[Z06] ? about C5 brakes.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,907
Likes: 207
From: Kern County CA
? about C5 brakes.
I've read that the Z06 (and thus all C5) brakes are awesome INITIALLY, but fade SOONER than some other competitors. I don't remember the competitor cars, but specifically remember Porsche as one of them. It's common knowledge that Porsche brakes last forever, relatively speaking of course. What's the difference between C5 brakes (rotor & pads) vs. those on the Boxter S or on the 911? Is it pad material, caliper design, or rotor composition? Or all of the above?
Thanks,
Thanks,
Race Director
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 12,712
Likes: 2,271
Re: ? about C5 brakes. (Rapid Transit)
Consider this. All my cars had overly sensitive brakes when new. Once I took them out for a day of hot lapping and scored the rotors they became much more progressive on initial heavy application, and never showed any signficant fade.
I recently drove a new BMW M3. The steering was too light and the brakes were too sensitive. I told the owner he needed to take it to the track and score the rotors. Haven't driven a late model Porsche, but the press fleet 2000 C5 Coupe and '01 Z06 I had for a few days had nicely scored rotors from track flogging ,and the brakes did not feel overly boosted or overly sensitive.
On a car like the Z06 you have to be careful about brake pad selection. The OEM pads are a compromise between wear, noise, and temperature/Cf characteristics for the "average" driver. When GM introduced the new '01 Z06 to the press at Mid Ohio they admitted it did not have the production pads because they knew the cars were going to be flogged on the track by the press all day.
Based on some criticism of the '01 Z06 production pads, the '02 has pads that are more effective for race track work.
Bottom line is that you have to select pads based on the type of service the car will see. Most modern cars have sufficient rotor mass and caliper hardware to handle almost anything, but for race track work, not all OEM pads are ideal.
Look at the companion thread titled "Are 2002 Z06 pads any better" for more comments from the group, and be careful about drawing generalization from one source.
Duke
[Modified by SWCDuke, 11:30 PM 5/13/2002]
I recently drove a new BMW M3. The steering was too light and the brakes were too sensitive. I told the owner he needed to take it to the track and score the rotors. Haven't driven a late model Porsche, but the press fleet 2000 C5 Coupe and '01 Z06 I had for a few days had nicely scored rotors from track flogging ,and the brakes did not feel overly boosted or overly sensitive.
On a car like the Z06 you have to be careful about brake pad selection. The OEM pads are a compromise between wear, noise, and temperature/Cf characteristics for the "average" driver. When GM introduced the new '01 Z06 to the press at Mid Ohio they admitted it did not have the production pads because they knew the cars were going to be flogged on the track by the press all day.
Based on some criticism of the '01 Z06 production pads, the '02 has pads that are more effective for race track work.
Bottom line is that you have to select pads based on the type of service the car will see. Most modern cars have sufficient rotor mass and caliper hardware to handle almost anything, but for race track work, not all OEM pads are ideal.
Look at the companion thread titled "Are 2002 Z06 pads any better" for more comments from the group, and be careful about drawing generalization from one source.
Duke
[Modified by SWCDuke, 11:30 PM 5/13/2002]
