gve

A few months back I posted a test for brake dust by installing Powerstop Z26 pads on one side of my car and Carbotech 1521 pads on the otherside.
Since then I have put on 2500 miles and have had requests to also do a test on rotor wear for each brand since they will both be exposed to identical braking conditions.

So here are the test results after the 2500 miles.
I measured the thickness of each rotor they were almost identical.
I measured the thickness of the new pads and the thickness of the pads after the 2500 miles. The Powerstop Z26 pads were .005 thousands less then the new pads and the Carbotech 1521 pads were .007 thousands less then the new pads.
I took my fingernail and scratch the face of the rotor from the inner face to the outer edge. The rotor with the Carbotech pads was course and I could feel the scratches with the end of my fingernail in the rotor. The rotor with the Powerstop Z26 was smoother and I could even see some scratches yet from the sandpaper that I used 2500 miles ago.
Based on the convincing evidence from the dust test, less pad usage and probably less rotor wear with the smoother surface I removed the Carbotechs from that test side and installed the Powerstop Z26 pads.
I spent a lot of money and time doing these tests but I feel the results gives everyone the information they need to make a informed decision.
I was actually hoping the Carbotech 1521 pads would have performed better so I could justify expensive price of these street pads but as you can see they didn't.


Carbotech 1521




Powerstop Z26




Carbotech 1521- You can see the scratches




Powerstop Z26- See some of the sanding scratches still visible in the lower right after 2500 miles.

Joy c7

Thanks for the update, we have 800 miles on our Powerstops , Very happy so far ,I bet Adam Doesn't like this!

gve

I was hoping the Carbotech would have performed significantly better then the Powerstop to justify the much higher price but that was not the case.

DevilDog II

I've got about 400 miles on my Powerstop pads and love 'em. The difference is like night and day between the OEM pads. Thank you for taking the time to do all of this.

WV Vette

I went to the Powerstop site and looked at the supplier list and checked most of them and nobody has the fronts and only a few have the rears. Any suggestions

Joy c7

Wait, There has been a run on them

tail_lights

Great news OP!

WV, I'm having trouble finding them as well, and getting conflicting info on part numbers. I am really wanting the Z23 series but will 'settle' for the 26s. So from what I am told the fronts are 1405s but the rears are??

Joy c7

Wait and get the Z26s Rear# Z26-1718.

tail_lights

It's a bit confusing (to me) because when you add the rears to the order it seems to just say fits base Stingray, not Z06 specific, so that had me all

jaymedic44

I ordered fronts and rears for my c7 z06 from Anything Auto on Wednesday and they were delivered today.

B-Myster

Thanks for taking the time and spending the money on this real world, unbiased test.

I've had my Z26's installed for a couple of months now and the reduction of dust alone was worth the $120. I feel even better about them after your testing.

joeybsyc

Thanks for doing this! I have about 1200 miles on mine now, and find that my black car gets dirty faster than my black wheels do. Totally incredible how well the PowerStop Z26's work.

markmott

They have been on back order because of the recent popularity, but Powerstop is now shipping as of 7/28. I have 2 sets due to be delivered Monday from 2 different vendors JEGS and Summit.

Kracka

Don't forget about www.RockAuto.com either, they're quick to ship and generally have the cheapest prices around for things like this. A quick Google search will always yield a 5% discount code too.