance and street use. Additional mods will be required for ultimate track performance - Hi temp fluid, cooling ducts for the front rotors.

froggy47

AP done & done.

Charley Hoyt

None of the above. I would get Stoptechs front and back. They are fantastic!

mpryan

Judging from your pole I take it you have a c6. I have a c5 stock calipers, with stainless pistons in front, slotted rotors, front cooling ducts, ss lines, Motul rbf 600. I picked carbotech xp20 f, Xp10 r pads. Although they are a bit noisy on the street it's not to bad and they work awsom. I'd trade a bit of noise for top performance any day. The dust is light. Just my opinion from my experience

Phoenix64

I have a C5Z, I've tracked it twice so far. First time I boiled the fluid, so I upgraded to stainless lines and motul 600, second time I got pad fade(stock pads).

I have considered the stock calipers, the pedal feel is great when the pads are new, but as they wear(taper) It's not so confidence inspiring. Maybe I'm missing something, but beyond the pedal being slightly different each time, the high effort, and long travel makes heel and toe more difficult.

I ran DTC-70's on my firebird in stock calipers. They worked, but upgrading to the 14in CTS-V brembos provided a rock solid consistent pedal feel, and an unbeatable level of confidence.

I'm leaning toward the AP 14in kit, but I can't stomach the "corvette tax" I put the 14in 4-piston CTS-V kit on my firebird for about 500$.

REVHARD

X2...I run carbotech xp12/xp10 on stoptech slotted rotors, stainless lines and RBF600 with out ducting last year and never had a problem. This year I installed the DRM ducts and LG spindle brackets. By mid season I will add the DRM stainless pistons as I think it will be time for a caliper refresh.

I drive my setup on the street occasionally and it doesn't sqeel for what its worth.

Bill Dearborn

I ran the LG G Stop Wilwood kit on my C5Z and really liked it. Had those brakes on the car for 5 seasons. Great pad wear due to thick pads (up to 10 track days), I only boiled the fluid once and that was on the 9th day of pad use (adding spacers to push the pistons back into the caliper and phenolic shims stopped that). You could then run the Wilwood SL6 rear BBK w parking brake to match the front. The LG kit permits use of the stock C5Z front wheels without spacers and it uses the stock size rotors. Stock rotors go about 3 days before cracking and that is a downfall of the kit if you want to try to get longer rotor life.

If you want to go to a better matched system look at the Wilwood W6A/W4A (now Aero6/Aero4). You won't be able to use the stock front wheels but the combo will work great. The best deal are the Aero6/Aero4 Race kits. With those you get the Thermlock pistons to cut down on heat transfer to the brake fluid and the wider caliper that permits the use of the 6620 pad which is .8 in thick. That pad will last a fair number of days.

I use the older W6A/W4A non race BBKs and haven't had any fluid boiling with those on my C6Z. I use pad shims to keep the pistons inside the caliper as the pads wear and some thin titanium heat shields plust Wilwood 600+ brake fluid.

If you want to jump in whole hog you could go for the ceramic rotors but that is expensive.

Bill

Hi Volts Z06

I second the all around Stoptech suggestion. When you add in increased pad life and proper balance and bias engineered from the factory I think it's a very value minded solution. Everything else listed is a compromise.

Bill Dearborn

Actually, the Wilwood BBKs are engineered for the car as well. I understand Stoptech has a great reputation but the Wilwood's have a pretty good reputation as well and cost less for no discernible loss in quality of function. Plus consumable costs are much lower for their pads/rotor rings.

Bill

Socko

I pretty much drive my car 100 days a year. It parks for winter for about 5 months. The other 7 months I drive it any time the weather looks nice. I also do about 6 days a season. I have put plenty of brake son different cars and done a couple dozen pad changes on my stock c5z.

I can say the only thing that seems to stop my track pads from being noisy on the street is a good transfer layer on the rotor. No amount of antisqueal seems to help. Once I hit the track the pads are quiet for 2-3 weeks which is maybe 200-400 miles. Then start to squeal then then within 100 miles sound like a garbage trucks brakes. Like scare little kids on the sidewalk loud! I specifically run carbotech pads to address this. The transfer layer being compadable means that i got a week or 2 to switch off my track pads to 1521's and i can switch my 1521 back to xp10's the weekend before track days and don't get any sort of annoying squeal, though you get that small normal squeal from time to time with the track pads on in very rare occations after switching from 1521 to xp10.

I have street driven xp10's at 30 degrees ambient and never had any sort of odd brake response so they are perfectly safe to/from the track pads just too noisy imo to dd but the transfer layer lasts long enough no need to change them out at the track.

