Not sure if I posted in the right section.

I'm looking to put some new pads and rotors on my 2002 6 speed C5 coupe. I'm looking to maximize the stock C5 brakes stopping power on the street. Not because I drive irresponsibly on the street, but for safety in case of a panic stop, and for overall better performance. Something with good cold bite, wide operating temperature range, resistant to fade, good pedal feel/modulation for heel toe-ing, and non corrosive brake dust. I have Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, so as of right now I have a lot more tire grip than braking force. I read that the C5 Z06 came with more aggressive pads than the coupe did. Not sure what brand. I'm assuming there's better pads out there now than what the Z06 came with over 15 years ago? I've read about operating temps and such and how it's better to have separate track and street pads, as there's no real compromise 'do it all' pad.

From what I've read on rotors, I should avoid drilled rotors, as they weaken the rotor and serve no real purpose. So I was going to go with either slotted or blank rotors. I don't care about bling or what looks cool, I'm interested in whatever is more efficient. I read slotted rotors can clean off/shave the pad clean but also wear the pad down faster? I guess its not really needed for a street car, maybe stick with blank rotors? I will say I hate the look of rusty rotor hats, if there are any with painted hats that won't rust I'd appreciate that. If not I could paint them myself I suppose. I was looking at Centric high carbon blank rotors, they aren't too expensive and seem to get good reviews.

I like to take my car through twisty roads and drive spiritedly. I'm not too worried about brake dust as I clean my car regularly. I'm looking for good stopping power on the street. I just am worried about the dust being corrosive and harming wheels/paint. I was looking at Hawk HPS 5.0 pads which seem to have good stopping power, but many people complained about the dust being corrosive and becoming hard like cement if the dust got wet like if it rained. I'd rather not go with ceramic pads. Sure they don't dust and last longer, but they sacrifice stopping power. I'd rather have good stopping power and dust, as long as the dust isn't corrosive as I said.

While I was at it, I figured some new brake fluid and stainless steel lines wouldn't hurt.

Any recommendations for my needs?

 

I put these on and I love them, you can feel a huge difference especially when you hit the brakes doing over 100

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Rear-...MAAOSwvOxdNceJ

 

Its always best to search for the cheapest pads and rotors, because that always insures the safety and quality necessary. having hard ceramic pads insures low dusting..... Hard pads are the Best , That's why we did not consider them in the C5 design.

 

did you read the post or just the heading?!? Lol.

 

Heed our resident engineer!!

 

For a high quality street pad Carbotech has 2 offerings I have listed the compound descriptions below. If interested or have questions I will be happy to help you out. Carbotech brake pads are 100% made in the USA and are 100% non-corrosive dust. As far as rotors look into the Centric premium blanks

Carbotech brake pads can be ordered online @ http://ampdautosport.com/brake-pads/corvette/ or call me at 216-780-8825. The part numbers you need are front CT731 and rear CT732 these are listed under C5 section. Use promo code z28 at check out to receive your forum discount.

The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known fo- 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. 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. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use.

The AX6™ is specifically engineered for Autocross applications. A high torque brake compound delivering reliable and consistent performance over a very wide operating temperature range of 50°F to 1000°F + (10°C to 537°C+). The advanced compound matrix provides an excellent initial bite, high coefficient of friction at lower temperatures along with very progressive brake modulation and release characteristics. Many drivers use the AX6™ for street driving as well, even though Carbotech™ doesn’t recommend street driving with AX6™ due to possible elevated levels of dust and noise. AX6™ is NOT recommended as a race compound in most applications.

 

I would second these but you seem to think drilled rotors break. I've not heard one case where these Bake Motive rotors have broke. I think nearly every rotor (except for the big $ ones) are made in China now (grrrr).
By the way, good choice on tires, l love my Super Sports

 

Used several sets of the Brake Motives and never had any issues or complaints!

 

It's not that drilled rotors break. That's mostly under track conditions that you would see that. I did a lot of homework on drilled, slotted, and blank rotors. People dislike drilled rotors because they decrease the mass of the rotors which means the rotor can heat up faster and cause brake fade sooner. Also the fact that yes, they do weaken the rotor and cause stress points. And I'm of the few that don't really like the look of drilled rotors, too much going on. Slotted rotors are fine.

Also, not to change subject, but yes the Super Sports are superb tires! Great in dry and wet. However, they are no longer made in the stock C5 sizes! Most tire companies are moving away from the smaller wheel options as all the new performance cars have larger rims...19",20" etc. I don't know what I will do once it comes time to new tires, everyone raves about the Super Sports being one of the best street tires available.

 

I've seen a lot of advertisement for Carbotech. They seem to be a bit more expensive. Bobcat vs AX6? Does anybody have any experience with either of these pads on their car? How does the AX6 work on the street? Are they too aggressive and eat up rotors? Stopping power when cold?

