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Old Mar 16, 2015 | 11:51 AM
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Default GS Brake Pad Life

What brake mileage have you gotten on your Grand Sport?

I can't see the pads on my 11 GS like I can on my C6 coupe. Any way to check wear without pulling the wheels off?

My 07 has 30k and lots of pad left, just can't see the GS pads and I don't want to pull the wheels if I don't have too.
LJ
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Old Mar 16, 2015 | 02:52 PM
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Originally Posted by LarryMJones
What brake mileage have you gotten on your Grand Sport?

I can't see the pads on my 11 GS like I can on my C6 coupe. Any way to check wear without pulling the wheels off?

My 07 has 30k and lots of pad left, just can't see the GS pads and I don't want to pull the wheels if I don't have too.
LJ

Hey Larry,
I can't really comment on what mileage you can get out of your cars brake pads. I changed mine out & the car is a 2013. The pads still had some life left but the squeaking & brake dust was driving me nuts.

If you do end up checking them out & finding out they need to be replaced, I can recommend Brake Performance Premium Semi Metallic pads. They are a much more cost effective upgrade than a lot of other brake pads. I have a whole thread devoted to them-

( https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-are-an-a.html )

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Old Mar 16, 2015 | 05:45 PM
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Thanks. I suspect they put performance pads on the GS like the original tire that trade wear for performance. I only got 13k miles on my fronts and 18k on the rear tires.
LJ
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Old Mar 16, 2015 | 07:12 PM
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http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...post1587585312


http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...rake-pads.html
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Old Mar 16, 2015 | 11:18 PM
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Originally Posted by LarryMJones
What brake mileage have you gotten on your Grand Sport?

I can't see the pads on my 11 GS like I can on my C6 coupe. Any way to check wear without pulling the wheels off?

My 07 has 30k and lots of pad left, just can't see the GS pads and I don't want to pull the wheels if I don't have too.
LJ
You will not get an accurate reading on pad wear just by looking at the top (outside) of your brake pads. Check out his photo; the pads have 20K and lots of taper. The small side of the pads will be on the bottom side (to the center of the hub) of the caliper. You really should pull the caliper and when its time, replace with one piece pads rather than the pucks.

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Old Mar 17, 2015 | 06:03 AM
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Originally Posted by LarryMJones
What brake mileage have you gotten on your Grand Sport?

I can't see the pads on my 11 GS like I can on my C6 coupe. Any way to check wear without pulling the wheels off?

My 07 has 30k and lots of pad left, just can't see the GS pads and I don't want to pull the wheels if I don't have too.
LJ
I got about 50K out of my first set on the fronts, and still had plenty left on the rears. But you also need to check your rotor thickness, the GS pads are aggressive, and I needed to replace my rotors too.

I use a small mirror to inspect them, and you can remove one of the center torx screws (with the rim still on the car), and rock out a pad to get more visibility if needed.
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Old Mar 17, 2015 | 06:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Seadawg
I got about 50K out of my first set on the fronts, and still had plenty left on the rears. But you also need to check your rotor thickness, the GS pads are aggressive, and I needed to replace my rotors too.

I use a small mirror to inspect them, and you can remove one of the center torx screws (with the rim still on the car), and rock out a pad to get more visibility if needed.
Ron are you wearing my old pads yet?

I have a friend that wore out a new set of Carbotechs in a single day at Daytona. I still chuckle on that.
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Old Mar 17, 2015 | 03:56 PM
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Originally Posted by US Icon
Ron are you wearing my old pads yet?

I have a friend that wore out a new set of Carbotechs in a single day at Daytona. I still chuckle on that.
No way does that mean "ALL" Carbotechs or any other brand will do the same same for everyone. I'm running Carbotech Ceramic pads with 45K miles and counting. I did a calculation at 20K of use and figure conservatively they will last 250,000 miles.

