exracer28

After being away for a couple of years I am getting a chance to play gain. The doctor that I like to credit with keeping me alive during my cancer treatments has a 2006 Z06 and he wants to try it on a track. We have talked it over and he understands the issues. He has also gone to a few driving schools in their cars and now its time for the vette. I raced C5s and plan on setting up his car with the same basic settings as the C5. I do not know if ayone is making decent pads/pucks for the front C6 Z06. Second on my list are the rotors. Do the C5 rotors fit on the front of the C6 Z? Last what size wheel is needed on front & rear?

Thanks and if anything needs to be added please let me know.

Gary2KC5

1st of all glad your here and good luck on becoming a cancer survivor, if not already there.

the C6Z06 brake issue is huge and you will hear many opinons.

1st choice is to just put a decent track pad on like Carbotech or Hawk. Racing Brake also is making a bid to be a player...but IMHO I'm not sold on the RB stuff yet (but I'm still evaluating). The stock rotors do hold up well, especially if you vent more air to them. $410-550/set.

2nd choice is to replace the heavy, non-vented (on the right) rotors with either a solid rotor or a 2 piece rotor. there are a few vendors providing them (I'm evaluating the RB 2pc rotors). about $750.

3rd choice a full front BBK from Stoptech, Racing Brake, or Brembo. Starting at about $4k.

BTW: do a search and you will find more posts about this...more is an understatement.

part of the equation depends on how hard you drive. If you are driving like your racing you are going to burn up pads. If you just hammer it down the straights and ease it into the corners then your brakes will live longer.

95jersey

We'll I am evaluation the RB pads myself and are trying the top of the line 900's at Watkins Glen in 2 weeks. That will the true test. I have used the other compounds and they have all stopped well.

Unfortunately with the caliper design and drilled rotors, wear seems to be an issue on these cars. People are going through a set of pads in one to two days regardless of brand, and that is just unacceptable, especially when they are $500 a set.

This is why I am definately considering replacing the front calipers, not for performance (side benefit), but to save money. At $500 every other track day, you will see the return on investment in a year.

davidfarmer

We got the equivalent of 5 (2-day)events out of the stock rotors before they began cracking significantly. In my opinion, the OEM pads hold up well to moderately-aggressive track usage, although NOT necessarily at a track like CMP.

I'm testing the RB rotors this weekend with HP+ pads and ducts on the front. I've had great luck with HP+ on my lightweight car, although the Z06 is quite heavy. I'm using rotor paint and pyrometers to keep an eye on rotor temps, so I can gauge where I should go from here.

My suggestion would be to give the system a good bleed, and hit the track. In the next few weeks, more and more of us will have options and suggestions for you. Bottom line though, the system works quite well the way GM did it, but by using the drilled rotors and same-size pistons all around, they will not last as long as you would like (lead pad wears much quicker than trailing pad)

z06jones

I’ve run stock pads, Hawk HP+, Racing Brake ET800s and 900 all on stock rotors.
I ran completely stock for two track events but I was not pushing the car as hard as it would go and they did fine. Then I went to HP+s and had better initial bite. The ET800/900s are what I’m currently running. They are 15% thicker than stock. I’m seeing 7 to 8 track days out of a set of front pads, much better than any of the others I’ve used. To me the drilled rotors are the primary culprit for excessive pad wear. With the ET their bite is so good I not seeing as much pad taper as I did with the others. Unless you are running r compound tires or are running scca/nasa level times the ET800s would be my recommendation. Defiantly flush the brake fluid regardless of what pad you choose.

95jersey

The rotors seem to hold up ok, it's the pads. This alone is a good reason to change calipers. Don't get me wrong the brakes have worked well for me, but can't see spending $450 on a set of pads every other event. My Wilwood H's would last me the entire season and some...

Right now options are limited to Gary's PFC caliper, Brembo, and Stoptech, all which are awesome and you can't go wrong with any of them, but they are all over $3000 for just the fronts and I beleive you are committed to using their rotors. The new RB calipers look promising and have nice design with the open bridge. The Brembo's are the most expensive, but are true monoblock calipers, but no removeable bridge.

After owning the Wilwoods, it would be hard for me to pay $3495 for the Brembo's when I still have to remove the caliper to change the pads. The wilwoods were also a one piece caliper, not two peices bolted together. I also liked the Wilwood because you used the stock rotors...this is the benefit of the RB Calipers. I like the idea of a good caliper using a cheap disposable rotor.

Are they any downside to a two piece vs. a one piece? It seems that most of the manufacturers are 2 peice except Brembo. why?

Gary2KC5

I tried to test a set of ET900's and the RB 2pc rotors at Autobahn CC a couple of weeks ago but only got in 5 laps )full course) at about 7/10's. I had never driven the south course so I was not pushing.

The pads had plenty of torque. So much that in just 5 laps the friction rings were getting groved and the pads wore from 11mm to 9mm.

I wish I had been able to get in more laps...

I'm a little concerned about the pads cutting into the rotors with such little track time. Dave what's your thoughts on that??