v8srfun

I was looking at the new duralast gt pads they are advised as a street/race pad and they have a lifetime warranty that even covers wear. Has anyone used these yet and if so what is your opinion on them.

Ducati Guy

No FHE with these pads for my C5. However I use the mid grade Duralast pads for my DD. Have been using them for 15+ years. Once you buy a set you never buy another. When they wear out just bring them back and get another set under the warranty. I cannot believe they do this. Some of my cars I keep for 150,000 miles. I buy one set of pads and all the other sets are free. I have gone through as many as 10 sets only paying for one.

darnold

I put these on a week ago and bedded them in. I really like them. They have very good initial bite and dust is surprisingly minimal. During the final stages of the bedding process I never detected even a hint of fade (I use DOT 5.1), and they are totally quiet.

For me it was the street/track performance billing that initially caught my eye as I need a pad for my upcoming HPDE's this summer (2-3). However, I was further intrigued by the claims of "low" wear.

The Autozone GT's appear to be on par with the Hawk HP+. Interestingly the Autozone GT's are a Carbon-Semi Metallic compound vs the HP+ being a Semi-Metallic/Carbon compound. The Hawk HPS are a step below these two pads.

The Autozone GT having a life-time warranty was the final draw for me. So far I love these pads. I'll know more at the end of this month when I do my first HPDE at the Joliet Autobahn.

dbgoodwin

Since when do the GT pads have a lifetime warranty? At least in our area it's only 1 year.

Glad you like them,thanks for the review. Haven't heard of anyone actually using them on a corvette yet, so this is good to hear.

dbgoodwin

the reason is because Autozone isn't supposed to replace pads that are simply worn out. The warranty is to defects, not to being used up. Virtually no one will actually enforce this though, as there isn't any benefit and a call to corporate will get the customer new pads anyway.

v8srfun

I was a manager for Autozone in the past and the warranty is also for wear. Gt pads were released with 1 year warranty but sales were low so they changed it to lifetime

Millennium FRC

So how do these actually compare to something like the Hawk HP+ pads? Has anyone used both?

redzg

Really tired of my Hawk rear pad's squealing, so might try a direct comparison very soon.

Stephen Meredith

The corvette museum partnered with Autozone on these pads. I work in the commercial department of the Autozone by the museum. These are the pads used in their track cars at the NCM Motorsport park. They also run the EBC V-slotted rotors. I've got a set sitting in the garage with my new power stop rotors waiting to go on soon.

They are lifetime warranty (everytime they wear down just take em in & swap em out for a new set for free) & they are $101.99 for the fronts for our C5's. Part number is GT731

Millennium FRC

They had a 20% off coupon so I just ordered a set online. $160 shipped to my door. If these are comparable to HP+ pads or even the HPS pads this is a deal. I'll find out soon enough.

Millennium FRC

For 160 bucks, I can't complain. I'm able to lock 'em up and kick in the ABS easily now so this is obviously an improvement over the random semi-metallic (probably cheappies) pads that were on the car when I bought it.

Noise and dust doesn't bother me even slightly but for those of you that care, you're in luck. These rarely make any noise and don't dust that bad. Occasional squeals but not much.

XtremeVette

I just put a set on my fronts...where did you get a proper bed in procedure for these pads? The people at autozone don't have a clue. Being these claim to be "carbon fiber" I was wondering what the bed in process is for these.

darnold

Sorry for getting back to you so late as I just saw this (I forgot to turn on notifications). If I remember correctly I reviewed one from the forum here, and also reviewed one that I think I saw on TireRack under one of the brake manufacturer's recommendations. It involves roughly about 5-10 stops that get progressively shorter from low to higher speeds if I remember correctly. I had a very bad sport injury last year and almost lost my leg. I couldn't even drive until fall of last year, and after some early encouraging signs of recovery, the leg took a nose dive. I now walk with a permanent limp, so I never got a chance to HPDE the car and really see what these babies would do on the track. I can still drive but I can't press down firmly on the brakes; with that said I am still able to drive my Vette and I do plan to get on the track this summer and take things casually. I still think these GT pads are great and I think you will like them in an AutoX and HPDE environment (if you haven't had them out there yet).

another-user

nice to see this thread still alive-ish.

i just went to order a set for my car and apparently these are discontinued now? anyone know whats going on with them?

i put fronts on last year and really liked them, so i was going to put the rears on this year too.

MetalMan2

I looked them up "for fun", and they appear available/in-stock. $45 for the fronts seems like a good price if they're halfway-decent pads. Rears are also $45. Might just need to find another $30 of items I "need" to bring my shopping cart up to $120 to save 20%.

another-user

the ones for my 69 are gone. i got this email from autozone today -

"Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Allow us to inform you that part #GT8 is currently out of stock and there is no production date. Unfortunately, the item cannot be ordered. We apologize for any inconvenience.
If you need any further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you for your business"

i also contacted the NCM to see if they had any stock, and according to them they never partnered with autozone for these.

*just for the heck of it, i tried to order the pads for my truck. figures... they have front and rear GTs available for that.

MetalMan2

Turns the front pads [$45 currently] (GT731) don't qualify for most (if not all) of Autozone's coupon codes for whatever reason. Customer service just told me that it's on an "exclusion list", although that list is wholly unavailable to customers.
Interestingly the rear pads [$45 currently] (GT732) DO qualify for their coupon codes. So at least right now I can use a $7 off $30.

Still contemplating buying these pads because it would only cost $90 for front & rear before any coupons...

darnold

I would give them a try. I think you will like them.

MetalMan2

Yep, I bought them just an hour after I posted! They're currently sitting on my parts shelf along with a brand-new set of AC Delco rotors (paid only $83 for all 4...), Goodridge SS braided brake lines, and fluid. All-in this brake overhaul is only running me $271.

MetalMan2

Got these pads installed over the weekend, bedded them in last night, and drove to/from work on them today.

Initial impressions are a fair bit less initial bite than the prior pads, but better modulation. This is a good trade-off for a Z06 that's daily driven, IMO. Not sure what the previous pads were, but I'm looking forward to [hopefully] less dusting!

I assume their characteristics will continue to change as they further wear in, so will try to remember to report back after a few weeks.