I'm thinking about purchasing after market brake pads like Hawk, DVA or EVC. I've read that they can increase my braking power by 40% better then stock. I have a 2004 C5 and would like to know if anyone has tried these and if so with what result? I appreciate the help we had with our last inquiry regarding Michelins. What an inprovement!
We lovve our Corvette and love learning more about her. any thoughts are appreciated

 

It's a give/take thing. We all want great stopping power, minimal dust, long pad life, quiet braking and at a low price. Unfortunately, you can't really get all of those things in one pad. Which components are most important to you? Do you plan to track the car? If so, what kind of racing?

 

What are you doing with the car just street or street and track? Carbotech Performance Brakes are the way to go

Carbotech brakes give you:

Assured stopping power
Increased overall performance and handling
Excellent modulation and release characteristics
Better control entering the corners
Longer brake pad and rotor life—up to 3 times longer than the competition!
Non-corrosive dust

Carbotech Performance Brakes™, the world leader in Ceramic friction materials™. It was over eight years ago that Carbotech started building brake pads out of Ceramic, Kevlar, and Carbon for street, autocross and racing applications. Carbotech is the only brake pad manufacturer in the world with a complete line of Ceramic compounds for street, autocross, and track use. Carbotech-Ceramic™ compounds are known for their unsurpassed release & modulation, while maintaining very consistent torque control characteristics. Carbotech brake pads are extremely rotor friendly and contain 100% non-corrosive brake dust, that’s something that has been unmatched by any other brake pad in the industry.

Our competitor’s brake pads perform like an “on/off” switch. Brake pads that perform like an "on/off" switch are upsetting the balance of the car by violently throwing all that weight forward (not to mention that you don't get any modulation with an "on/off" type of brake pad). You don't realize how much it upsets your car until you have tried Carbotech Performance Brake pads. Carbotech has almost a seven year head start on the competition when it comes to our great philosophy on release & modulation, rotor friendliness, non-corrosive dust, and an unmatched consistent bite.

Carbotech uses advanced friction technology to perfect all of our compounds for the street & track. Research & Development (R&D) is not just a company philosophy; it’s a way of life for Carbotech. In fact, R&D at Carbotech is a 365 days a year job. Continuous improvement is a cornerstone in Carbotech’s solid reputation it has built, because great compounds are not engineered overnight.

We strive in constantly improving our existing compounds as new technologies and materials come to market. In fact, the Bobcat 1521™ compound is arguably our most successful compound, and it continues to gain enormous popularity among the performance industry. But, we didn’t rest on its success. We have just improved the Bobcat 1521™ compound to be even quieter and smoother when applying and releasing the brake pedal while keeping its outstanding performance right on target.

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.

 

I STRONGLY recommend HAWK HPS pads, they stop better than ZO6 pads and dust less than stock (coupe/convertible) pads. I have had Stock GM pads (dust badly), and GM Ceramic pads (little or no dust but stop lousy) . My HAWK HPS pads are GREAT !

 

I am extremely pleased with Hawk HPS pads. Also changed to EBC Ultimax slotted rotors. I had ceramics and AC Delco drilled slotted rotors and I find that now my wheels are cleaner and the brakes are vastly better than before. Also got rid of a very annoying brake pulsation.

 

I ran a set of Hawk HPS pads on my '00 and liked them a lot. Low dust was a plus. Couldn't say whether they really improved the stopping distance - I never tested it.

 

This is like saying an aftermarket intake filter system can improve acceleration by 40%. I'm sorry, but this will never happen with an intake filter or a simple brake pad swap.

The OEM pads are exceptional in that they don't fade, dust, or wear quickly. Article after article about the C5 has included remarks about how good the OEM pads are.

Are they the best in the world? No, but they are excellent pads that are often underestimated.

 

I use Raybestos Quiet Stops and have been really happy with them.

 

I ran the Hawk HPS pads and they stopped me fine at the Texas Mile at 180 MPH with a 1/2 mile shut down

 

FWIW, I didn't like how much my Hawk HPS pads dusted and they also were noisy when coming to a stop. I have a set with 50% life on the front and 80%+ life on rear I'll sell cheap.