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I bought a 2017 GS last year and got in 26 track days at SP, VIR and WG last year. The car is a dedicated track car and I drive my car to the track. I put just under 12,000 miles on the car last year. In no particular order, here are some observations/thoughts:
-the expendables are definitely more than my C5 (or even my 996 911) but less than what I expected
-my go-to pads have been Carbotech XP12 pads in the front and XP 10 pads in the rear and I have been happy with them. I get about 6-7 days on the fronts and 8-9 days on the rears. I tried 3 or 4 sets of Powerstop Trackday pads which are comparable to the Brembo/Ferodo pads that came with the car. The Powerstop pads are about half the cost of Carbotechs, but they only last about half the track days. Therefore, I will just stick with Carbotech pads because the end cost is about the same and I only have to change them half the time.
-Raybestos ST 43's are what I ran in my C5, but they are not available for the C7 GS.
-I got 17 days on my front discs and have not worn out my rear discs yet. I bought DBA rings rather than the entire disc assemblies because they are about half the price of the discs and hats. You can re-use the hats. They are a hastle to change on the track so I bought spare Powerstop discs and hats that are much less than the DBA discs, and I will use these temporarily on the track so that I do not have to change hats on the track. When I get home I put the old hats on the DBA discs.
-I have used both Castrol SRF and Motul 600, but now just use the less expensive Motul 600 because I have not seen any brake fade or brake fluid boiling issues with the less expensive Motul fluid. I bleed the brake fluid every 4 track days.
-I bought 19" wheels from House of Wheels in Florida for the rears and kept the original 19" wheels on the front. I am now running Toyo 888R's and have about 10 track days on them and expect to get another 2-4 days or so. A set of tires was about $1700-1800 so they are comparable in price to the Michelin Cups, but I was told that I will get similar performance with the 888R's and many more track days. I cant speak about the comparable performance, but 12-14 tracks days is pretty good IMHO. I did put the recommended track alignment on the car. I probably will try a set of Cups soon just to see the difference even though I expect to get many less track days on them.
-I was getting a whine in the GS's rear end at high speeds and the dealer said it was likely a bad diff pump. This is not a replacement part and they replaced the entire rear end. I got a loaner for 7 days and a new diff at no cost to me. Also, I still have another 4 years of warranty left on the drive train and engine-not a bad deal!
- I had the good fortune to sit in the right seat of a new 911GT3, a new ACR Ford Viper and a C7 GS on the same day at VIR just before I bought the GS. The Viper and GT3 were truly great track cars, but not at 3 -5 times the cost of my GS. I came back from the track that day very impressed with the GS and decided that life was too short and decided to buy a GS. I do not regret that decision by one iota. Overall, I love the GS and it has exceeded my expectations. I do not think you can get more bang for your buck with a track car. I am guessing that I spent about $2500 more on expendables last year than with my C5 or maybe $100 more for each track day-IMHO definitely worth the extra cost!
I bought a 2017 GS last year and got in 26 track days at SP, VIR and WG last year. The car is a dedicated track car and I drive my car to the track. I put just under 12,000 miles on the car last year. In no particular order, here are some observations/thoughts:
-the expendables are definitely more than my C5 (or even my 996 911) but less than what I expected
-my go-to pads have been Carbotech XP12 pads in the front and XP 10 pads in the rear and I have been happy with them. I get about 6-7 days on the fronts and 8-9 days on the rears. I tried 3 or 4 sets of Powerstop Trackday pads which are comparable to the Brembo/Ferodo pads that came with the car. The Powerstop pads are about half the cost of Carbotechs, but they only last about half the track days. Therefore, I will just stick with Carbotech pads because the end cost is about the same and I only have to change them half the time.
-Raybestos ST 43's are what I ran in my C5, but they are not available for the C7 GS.
-I got 17 days on my front discs and have not worn out my rear discs yet. I bought DBA rings rather than the entire disc assemblies because they are about half the price of the discs and hats. You can re-use the hats. They are a hastle to change on the track so I bought spare Powerstop discs and hats that are much less than the DBA discs, and I will use these temporarily on the track so that I do not have to change hats on the track. When I get home I put the old hats on the DBA discs.
-I have used both Castrol SRF and Motul 600, but now just use the less expensive Motul 600 because I have not seen any brake fade or brake fluid boiling issues with the less expensive Motul fluid. I bleed the brake fluid every 4 track days.
-I bought 19" wheels from House of Wheels in Florida for the rears and kept the original 19" wheels on the front. I am now running Toyo 888R's and have about 10 track days on them and expect to get another 2-4 days or so. A set of tires was about $1700-1800 so they are comparable in price to the Michelin Cups, but I was told that I will get similar performance with the 888R's and many more track days. I cant speak about the comparable performance, but 12-14 tracks days is pretty good IMHO. I did put the recommended track alignment on the car. I probably will try a set of Cups soon just to see the difference even though I expect to get many less track days on them.
