reallygeeky

Hi guys,

I need new brake pads for my 05 Z51. The stock Z51 pads seem pretty good but when I called my dealership parts department they quoted me $208 for the fronts and $137 for the rears. I think this is a little pricey when I could get a full set of aftermarket pads for much less.

I was hoping you guys could recommend the following:

1) A good place to buy the stock pads for a reasonable price (maybe one of the forum dealers)

2) A set of aftermarket pads that would be good (and of course where to buy them). Here are my uses:
- heavy street use
- occasional track use at high speed driving events

Thanks...

AFVETTE

I got my OEM Z51 pads (fronts only) from our very own Gene Culley. Check out his most recent post http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ghlight=Culley

I paid $119 shipped. I purchased during one of his "free shipping" promotions.

I have 2 HSDE on the OEM Z51 pads/rotors. Over 100 laps at Road America and when I looked at my front pads after my most recent 2 day HSDE it appears I have about 40% of the front pads left. RA is a high speed 4.2 mile road course known to be very hard on brakes.


The OEM pads are a great pad for street and occasional track use. I'd stay away from dedicated "track" pads for use on the street.

Tom

tntdominic

LG Motorsports . . . Z-51 Front pads (set of 2 each), performance, low dust, racing pads for $107.

CessnaDriver

How many miles did you get out of them if I may ask?

AFVETTE

I currently have 9650 miles on my car, with exactly 102 laps at RA or about 428 track miles on them. The rotors/pads withstood the abuse pretty well.

I do plan on upgrading my brake system before my next trip to RA this fall. I'm going with the DBA slotted rotors, OEM Z51 pads, SS lines and DOT 4 brake fluid. I learned the joys of HEAVY braking during my last HSDE. Prior to that I was rolling out of the throttle well short of the braking zones and bunching up the cars behind me. Once I started braking in the braking zone I had no problem keeping everything behind me at a nice safe distance, which allowed me to concentrate more on entering the corner, down shifting finding the apex then letting 400 ft lbs of torque launch me away from the pack.

Tom

tntdominic

I had 16,500 miles on the front pads with an estimated 50% life remaining. I went ahead and replaced them with the 'low dust' high performance pads because I was having powder coated calipers installed and didn't have to pay an installation fee. Rear pads were estimated at 90% remaining so I left those in place.
Cheers

Sven

Gene's awesome!

SimonStern

I melted down a set of rear OEM pads after two track days and with 3,100mi on the car. The fronts were VERY thin too.

Later, when running track pads on the front, and OEM pads on the rear I melted the rears down in 2 1/2 SESSIONS on the track. I put them in that morning hoping they would last me long enough to get through the day, and they didn't survive the morning.

I would run a great street pad for the street, and swap to dedicated track pads for track days.

I didn't like cleaning my wheels all the time, so I ran NAPA Cermaix break pads omn the street. They do an excellent job in general. There was VERY little (almost negligable) dust. They didn't squeak or squeal. They did stop very well, but they would start to fade a little earlier than a typical OEM pad.

On the track, I ran Carbotech pads and was VERY happy with them. They dust like CRAZY, squeal nearly ALL the time but they stop the car NOW!

Gene Culley

Hi All,

Thanks for the plug. Below is the pricing on the Z51 pads...

||--Genuine GM C6 Z51 Brake Pads--||

88965625 – Front brake pads – 122.96
89026853 – Rear brake pads – 92.63

Thanks, Gene.

reallygeeky

Thanks Gene and all who replied!

For those interested I have about 1/8 inch left on the fronts and a little more left on the rears after 2 HSDEs at Texas World Speedway and about 16K miles.