As mentioned in an above post; YES, OEM pads are much harder on rotors than what I'm running. I can document this; I did a brake job on a friends CE (A6) at 20K and his rotor wear was much greater (over twice) as much as my CE (M6) with 42K miles (I changed out my OEM pads at 2K miles) so that's a wear rate of 4X's faster than my Carbo Ceramics.

Bottom line; you get what you pay for
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Old Mar 17, 2015 | 05:13 PM
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Originally Posted by US Icon
Ron are you wearing my old pads yet?

I have a friend that wore out a new set of Carbotechs in a single day at Daytona. I still chuckle on that.
Your friend must have been on the wrong compound. I would like to know what compound he was on and tires he was using before you start bashing Carbotech?
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Old Mar 17, 2015 | 05:15 PM
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Originally Posted by US Icon
Ron are you wearing my old pads yet?

I have a friend that wore out a new set of Carbotechs in a single day at Daytona. I still chuckle on that.
Would love to know the details......
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Old Mar 17, 2015 | 06:47 PM
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I didn't mean to slam your pads, sorry. I don't recall the exact series he used but after he wore them out he called the vendor, explained the premature wear, and they overnighted him, free of charge, a new set of pads to PBIR for our next event.
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Old Mar 17, 2015 | 06:50 PM
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Old Mar 17, 2015 | 08:18 PM
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Originally Posted by LarryMJones
What brake mileage have you gotten on your Grand Sport? I can't see the pads on my 11 GS like I can on my C6 coupe. Any way to check wear without pulling the wheels off? My 07 has 30k and lots of pad left, just can't see the GS pads and I don't want to pull the wheels if I don't have too. LJ
I got 12,000 mi out of mine with about 6 track days.
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Old Mar 18, 2015 | 06:54 AM
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Originally Posted by US Icon
Ron are you wearing my old pads yet?

I have a friend that wore out a new set of Carbotechs in a single day at Daytona. I still chuckle on that.
Yep, I have them on it now with the new rotors

Let me know if you are back in the area sometime.

Oh, I'm not a big brake user on the street (or even when I do track days), so that is why mine last so long.

On my few track days, I like to brag about how fast I can go on the 2 long stretches on the Rolex course, so I usually ride with the mini Coopers and Miatas in the curves, then I leave the track to ride around some after the session, to prevent heat cracking my stock rotors. I also normally don't run my car all 4 sessions either, too afraid that something will happen, since it is truly my daily driver and only vehicle.

Last edited by Seadawg; Mar 18, 2015 at 06:59 AM.
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Old Mar 18, 2015 | 07:59 AM
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Right on

Your style at Daytona mirrors mine...don't really care about lap time or trying to go 10/10th in the infield, I just want to go lights out on the backstretch and front stretch. I will miss the flat out/CEC Ferrari chalenge get next month, but maybe will do Henry's 3 day event in Oct.

Sorry for the high jack Larry. ..my 13 GS has 8020 miles on the clock and I'm on my 3rd set of pads. The pads that came from the factory were like new at 5000 street only miles when I took them off. My Vette has an M6 and I coast to stop signs and red lights as I dispise brake dust on my wheels. At 5000 miles I took the factory pads off and sold them to Seadawg. I then put on some Hawk HP pads and ran 2 days around Daytona, 1 day around PBIR, then 2 more days around Sebring, all within a span of one week, and the pads were basically shot. The factory (drilled) rotors developed cracks but I was still able to nurse them through 3 more days at Road America. TMI, I know.
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Old Mar 18, 2015 | 02:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Seadawg
I use a small mirror to inspect them, and you can remove one of the center torx screws (with the rim still on the car), and rock out a pad to get more visibility if needed.
The mirror trick worked from the back center of the caliper. You get a good view of the pad thickness from that position. Didn't have to remove anything.

I had previously tried a mirror and even a small inspection TV from the end of the caliper but couldn't see any of the pad.

LJ
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