TFavor

Hey all,

2006 C6 Z06 - 30k miles

Thinking about attending a track event in a few months and had a question in regards to the brakes. All brakes/rotors on my car have 30k miles and brake fluid has never been flushed. Car is driven on the street in stop and go traffic and cruising. If I decide to attend this event I’m going to do a good brake flush and replace all fluids (transmission/diff/oil/coolant).

My front rotors have slight "grooving" in them and brake pads I would guesstimate to have 40-50% life. Rears seem to be fine approx. 75% life and rotors have no signs of wear.

Do I need to replace the pads or rotors AND pads before the HPDE? On the write-ups I have seen on brake replacement I can’t find whether brake rotors have to be replaced with pads

It seems it is a negligible amount of money to buy new OEM pads/rotors or to upgrade to Hawk pads and either stoptech or DBA rotors (about $700 for materials).

What brake pads would be suited for me to drive on the street and HPDE (MSR Houston). I don't want to have two separate sets of pads and don't want to experience excessive squeaking while driving on the street. I understand "noisy" pads stop cars, but I want to reiterate that I would prefer the pads be street-able AND still not experience brake fade.

As I stated above this would be my first HPDE event and I would look to do an event 1-3 times a year. Your input is appreciated, thanks.

Travis from Houston

TheKomoman

For a first time out I wouldn't go whole hog on hardware replacement, I'd just use up the factory parts first. As a beginner 50% of pad is plenty for a day, probably more though you just have to keep an eye on it. A bleed using DOT4 fluid (I use ATE) I would consider to be essential. Brakes are EVERYTHING. Engine oil isn't a terrible idea to replace, but I wouldn't go to the extremes of trans fluid or coolant as at 30k both of those fluids have plenty of life left. Checking to make sure both are at the correct levels however would be advisable.

Use up the stock parts as you're learning, then upgrade to better stuff (DBA 4000's and some better pads are a great start). And enjoy the heck out of it!

TFavor

I am coming up for an oil change so it is due anyways. I would hate to run the car hard for an event on "old" oil. The car is essentially 7 years old.

Is it not a good idea to change diff/tranny/coolant? Seems like good insurance and over due for how old my car is. The parts are less than $200 to do all three.

The track event if I attend is 2 days, 5 sessions a day at 25 minutes each. Thats almost 4 hours of hard driving. I would like to install new pads so that I don't have to do it after say day 1, or between sessions.

Would you recommend a pad you have used that will work well for HPDE?

Do the stock pads perform fine? The cost variance between stock parts and the Hawk pads is not enough for me to not get them if they need replacing anyways. If not what Hawk pads are good for street and HPDE without excessive noise while driving the street?

Being I have grooves in my rotors, do they need to be replaced when I replace my brake pads or is there a measurement to go by?

Thanks for your previous and future input.

Travis

95jersey

Neglible amount of money to replace all the rotors and pads? I need to find out what you do for a living, are you hiring?

You are easily looking at $1000.

Listen if this is your first event, just flush the brake fluid and put in high temp fluid like Motul. You don't need anything else for a while. You won't be getting the pads and rotors hot enough to warrant anything more than stock right now. I always said the type of pad you should run, should be more dependant on the tires you run and skill level, right now you are not there. I have been doing this for 12 years, trust me.

Also, NO track pad is quiet or low dust...does NOT exist. It is like the fountain of youth, it is out there somewhere, but no company/engineer has been able to discover it yet.

Regarding the other fluid changes, it is always a good idea to keep fresh fluid, but honestly if you are within the manufacturer specs (I don't have a manual on me), I would not change anything right now, just make sure everything is topped off. Once you start doing more than 3 per year, it is time to think about more aggressive fluid changes.

Just go have fun and don't worry about any of this right now, focus on being mentally and physically prepared and leave any attitude at the entrance gate of the track.

