ktoonsez

I am looking for suggestions on brake pads from you experts out there for my '08 with Z51 option. At is a daily driver which I Road race once every 2-4 weeks so I want some nice pads that will work a bunch better than stock pads on the track and still work ok on the street. Fire away!

gkmccready

No such thing. Get used to swapping pads (and rotors)...

AU N EGL

Stock c5Z06 brake pads.

You will still need to bleed your brakes before and after each event, plus new pads frequently

Swaping pads and rotors is a better way to go.

Good Luck

Z06Fix

Hawk HP+ works great for someone just starting out. They are fairly cheap and work well as long as your willing to give up a bit on the late braking. The next step up would be the Carbotech XP8's. They work pretty well on the street and will give you a bit more bite/fade resistance than the HP+'s on track.

Either way, invest in a set of brake ducts. They will allow the: pads, rotors, and wheel bearings to last longer under track abuse. Oh an of course flush the system with some good DOT 4 fluid. There are many on the market that work well. I'm running Motul RBF600 and have had very good luck with it.

EvilBoffin

I recently got a set of Carbotech XP8's front, AX6's rear for my '08 Z51 for autocross and street use (though NOT for track use - I switch to another set of dedicated track rotors and pads for that). I found the initial bite, pedal feel and torque of the Carbotech's to be dramatically better then stock Z51 pads.

However, they do really squeal badly on the street with any heat in them at all, no matter how hard I lay on the pedal. Just the nature of the beast, I guess...

BTW - Danny at Carbotech will give 10% off to forum members. If you decide to go that way, give him a call.

quacktheduck

Just put on a set of c5z pads up front (my rear z51 pads on my 07 seem to have plenty of thickness left) flushed the fluid with ate super blue, and put in a set of c6z ducts up front. We'll see how that does, if the pads don't work out I'll be switching to carbotech xp8s next. However I'm not so fortunate to get out to an hpde more than 3 times or so a year plus I'm not fast like most of the guys who do it regularly...thus I think the c5z pads or at the most xp8s should hold me over to get my occassional track jollies.

That being said, it's really easy to change pads on this car...maybe worthwhile to get a dedicated track pad + rotor setup if you're running every month.

EvilBoffin

Quack -

Can you tell much of a feel or performance difference between C5Z pads and Z51's yet?

quacktheduck

Based on the pads alone, no, at least not on the street. I drove for about 3 days with the zo6 pads only (didn't have time on new year's eve to flush the fluid and all) and so far I can't tell. After doing the fluid change the feel is very much improved, but then I'm going from old dot 3 oem fluid to new dot 4 race fluid so it's a bit difficult to make a true apples to apples comparison.

I'll report back after my first day at the track...I had intended to do buttonwillow @ the end of January but the timing isn't looking favorable (I may be away on travel for work during that time). I will be at streets of willow early February and will see how it goes then. Wish me luck.

In all honesty, the z51 pads did quite well last year, only a tinge of fade but it was more a case of the fluid which let me down. Hopefully by having done both I'll be a ahead of the ball this time around.

ProgGod

He is actually running SRF so his fluid should be more then fine. So the HP+'s tend to fade? Whats the downside to running the carbotechs, the squeal?

Z06Fix

HP+'s work great for light track use. They are just not a decated race pad. They will dust and make more noise than the stock Z51 pads. Thats just something you are going to have to deal with on the performance pad. The more aggressive they are the worse this gets. My hawks (HP+'s) make less noise and dust less than my Carbotechs did. I have run every compound from carbotech besides the XP16's. They are a fantastic pad, but I needed something that lasted longer. So I have made the switch to Hawks. For autox use the HP+'s have been fantastic. With a little heat they have very good bite and I have yet to have them fade on me. I have run the HP+'s on track with street tires. That was about the limit of them. Once I went to R's I needed more pad. I was gaining experience and pushing the car more and more. At that point I tried the XP12's (carbotech) They had fantastic bite and allowed me to beat on the car hard all weekend on track. Only prob I had was I was out of pad after 2 days (8 30min sessions at CMP) Atleast they were past the point that I would go back out on track with them. I have since tried the AX6's, XP8's and XP10 offerings from carbotech. All of them preformed just as described by the company. My only issue is that I was chewing through them faster than I like and they are not the cheapest pad on the market.

