Cryo or not to Cryo....the data
Thread Starter
3rd Gear
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Phoenix az
Cryo or not to Cryo....the data
Here's the real data taken on my 2000 coupe. While I drive the car hard, all data is street driving only.
Test is with Hawk Performance Plus pads (awesome pads by the way).
Front rotor data (rear data is not provided as these pads will burn thru your dust boot on the brake piston).
Non-Cryo'd pad on non-Cryo'd rotors last about 5,000 miles
Non-Cryo'd pads on Cryo'd rotors last about 5,000 miles (no difference in pad wear)
Cryo'd pads on Cryo'd rotors last 7,200 miles (about 50% life increase)
Cryo'd pads on non-Cryo'd rotors - no data, didn't test, but I'd assume similar pad life (7,200 miles)
I did measure wear rate on the rotors, and the cryo'd pads are maybe about 10% easier on the rotors. But keep in mind you'll only get about 10-15K out of the rotors with these pads anyway (2 pad sets). I believe the reason the wear rate is slightly better on the rotors and the cryo'd pads last longer is that the pad compound actually does change during the cryoing process, resulting in a more wear resistant alloy. The down side of this is that, from first hand experience, the cryo'd pads do not grip as well as the non-cryo'd pads. So there's no magic here - less performance=longer life.
But you are getting 50% more life out of the pads, and they still stop way better than the next harder pad up from Hawk (plain Performance pads), so maybe it is worth cryoing only the pads depending on your intended use (track or street), and how much you have to pay for the processing. Cryoing the rotor has no performance advantage. This is not unexpected as cryo'd cast iron has slightly less wear resistance than non-cryo'd cast iron (about 98%).
One note if you do run these pads: I found no problem or effect on braking performance by running the "performance" pads on the rear and the "performance plus" on the front. Also, check the inner pad, not the outer pad for wear, as it tends to wear out much quicker (but is much harder to check unfortunately...)
Test is with Hawk Performance Plus pads (awesome pads by the way).
Front rotor data (rear data is not provided as these pads will burn thru your dust boot on the brake piston).
Non-Cryo'd pad on non-Cryo'd rotors last about 5,000 miles
Non-Cryo'd pads on Cryo'd rotors last about 5,000 miles (no difference in pad wear)
Cryo'd pads on Cryo'd rotors last 7,200 miles (about 50% life increase)
Cryo'd pads on non-Cryo'd rotors - no data, didn't test, but I'd assume similar pad life (7,200 miles)
I did measure wear rate on the rotors, and the cryo'd pads are maybe about 10% easier on the rotors. But keep in mind you'll only get about 10-15K out of the rotors with these pads anyway (2 pad sets). I believe the reason the wear rate is slightly better on the rotors and the cryo'd pads last longer is that the pad compound actually does change during the cryoing process, resulting in a more wear resistant alloy. The down side of this is that, from first hand experience, the cryo'd pads do not grip as well as the non-cryo'd pads. So there's no magic here - less performance=longer life.
But you are getting 50% more life out of the pads, and they still stop way better than the next harder pad up from Hawk (plain Performance pads), so maybe it is worth cryoing only the pads depending on your intended use (track or street), and how much you have to pay for the processing. Cryoing the rotor has no performance advantage. This is not unexpected as cryo'd cast iron has slightly less wear resistance than non-cryo'd cast iron (about 98%).
One note if you do run these pads: I found no problem or effect on braking performance by running the "performance" pads on the rear and the "performance plus" on the front. Also, check the inner pad, not the outer pad for wear, as it tends to wear out much quicker (but is much harder to check unfortunately...)
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 24,652
Likes: 298
From: NJ
St. Jude Donor '05-'08
nice to see people doing tests. We try to do a lot of Track testing too.
We just tested brake coolers. One side with and one sidewithout. The side without cracked the rotor in 8 track days while the other side continued to be fine. Of course we knew that getting cool air to your rotors would help we just didnt know how much.
We just tested brake coolers. One side with and one sidewithout. The side without cracked the rotor in 8 track days while the other side continued to be fine. Of course we knew that getting cool air to your rotors would help we just didnt know how much.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 33
From: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
Drifting
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 1,431
Likes: 2
From: Munich Bavaria
I have some experience with cryoed rotors too, however, never went to the track with my Corvette (German Autobahn can be very competetive to track days... 
)
In 2001 i installed a set of cryoed BAER rotors, slotted and drilled, using stock AC Delco Pads and after two years changed to AC Delco Ceramic pads, with the same rotors.
The rotors lasts about double the time not crýoed rotors did before (drilled as well). Very small cracks developed after a few years, but very very small cracks, not to worry about...
I drove the rotors until about 1.5 years ago and had them turned on a late after a litte pulsation developed. Will install them after the one i have now on the car starts to warp...
Rgds.
Jochen
)In 2001 i installed a set of cryoed BAER rotors, slotted and drilled, using stock AC Delco Pads and after two years changed to AC Delco Ceramic pads, with the same rotors.
The rotors lasts about double the time not crýoed rotors did before (drilled as well). Very small cracks developed after a few years, but very very small cracks, not to worry about...
I drove the rotors until about 1.5 years ago and had them turned on a late after a litte pulsation developed. Will install them after the one i have now on the car starts to warp...
Rgds.
Jochen
