I'm getting tired of getting pulled through the lights when I try to get "up on the converter" at the line. I’m beginning to suspect my Auto Zone lifetime warranty pads. Does anyone have a suggestions for pads with better grippage, i.e .higher cooeficient of friction to be more technical?

 

Get some Hawk pads.Call Van Steel and talk to Paul.I have them on my 73 and they work real well.Charlie

 

 

Has anyone ever tried Bendix CQ ceramic pads? I ordered these from Summit Racing this week, $26.95 per axle set, rivited not bonded. I am going to try them out. I have a hard time paying high prices for brake pads just because they have a cool sounding name. Maybe the more expensive pads are better, but I will try the Bendix Ceramic and let you guys know how they perform on a street car.

 

Carbotech Performance brakes Take a look and let me know if i can help you. I would look at the bobcat 1521 first.

http://www.ctbrakes.com/

Carbotech™ Bobcat 1521™
The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known for its awesome release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. Like our AX™ & XP™ line of compounds, Bobcat 1521™ is a Ceramic based friction material offering minimal rotor damage and non corrosive dust. Bobcat 1521™ offers outstanding performance, even when cold, low dusting and low noise with an excellent initial bite. This compound’s virtually perfect linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Bobcat 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 900°F. Bobcat 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle, police cruiser, and has won multiple SCCA Solo 2 and Prosolo National Championships. The Bobcat 1521™ compound has been found to last two-three times longer than OE pads you can purchase at a dealership or national retailer. Bobcat 1521™ compound has also been found to extend the life of your rotors 2-3 times. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use.

 

The Carbotech™ Bobcat 1521™ sounds like they may work well. To confirm, since I'm just pulling to the line and launching, I need a pad that will hold well when cold. Alrighty?

 

I have my Hawk pads for 2 years now (about 10K miles) and they still stop good with no squeels or dust.

 

Hawk makes a lot of pads. HPS, HP+, Hawk Blue, etc. I am not sure which the others are using.

Since you did not mention how you drive, I will assume mostly street. IMHO, HP+ is a great pad, that was my first choice after trying others.
Its a great occasional track pad and a fantastic street pad. You will be spoiled by this pad. Just make sure you clean the wheels often especially after they get wet (your car see rain?).

I'm no longer a fan of the Hawk Blue because this pad as been somewhat dummed down in the 9012 compound version and is only rated to 900 degrees. It may actually be a street pad now but as good as the HP+ is, I would try that first. All Hawk track pads are Carbon. They just started making a Ceramic pad for street cars with expensive wheels but I would personally pass on Ceramic.

one more note:

Big advantage to Hawk pads is the friction material is both Bonded and Interlocked to the backing plate just like an OEM pad. Not all racing pads do this. It gives you both an extra margin of safety as well as added pad life as you can run the pad thinner (4mm - 5mm) before replacing. I've run these (not on purpose) to the nth degree of backing plate w/o any material separation. For anyone reading this that do Time Trials (NOT applicable to Clint's C3) you can buy a pack of temp strips and put two on each caliper (front and back side). Also make sure the backing plates are removed and get some 3" air ducting pointed to the back center of the rotor. No pad will live w/o ducting on a track. You don't need this on the street but when you get this think on the track it is critical.

I do not have experience with Carbotech on my Corvette. A friend of mine Time Trials an R32 (also street driven). He called Hawk and they said they wouldn't cut a set of HP+ for an R32 simply because the car is too heavy for that pad for street/track use. They recommended HPS for daily use, and Hawk Blue's for track day. Then Hawk said that on track day you have to put the Blue's on and take them off at the track because if you drive them on the street under temperature "they will crumble." That doesn't work for him.

After explaining his requirements, Carbotech recommended the XP8 because it is a better street pad than the XP10, and the XP8 is good enough for 1-2 events a year with an R32, and is plenty good for one event at Lime Rock. One event a year at VIR is fine too but not more than that. The Carbotech rep said that the XP8 can handle the R32's weight and performance as long as I stick with 1-2 events a year at LR and/or VIR. Hopefully the XP8's will be a replay of the successful HP+ on my two GTI VR6s. The Carbotech rep said that there will be a lot of dust and noise but it is not better with the HP+. He also recommended "turning" the rotors to optimize pad life.

Bottom line: Are the Carbotechs are worth the money? I have not tried them. I have Hawk HP + in my car.

 

When you get to the lights in preparation for launch, do you pump your brake pedal 2~3 times? or simply apply one press on the pedal?
You might NOT be applying sufficient brake pressure due to some air in the line.

Try pumping the pedal with 2 or 3 heavy presses and see if that helps.

 

You need to build up some heat in the pads before you pull up to the line! Any performance pad has a crappy cold bite but they don't fade after they get hot. I have heard good things about hawk, find the pads that have a good bite and have a lot of brake dust

 

Ceramics are not very good especially cold. Ceramic brakes need alot of heat to work well. Unless you are racing they will never get enough heat. The only good aspect for them is that they will not dust. A good semimetallic pad is the best option. I have the hawk HP+ on my 73 autocross car and the HPS on my 76 cruiser. Both work well when cold or hot. The HP+ do have more of a bite. At the autocrosses, they work great the first run of the day and the last run of the day.

 

Thanks for all the good advice.

Yes, this is exactly what I do except it's more like 5 or more pumps. I installed set of Wagoner semi metallic pads and there was no noticeable difference. I ordered a set of rotors from Zip Corvette and I have high hopes the combination of new pads and rotors will do the trick.

I'm racing on Sunday, weather permitting, and I will provide the results.

 

What about hydroboost. That should give you some serious grip, regardless of the pad.

Hydroboost and a line lock set-up?

 

New rotors and pads need to bed themselves in to maximise contact area and braking effectiveness. Don't go straight to the track without bedding the brakes in!!!

After installing new pads and especially new rotors, the first few applications of the brake pedal will result in almost no braking power. Gently apply the brakes a few times at low speed in order to build up some grip before blasting down the road at high speed. Otherwise, you may be in for a nasty surprise the first time you hit the brakes at 60 mph..... or at 100+mph at the drag strip!

To bed in new braking system, you need to do quite a few 60mph down to 10mph stops to get some heat into the rotors, and allow the pads to bed in.
Start off with a couple of gentle pressure stops to get some heat into the rotors.
Then do 8~10 harder stops... No lockups! From 60mph down to 10mph, without stopping... accelerate up again and repeat the process.

Then drive around for at least 5 minutes ideally without applying the brakes to allow them to cool. You may have to repeat the process if you are using a hard compound. Some racing pads require even higher temps, so braking from a higher speed might be required.
I'm sure there should be instructions with te pads and rotors.

Find an appropriate road to do this... ideally with no traffic around.
Bit hard for other motorists to understand what you're doing .....
might think you're a crazy hoon

 

Hawk