AzDave47

I am an experienced racer and the first two days on the track using the Z06 I went through about 1/3 of the stock front pads, so you should be fine with your pads. The rotors sound like they should be good for your first days at least.

I did the fluid changes in the tranny/dif at 15K miles (bought Z used at 8500) before I did a track event. In the past I have used ATE brake fluid in all my tracked street cars and that should be fine using the factory pads. If you go to aftermarket track pads, consider moving up to Motul 600. There is a very expensive Castrol high temp brake fluid, but I think the Motul should work as long as it is changed regularly before track days.

The Z has a lot of capability. Be patient with the throttle coming out of corners and you will have a big smile on your face.

TFavor

Thanks for the positive input guys. I will crack open everything to double check the appropriate levels and change the oil. I planned on changing the brake fluid with Currently sitting on NT05's all around (not the drag radials) as I knew when I replace the run-craps I might be doing an HPDE event in the future and wanted a bit better grip for street rips.

I still haven't gotten a response to my question about whether or not you had to replace the Z06 rotors with every pad change or if there is a thickness measurement to go by when replacing. Any input on this would be great.

Also, as far as the cost for the brake replacement is concerened, I used parts taxi for reference:

4 - OEM Z06 rotors w/ shipping - $368
1 - OEM front pads - $250.
1 - OEM rear pads - $250

Stock pads and rotors were going to run around $868 (I'm sure I could find for less than Parts Taxi) and upgrades cost the same price or less (see link below).

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-p...-packages.html

Another vendor had the same package, but with DBA 4000 series rotors for about $750-800.

I wasn't trying to say I have a lot of money or wanted to spend a lot of money on brakes. Rather I know how important they are for an event like this (to go fast and be safe) and I was trying to have as good a time in my first event as I am able without having to worry about anything (i.e. pads being toast after first day and not being able to find replacement pads that night).

Thanks again for your input, look forward to reading more.

Travis

AzDave47

Brake rotors do not have to be replaced with every pad change. You will want to follow the brake pad bedding process on the pads and when you get new rotors you will want to follow the burnishing process provided with the rotors.

When I went aftermarket track pads, I went with Carbotech as their street Bobcat pad compound is compatible with their various tract pad compounds so you don't need to "clean" the rotors going from street pad to track pad and back.

You will not likely find a single pad that will work on the street and road racing circuits. Once we start swapping pads, we generally go to a single pad setup rather than use the padlet stock setup. The stock padlets can be changed by undoing the allen/torks bolts. The single pad change just requires undoing the two caliper mounting bolts and changing the pads from within.

You can probably use the stock rear rotors for many track events. The fronts do 70% of the work and are the ones that really see the heat.

95jersey

Other people will chime in, but in this section of the forum, we run our rotors until they crack all the way through. This will happen on the track lONG before they get worn down. I never replace rotors with pad changes unless I find them cracked all the way through as above. Save your money, because once you get hooked on the HPDE bug, that $868 won't buy you a candy bar in the grand scheme of things. At one point, I am sure I got the the point of spending $3k per event (entry fee, tow gas, hotel, fluid consumables, tires, pads, replace broken parts, spares, performance parts...). BTW, I may sound condescending, but I am not, just being humerous. In looking back I could have probably EASILY sent my kid through 4 years of college...ugh

TFavor

It's like the saying goes "you have to pay to play".

Thanks guys I look forward to being able to try to push this car and learn in ways I never have.

Travis

seebobgo

Throw some Hawk HPS on your old rotors. Oh, and fresh brake fluid 3 or 4 DOT. Take a good tire gauge so you can bleed down the pressure when hot.
Have fun and be safe.

AzDave47

If you want Hawk HPS, I have a new set of single front pads that I'll sell for $100 plus shipping.

TheKomoman

You're gonna have a blast Travis. Just try to absorb everything the instructors tell you, go nice and easy and let the speed build, it will come. You'll have PLENTY of time spend craptons on parts if you keep at it.

Btw, THIS is when you know it's time for a new rotor.