If you want to eliminate dust by swapping brake pads, go with Powerstop Z26's. They will eliminate 95% of your brake dust, and cost 1/3 what Carbotechs do.

 

Here we go again . . .

Cheaper isn't necessarily a good thing.

 

You started it, I see you now use ceramics too.. Cheaper is a good thing when they produce less dust and work just as well as your 400.00 carbotechs. I thought you were happy with your stock Brembos?

 

I was, still am, and do think they stop better since they are a track-rated pad. It's a simple back and forth swap. For street use, Carbotechs are very good.

Once again, you have no basis for your claims, but I will never cheap out on brake pads, especially on a Chinese, Johnny-come-lately that is almost comically cheap.

 

Fair enough. I love my Powerstops. I'm sure the Carbotechs are very good too... they just make more dust and cost 3 times more than my PowerStop Z26's.

 

And once again, making dust means stopping better. Reducing dust is a nice compromise, but making no dust isn't a good thing either.

Yes, we know you love your Powerstops. You were running non-stop infomercials a few months back.

 

Ha... yes, I love my Powerstops. and there are no problems stopping with them either. I actually sold my stock pads when I realized there was no way I'd ever put them back on. Best upgrade you can make to your vette, especially if you have black wheels you like to keep clean, as it sounds like the OP does.

 

Never understood how guys pay a large chunk of change for a world class automobile yet settle for going cheap on brakes.

 

I see Sonax says it is Acid free. Isn't it the acid in the wheel cleaners that ruins the tranverse springs? So I presume Sonax is OK to use on Corvettes?

 

Brake dust ain't scratchin' the wheels. Mine has 14,000 miles and no scratches. Cleaning off the brake dust with something abrasive will scratch the wheels. I used Rejex on them and it greatly reduced the brake dust problem.

 

Yes, Sonax is safe for all wheel types.

A lot of people use a dry or slightly damp towel to wipe off brake dust, and that is abrasive.

 

It is not the wheels that are harmed by wheel cleaners it is the springs. Wheel cleaners have been a No No for Corvettes for decades.

 

I have a GS. I do get a significant amount of brake dust; I just keep it cleaned off.

 

I love my Black wheels

 

As I mentioned in the post you responded to- before I changed to Carbotech 1521's I washed my wheels every two trips into town (~100 miles.) I live in the country about 16 miles from town. In two trips if I didn't wash my wheels I found the residual OEM Z51 brake pad dust was starting to pit my black wheels. Granted I mostly take back roads past farm fields with several wide open view 90 degree turns an only cows and corn that care how fast I go- enough said! When I switched to Carbotech pads I wash the wheels when wash the car, with the same car soap I use for the body (I do them last with a separate mitt and a long handled microfiber tool.)

I washed the car yesterday for the first time in 2 months (weather issues etc.) The wheels had very little dust and it was not visible. In 2 1/2 years since I installed those ceramic pads my black wheels look new.

SIDE BAR: I have no affiliation with Carbotech but Adam is a forum advertiser and I'll buy my Carbotech pads from him for my planned GS before I get it. They are very easy to change.

No brake pad expert but in my prior life managed and R&D group where we developed welding fluxes from some of the same oxides used to make ceramic pads. An example is the mined product, Bauxite, ore used to make aluminum oxide and aluminum. All these raw ores have undesirable "tramp" elements when mined. Chinese Bauxite was very cheap but we bought a much purer and expensive Bauxite from Australia because it had far less impurities.

Another good example was silicon dioxide (sand!) There was an open pit mine in Ohio on the way to a drag strip I often attended when I lived there. It that one mine you could see pure white sand in one area and the typical yellow brown sand in another! They sold the pure white product to electronic firms making silicon chips and the brown sand for concrete. The price was much different. We used a lot of “sand” in fluxes and bought the product from them with a verified chemical composition having low impurities.

Glad those folks buying cheap Chinese brake pads have had success, but my experience buying from China that is not a guaranteed quality! Consider what materials they can use making pads for ~$20 each ($160/8.) They need to use precision cut steel, mix the raw oxide and other ingredients, fire them at high temperature etc. Then they need to ship them to the US so a distributor can sell them at that price and make a profit! Considering the cost of a GS, and the cost of quality made in US brake pads, I’ll not take the risk! Your car your choice.

 

awesome thank you agianb