Birdman

I'm considering getting either a set of XP12/XP10 or XP10/XP8 pads for my DD C5Z. I plan on doing at least a track weekend every other month, as well as welcoming any additional daily braking upgrade.

I talked with a guy the other day at a Charleston, SC Cars N Coffee event who had a C5Z with XP12/XP10s and he said they don't make any noise, which I find hard to believe given the compound and how aggressive it is, but since he swore by it, I want to get some other opinions before getting some to put on mine.

Are the 12/10 louder than 10/8? He said they bit just fine cold, didn't make any noise that he could tell, etc. I don't mind the dusting.

Scooter70

The first rule of track pads is: There's no such thing as a dual-purpose pad. Run track pads at the track and street pads on the street. The temperature ranges are so different that neither pad will work well outside of its intended range. Street pads disintegrate at track temps and track pads just don't work at street temps. Swapping pads on a C5 takes less than 20 minutes, including lifting the car in the air. Do yourself a favor and swap pads before each event.

Birdman

Ok, thanks.

Birdman

Carbotech Adam, a supporting vendor said the following when I asked him a few days ago:

jwbert

I just ran a set of XP10's and XP8's on a road trip of 1200 miles
and a fair amount of around town inbetween and they were loud,
squeeling like a stuck pig. I was ready to shoot myself by the time
I got back. Could not keep enough heat in them to quiet them. I've run a number of track days on them and they are quiet and work great on the track, for that matter they worked fine on the street too, just very noisy.

Birdman

Awesome, thanks for the feedback! Now I wonder why the other guy had different results?

Regardless I've decided that it will be simple enough to swap them at the track.

Do you have any experience with that? Particularly with being able to use the same rotor for different pads?

DarkMastyr

I've done both 10/8 and 12/10. In either case, two words:

"dump truck"

but damn they stop nice, even on the street. Although mysteriously I had one set of 10/8's that were very quiet for some unknown reason.

hungryhippo

I'm on my first set of xp10/8 for the track, but it sees street duty as well. Mine squealed a little bit, it iis tolerable to me. I'm thinking about using that set up full time once my stock pads wear out.

stevensa

Mine are crazy loud on the street, quiet on the track. They will also turn your wheels black in about 10 miles of city driving. This is with XP10/8.

JiminVirginia

Crazy that we all get different results: my XP10/8 set up is really quiet.

I suspect that if you use your car mainly for competitive events where you're using the brakes hard, they'll remain pretty quiet. That's what I do.

If you use your car mainly as a DD, they'll get louder. Gentle use under cold conditions scrapes pad material off the rotors.--my theory.

Jim

Aardwolf

I have kept a variety of track pads on for driving to the track for quite some time. They used to be pretty poor in stopping for the first mile or two in the past. These days they work fine even in the winter.

I have found that if you go deep and stop firmly they won't squeal. If you have to drag the brakes creeping up to a stop light or something, then the sequel is bad. YMMV

PA Z06

I think there is some misconception on what makes carbo's squeal. I will do my best to explain. If you run them on the race track the reason why they dont squeak is because the layer of brake compound on the rotor from the pads. When you get them on the street and everything is cold the brake pads act as as lathe and take all the brake pad off the rotor and they start to squeal. I will try and find a great video I watched about this.
Bottom line it depends how much track vs street that you drive, I have been running xp10-xp8 for a couple years and they dont make much noise at all if I throw in a track day a month. I think it depends more on how much street driving you do, and what your willing to put up with.
I couldent find the video but here is a good read
http://www.essexparts.com/learning-c...ose-brake-pads

waddisme

I have had some that were quiet and some that were loud but they both had 1 thing in common - DUST! After 10 miles, wheels will look like a Mercedes wheel. They are quick and easy to change out. Besides, they are a bit more expensive than street pads, so why would you want to wear them out on the street.

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

All carbotech compounds are compatiable so you can use the 1521 for the street and switch to XP series for the track using the same rotor no re- beding or anything just put them on and go.

jaa1992

On my 92 when I was daily driving it I ran xp10/8 combo.
It had to be really cold out for them to squeal.

I'm waiting for them to start making pad shapes for my new Camaro - the stock pads are uninspireing

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

We have them what can I help you with? PM me

blkbrd69

School bus comes to mind.

They do sound like a dumptruck or school bus on the street.

Race pads for track and street pads for street. I like XP10-8 combo

By the way they dust really bad also but not the nasty stuff like hawk, as do the bobcats dispite what some will say.

StKnoWhere

It only takes 15-20 to swap the pads plus you should really bleed the fluid after a track event.

As others have said, the race pads stop fine on the street but can make more noise and dust. Your rotors should be almost grey after a track event if the pads are properly bedded. Noise increases as you wear the transfer layer off the rotor driving under normal street conditions.

jaa1992

WOOOHOOO They are on the list now!!!!
I'll be calling later this week!

JeremyGSU

I believe this used to be true with older race compounds but much advancement has been made and I don't believe this to be true anymore. Even pad vendors are saying you can run race pads on the street these days. Since I bought my car in October I've run nothing but race pads and R-comps every where I go. 3,500 miles later and 6 track days I've had no issues.

I've ran XP12's / XP10's for my first 3 events and 3,000 street miles. I never had ANY issue with stopping when cold and they held up well at the track running in the Advanced group with chin. In fact, I felt they had more cold bite than the stock pads. However, I will say that they squealed like crazy under light stopping. If you applied more pressure they wouldn't squeal. This was using anti-squeal too.

The last 3 events and 500 street miles I've been running RP2s/XP10's and they worked fine too. I just found those to be more rotor aggresive, especially when cold but didn't find them to squeal as much around town. BUT they still stopped when pressed and stopped fast. I have them on the car now. Even cold they stop WAY better than my '12 Fusion on stock pads.

Pretty impressive advancements IMO. Now if you're running a SUPER aggressive race pad then I couldn't tell you how those would work but for what I'm running they work fine.