I switched back over the Hawks for autox and have been extremely pleased. I have 5 events on them double driving the car and I can't visually tell they are worn at all. For track use in the future, I will be on either Hawk DTC70's or Wilwood H's.

Pads are also a personal preference type of mod. If you have the chance try several brands and compounds and see what works best for you.

ktoonsez

Is this what you are refering to:
Z06 front brake pads – 88952008 – 133.39
Z06 rear brake pads – 12530688 – 61.20

Also, which Hawks are you using.

0corvette pilot

I too use the HP+ pads for the track, but I have Z06 calipers. The first set squealed extremely loudly, but the 2nd set came with some caliper grease that I put on the backing plates, and they are really quiet on the street. I imagine carbotechs would also quiet up with some grease.

ktoonsez

After looking closed to the official Hawk website, the HPP+ doesn't come in a Z51, only standard and Z06. Don't know if the site is not up to date or it is truth

Do you feel that the HP+ pads give you good stoping power in road race?

ktoonsez

You got me a little confused, which pads do you use for daily use? Which ones do you use on a road course like me (the tracks I run are between 1.1 and 1.6 miles with an average of 12 turns)?

gkmccready

Standard C6, C5, C5Z... they're all the same pad. The C6 Z51 uses the same calipers as all the other C5/6 Corvettes outside of the C6Z.

I took to swapping the rotors and pads on my C6 Z51. I tried PFC 01s, and Wilwood H compound. The Wilwoods were much better IMO, and I swapped to using the cheap NAPA rotors and the C6 base/C5 caliper brackets. The part number on the caliper brackets (abutments) are 12455800 and 12455799. You'll need to order 2 of each to do front and rear, and they're about $33/ea through Gene Culley.

It's really worth swapping out the rotor+pads if you're planning to run hard...

EvilBoffin

Mr. McCready has it right, as usual - there are no Z51-specific aftermarket pads. The only reason there is an OEM Z51 pad from Chevy is the slightly more aggressive compound. Z51's have the exact same caliper & fitment as the standard/base car, so the same pad size, shape and FMSI industry number. Only the abutment/caliper mounting brackets and rotor sizes are different.

C6 Base & Z51 FMSI Numbers -
D731 front
D732 rear

All pad manufacturers reference the FMSI numbers for backing plate shape & other specs when designing their pads. Then they apply their different pad materials to that shape (HP Plus, DTC70, Wilwood H, Wilwood E, etc).

Sorry for the confusion. I use the Carbo XP8/AX6 combo for street and autocross only, because they really don't need much heat to work well - typical of a 'street' or near-street pad.

And just like Mr. McCready - I switch to Wilwood H's for track days on road courses. Once you get them into their target temp range (which is MUCH higher then street pads are designed for), they really work well. So there's far less chance for pad fade when you're driving hard and using R-compound tires (compared to street pads).

Hope that makes sense...

AU N EGL

Yes on the Z06 pads

Now some ppl like the Hawk HP+ or HPS pads, I found those to be OK, but went through a set each in a weekend.

ktoonsez

Thanks for all the great information guys.

So would it be ok to run XP10 on front and XP8 on rear full time, I.E. daily driver stuff being OK? I would like to not have to change the pads constantly, would I still be able to stop on the street? Other than throwing money away would there be any other draw-back to just run those all the time?

Z06Fix

XP10/8 combo works just fine on the street. Just remember it's going to take a couple hits to get the pads up to temp. They will stop "ok" cold but really need some heat to shine.

One nice thing about the carbo's is, the brake dust just washes right off

ProgGod

Sounds to me like they wear out way too fast