 

Ax6 and the 1521 are design to work from dead cold. The Ax6 is a lot more aggressive and will be on your rotors like its says they are designed for Auto X you will most likely be very happy with the 1521 for typical street use some people actually use the 1521 for Auto X as well with no issues. Yes, Carbotech is not the cheapest pad on the market but quality and performance does not come cheap especially in brake pads.




Adam Adelstein
Amp’D Autosport.com
Internet's largest retailer of Carbotech Performance Brake Pads.
PH:216-780-8825.
Email: sales@ampdautosport.com
Web Site & Direct ordering Home
All major CC and Pay Pal accepted.
Check out Promo code:z28

 

Simply not true:

The short answer is that high-performance vehicles often have what are aptly called drilled brake rotors, and the holes drilled through it help the car to slow down better. At first glance, that would seem like it can’t be true—after all, disc brakes work by friction, which goes up the more surface area is in contact.However, the holes help by mitigating two factors: heat and stuff getting between the rotor and pads.

All of that friction generates a ton of heat, and if the heat can’t escape, it degrades the rotor and could warp it. So the holes help it to dissipate somewhat.

As for stuff between the pads and the rotor, the holes act like the treads on your tires. So, if water splashes on the rotor and you hit the brakes, the water is more easily pushed out of the way, rather than getting trapped between the pad and the disc. Apparently the holes used to be there to also help disperse gas, as old pad materials would generate gases between the pad and rotor, but that is no longer an issue.

 

See that's what I always thought, but I've been spending a lot of time in the road racing/autocross section of the forum and other sites. Why do track drivers always discourage against drilled rotors? They always claim that the holes are stress points which can lead to cracks in the rotor (I've seen a lot of pictures of this), and that because there is less surface area/mass it's not as efficient as dissipating heat as a blank or slotted rotor. But then I've also read that Porsche or other high end OEM rotors are different from aftermarket. They're cast with the holes in the rotor as opposed to drilled afterwards, and this supposedly eliminates the stress cracking from your average cross drilled rotor? But again with the track guys, their argument is always look at racecars. Most of them use blank rotors, not drilled.

But then I've also always wondered why cars with high end carbon ceramic brakes like the Z06/ZR1, exotics, etc., all come with drilled rotors from the factory, not blank or slotted. Assuming you can't have both on the same rotor, drilled or slotted, is one more efficient than the other? I've read the slotted ones can shave off pad material with the point of reducing the chance of deposits on the rotors and keeping the pad surface smooth and clean. But I guess this also wears your pads down faster. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing for a street car. The stock rotor sizes on the C5 aren't all that large, especially the rears. Maybe brake size has something to also do with it?

I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just stating everything I've learned through my research on the internet and talking with track racers. Maybe there's something I'm missing or not understanding that you can clear up. I'm just here to learn.

Also where did you get that excerpt on drilled rotors?

 

www.brakemotive.com You can't go wrong.

 

you tell him to search for the cheapest to ensure safety and quality and then say hard pads are the best and that's why they weren't used on the c5 which infers it has inferior pads, wtf

 

Its called sarcasm
Ive already address his issue when he PM'ed me... ….

 

KNS a vendor here sells a setup that will get you slotted brakes with new calipers (6 puck front/4 puck back) and a two piece rotor that will fit under OE C5 Z06 wheels

 

In the early days of the C5 it was a very common car in the SSCA T1 road race circuit. The Kellermeyers, Heinracy, etc all used the solid brake rotor because they were considered an expendable item. It carried over to autocrossers and canyon runs. The quality of the rotors improved and slotted rotors became prevalent for that group. the reason they did not adapt the drilled rotors is they would check and occasionally crack at those spot. With heat from high speed stopping most rotors will develop checked surfaces. For very aggressive street driving/braking, today i would recommend the Carbotech AX6 pads for the low dust and some decent high carbon rotors. If you are an every day driver, drilled and slotted rotors are fine, ceramic pads are low dusting and easily cleaned. Myself, I put half of my 3000 miles/year autocrossing/HPDE/Time trials and run slotted rotors and very aggressive, high impact pads. At the end of the day, my wheels are black and if I do not clean them before the next event, it will start to etch the wheels so I wash and clean them every week.

 

After two sets of OEM rotors were replaced (under warranty by the dealer) to try to solve vibration under light braking, I gave up and looked for the "best" at the time. Went with Baer Eradispeeds and Hawk HPS pads. The rotors have been on now for about 50k miles/15 years or so and have been 100% trouble free. The Baers are not cheap but then good stuff never is.

 

Stop Tech slotted cryo-treated with Hawk "blue" HPS pads - but they are dusty....

https://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brak...0&autoModClar=

Cryo treat stops the wobbles - started using these on my SUV - solved the problem there - then put them on my C5