What you are trying to do sounds to me more like you need to find the right compounds and fluid vs change out your whole brake system. 300tw mpss are crazy sticky and you should have no issue getting rotor temps over 1000 degrees with them if you have open track to run on. Even if you increase the mass of the rotor substantially. At that point you are running a pad that just can't establish a transfer layer on the street and it will slowly grind it off till its gone and everything gets noisy on the street. The only issue I have with the stock calipers is the taper. I know at some point to address this i will have to swap to a better caliper but for the time being it isn't an issue on single track days and barely an issue on 2. The 3rd its a bit sketchy but i only run 1 3 day weekend a year so i deal with it cause I'm cheap. Just my 2 cents.

Ludedude

Hi Volts Z06

I have no experience with the Wilwoods on a Corvette but did have 2 negative experiences with them when we ran them on an E36 BMW M3 that we used for enduros. Two years in a row we were taken out of contention because of Wilwood calipers that that failed due to pistons ceasing in the bores. I wasn't responsible for the prep on the car (just a driver) so I really cant give specifics and these were pretty extreme conditions (12 and 13 hour races). My statement was really addressing the Wilwood solution posted above that ran an aftermarket front as opposed to a full front and rear solution. I tried that..... Running Stoptech ST-60 fronts and Z51 rears. I was going through a set of rear pads a day. Now I don't change rear pads for a whole season.

Phoenix64

That's good to know about the rear Z51 option, I was wondering since my stock rear pads wore out before my stock front pads.

Phoenix64

How does that setup not squeal? What are you doing different?

JRitt@essex

AP Racing front C6 Z51 rear- Yes. Our Essex Designed AP Racing Endurance Kit for the C6 will allow you to do exactly what you described as your objective:
The squealing is really only a pad issue, and will be present on any brake setup you use if you have a race compound operating at cold temperatures.

As for a Corvette Tax, our systems that use the same components are all roughly the same price across platforms. They're considerably less expensive than AP Racing kits sold in Europe. They're also less expensive than Brembo's road-focused GT kits. Our kits are the only track-focused BBK designed around real racing parts. They have a number of features that nobody else offers...SS pistons with anti-knockback springs, 72 vane championship-winning discs, several lbs. lower unsprung weight, superior wheel fitment...the list goes on.

I have many customers who have tried other systems, and went through all of the same nonsense they were dealing with before...cracking discs, wearing pads, bleeding brakes at the track, parts not designed specifically for the car (required shims, etc.), and improper brake balance. Do it once, and do it right. Take a read of the customer reviews on our blog if you need further convincing.]\






All other aftermarket big brake kits are based on road car parts...painted calipers, aluminum pistons, no anti-knockback springs, 48 vane discs, unnecessary weight in the calipers, etc.

That said, if you do decide to go down the painted caliper route, we have an outstanding AP Racing Factory Big Brake Kit on sale right now. We developed these in conjunction with AP, and they're fully built in England. They offer some of the biggest discs you can cram into an 18" wheel (362mm), AP's latest six piston caliper design, etc. I also have an excess of these in stock and I can make you a great deal on one (well under $3,000). Don't hesitate to email me or PM me.







If you want to end your brake problems for the foreseeable future, don't mess around with the factory components. That includes C6 Z51 and especially Z06. They're rife with compromises that won't get you where you want to go. If you had to pick one over the other, the Z51 setup would be a better choice, even though the discs are slightly smaller.

Again though, if you're looking for silver-bullet, no future headaches solution, one of our BBK's will get you there. No more cracking discs, bleeding brakes in between sessions, scouring for pads to fit, etc.

Another factor is support. We (Essex/AP Racing) offer unparalleled support for our kits. We always have a human being answer our phones. We have many customers on these forums who we've helped with brakes over the years, and we aren't going anywhere. We're also avid forum sponsors. Personally, I owned and tracked a C5Z for a number of years, so I'm intimately familiar with these cars.

Finally, the C6.R's won Le Mans numerous times running similar hardware to what we sell, and the Action Express Corvette Daytona Prototypes won the 2012 championship with the exact same discs we sell in our Endurance Kit. People can talk all day about what other products can do, but they can't say that. The AP Racing components have been proven time and again under the toughest conditions, on the fastest Corvettes ever produced.

JRitt@essex

One more note...you're definitely better off spending a disproportionate amount of funds on getting the best front system you can afford. The front is where the upgrades will pay the biggest dividends on your car. A z51 rear setup with good pads and SS brake lines won't be the greatest setup ever assembled, but it should get you by fine if you get a stellar front BBK. That will bring you closer to your goals, and still enable you to add our matching rear kit down the road if/when budget allows. After adding the fronts, you may find the rear BBK superfluous. In other words, I'd much rather see you get one of our front kits with a Z51 rear rather than a lesser 4-wheel BBK from a different manufacturer.