I have the Performance Friction z-rated pads on my 01 zo6. Every time I drive my dads bone stock 04 coupe, I regret changing them. The initial bite from the stockers is way way different, and it 'feels' like its a much superior pad. The only thing I'm not sure of is the dusting characteristics...do they dust a lot worse than the ceramics? I think I'm going to change to a stock pad.

 

PFC-Z pads have some ceramic material in them but really are not like the GM ceramic pads.

The stock pads will have much more initial better bite or grip then ceramics and or PFC-Z and more dust too. True ceramics will have less initial bite, less dust and take a bit longer to stop your car. 5% longer in most cases.

The PFC-Z is a good compramise between Stock GM pads and true ceramic pads.

I have driven many many different type of brake pads both on the street and on the track. for street use I will stick to the stock GM pads or for a bit more bite the C5 ZO6 pads.

 

You will find that although ceramiic brake pads tend to dust less, they DO NOT grab with the same effective bite that the stock C5/C5Z06 pads do. Moreover, I have found that the ceramic pads leave a subtle, but definite shaded film deposit along the firepath (contact path) on affected rotors, Zinc coated, or, plain "Napa's".

Also, Performance Friction Brake (PFB) pads grab well, and, I have used them on all my C4's. PFC is also a well known and popular brake product in NASCAR circles. However, the PFC pads do dust just as well. Furthermore, the above issues are mot merely relegated to the C5. As food for thought, the C6 Z06 pads dust heavily, and, wear unevenly. And, for Chevrolet's flagship vehicle, should stop and wear better. There are already many reports to this issue. Frankly, I intend to keep using my exotic Big Brake manufacturers. Good luck.

 

Not sure if I should get involved in this but, I have been saying all along that for most people in a street environment, you can not beat the stock pads... This issue of brake dust is so sad.... all these guys with these spotless cars, yet they are hell bent on modding for the sake of modding. We at GM spent more time in developing this car and all of it's components to make it a 100,000 dollar car with a 50,000 dollar price tag. Brakes were always a high priority item. Ceramics are such a joke for a street car. It only reminds me just how little people here on the forum actually know about this car, and general automotive technology, it's mostly the blind leading the blind... people bitch about a little brake dust, but are willing to spend hours Zaino-ing their car, but can't spent two minutes to wipe off some dusting, and are more willing to put an inferior brake compound on their car.. because Joe Blow did it. I have maintained all along that my car stops on a dime, and my rotors have stayed purty, yeah purty.... with no discoloration of the rotors..
So lets recap.
stock pads are better than ceramics for stopping
most people who send hundreds to thousands on rotors, would rather destroy their aesthetic looks than spend two minutes to wipe their wheels..
Most people who choose ceramics for a street application are followers of the uninformed...
I hope I have kept up my tradition of being ME in this little rant. I hope I haven't disappointed anyone

 

Here Here

 

Evill Twin for President.

 

I had Hawk HPS pads for 4 yrs, & switched to stock pads for about 300 miles now, and let me tell you, they can't be beat..


Evil Twin & my tech both said stay with the stock pads, and I know why now!

 

I disagree a little here. The Z06 pads do seem to grab better than the stock C5 pads (based on driving both types of cars, not having both pads on my C5). The GM ceramic pads grab as well as the stock C5 pads. When mine were new they needed 1-2 short stops to warm up (or whatever) before they stopped normally, but after 1,000 miles that was completely gone. The GM ceramic pads stop at least as well as my C5 pads did for daily driving (city and freeway). It is actually much better but I attribute a lot of that to the Eradispeeds.

What I did find during rotor seasoning (put Eradispeeds on when I went to the ceramics) was that once they heated up and started to fade they didn't recover nearly as fast as regular C5 pads did (I went through the same procedure when my car was new). Based on that I would never use them on the track.

I do agree that they discolor the rotors a bit. The seasoning process caused discoloration on the stock rotors (a slight bluish tint) while with the ceramic pads the color is darker. But, that didn't happen until the seasoning so I would assume that it was from the brake pads heating up more during heavy use than stock pads.

Anyway, that is my experience. On a daily driver like mine is that only gets washed once a week I would certainly recommend them.

 

I actually cannot stand my stock pads on my 04 Z06 ...the brake dust is RIDICULOUS. Could it be something else, some other prob besides the pads? I mean if I drive the car 150 miles in a week, the dust is as bad as driving my S-10 for 3 months and I am not at all exagerrating.

I bought some ceramics to tame the dust but I have not installed them yet.

I agree that the engineering that went into this car is outstanding and I am not at all dissatisfied with it, and it stops excellently, but the dust is definitely something I feel super confident in complaining about.

 

To each his/her own.
Do what pleases you.
Even "Evil-Twin" appears to have have upgraded his wheels, rotors, brakes and a heck of a lot of other things on his awesome Vette

 

I have absolutly No issues with brake dust... it takes less than two minutes to wipe the wheels down every day I drive it...I use a little quick detailer and a cloth...no problem at all.. I use a California duster too...whole process takes less than five minutes..

 

Brake dust? What brake dust - just downshift, HeHe.

 

Hey Evil Twin,
I thought about using a California Duster on the wheels for brake dust accumulation. Do you use the large or small duster? Do you use the duster first and then wipe the wheels off with detail spray and a rag?
And I assume you only use this duster on the wheels and no where else...must get pretty darn dirty...fast.

 

Surely "stock" versus "ceramics" is the same as "daily driver" versus "track driven". My impression is that unless you take your Corvette to track days or live/drive in areas where brake fade might be a problem, the stock pads are sufficient for the majority of the people.

Going to ceramics/slotted or drilled rotors is no different than "keeping up with the Jones" down the street when they get a new John Deer yard tractor.

I'll stay with the stock pads, I've seen aftermarket pads leave material burnt into the painted surface of the wheels which leaves me more PO'd than having to dust the wheels.

 

I do not use the duster on the wheels...I use it on the finish, I only use Zaino gloss enhancer on the wheels, or Meguiars quick detailer with an old cotton tee shirt... IN one day I hardly see any dust at all, and I always wipe the car down before garaging it..it takes five minutes.,My car has over 60,000 miles on it and it is six years old... here is a picture from 6 months ago.

 

Stock brake dust will pit the barrel of your rims.

For a dd, stock pads are a pain in the @ss, unless you are willing to take your rims off the car every week to clean.

I put 21k miles on my car in 10mths. Ceramics all the way.

I'll take 5% reduced stopping for 75% less brake dust any day.

I do admit, the ceramic pads do leave a film on the fire path. That film is removed with 5 series of hard braking with the stock pads.

 

I have the GM ceramic pads installed with GM drilled rotors. Ceramics do have less dust, and less initial bite. However, at the same time, I upgraded to SS brake line hoses. Overall a better package, and appears to have less fade. Since this is a street car, I rarely have to hit the brakes that hard, mainly upgraded for better stopping performance at higher speeds.

 

Your car looks awsome! I use Zaino to and love it!

Where did you get the break vents for your rear brakes? I would like to put that on my car. And I like your wheels too, what kind are they?