-I was getting a whine in the GS's rear end at high speeds and the dealer said it was likely a bad diff pump. This is not a replacement part and they replaced the entire rear end. I got a loaner for 7 days and a new diff at no cost to me. Also, I still have another 4 years of warranty left on the drive train and engine-not a bad deal!
- I had the good fortune to sit in the right seat of a new 911GT3, a new ACR Ford Viper and a C7 GS on the same day at VIR just before I bought the GS. The Viper and GT3 were truly great track cars, but not at 3 -5 times the cost of my GS. I came back from the track that day very impressed with the GS and decided that life was too short and decided to buy a GS. I do not regret that decision by one iota. Overall, I love the GS and it has exceeded my expectations. I do not think you can get more bang for your buck with a track car. I am guessing that I spent about $2500 more on expendables last year than with my C5 or maybe $100 more for each track day-IMHO definitely worth the extra cost!
Great post. Thank you for sharing your experience with the consumables. I think this is a car that won't fill me with regret based on your feedback and the suggestions to use used slicks for substantially less.
I bought a 2017 GS last year and got in 26 track days at SP, VIR and WG last year. The car is a dedicated track car and I drive my car to the track. I put just under 12,000 miles on the car last year. In no particular order, here are some observations/thoughts:
-the expendables are definitely more than my C5 (or even my 996 911) but less than what I expected
-my go-to pads have been Carbotech XP12 pads in the front and XP 10 pads in the rear and I have been happy with them. I get about 6-7 days on the fronts and 8-9 days on the rears. I tried 3 or 4 sets of Powerstop Trackday pads which are comparable to the Brembo/Ferodo pads that came with the car. The Powerstop pads are about half the cost of Carbotechs, but they only last about half the track days. Therefore, I will just stick with Carbotech pads because the end cost is about the same and I only have to change them half the time.
-Raybestos ST 43's are what I ran in my C5, but they are not available for the C7 GS.
-I got 17 days on my front discs and have not worn out my rear discs yet. I bought DBA rings rather than the entire disc assemblies because they are about half the price of the discs and hats. You can re-use the hats. They are a hastle to change on the track so I bought spare Powerstop discs and hats that are much less than the DBA discs, and I will use these temporarily on the track so that I do not have to change hats on the track. When I get home I put the old hats on the DBA discs.
-I have used both Castrol SRF and Motul 600, but now just use the less expensive Motul 600 because I have not seen any brake fade or brake fluid boiling issues with the less expensive Motul fluid. I bleed the brake fluid every 4 track days.
-I bought 19" wheels from House of Wheels in Florida for the rears and kept the original 19" wheels on the front. I am now running Toyo 888R's and have about 10 track days on them and expect to get another 2-4 days or so. A set of tires was about $1700-1800 so they are comparable in price to the Michelin Cups, but I was told that I will get similar performance with the 888R's and many more track days. I cant speak about the comparable performance, but 12-14 tracks days is pretty good IMHO. I did put the recommended track alignment on the car. I probably will try a set of Cups soon just to see the difference even though I expect to get many less track days on them.
-I was getting a whine in the GS's rear end at high speeds and the dealer said it was likely a bad diff pump. This is not a replacement part and they replaced the entire rear end. I got a loaner for 7 days and a new diff at no cost to me. Also, I still have another 4 years of warranty left on the drive train and engine-not a bad deal!
- I had the good fortune to sit in the right seat of a new 911GT3, a new ACR Ford Viper and a C7 GS on the same day at VIR just before I bought the GS. The Viper and GT3 were truly great track cars, but not at 3 -5 times the cost of my GS. I came back from the track that day very impressed with the GS and decided that life was too short and decided to buy a GS. I do not regret that decision by one iota. Overall, I love the GS and it has exceeded my expectations. I do not think you can get more bang for your buck with a track car. I am guessing that I spent about $2500 more on expendables last year than with my C5 or maybe $100 more for each track day-IMHO definitely worth the extra cost!
Would love to get back up to summit, what times are you running at VIR? I'm running in the 1:12-1:13's.
Would love to get back up to summit, what times are you running at VIR? I'm running in the 1:12-1:13's.
I think you meant 2:12-2:13's, unless you are in a rocket ship . My PB at VIR is a 2:08 and I am pretty consistently in the 2:09-2:10 range, which is about 10-12 seconds off what the Z06 and ZR1 guys are doing at VIR.
I run ST45 fronts and St43 rears, they last, are consistent will leave a nose print on the windshield but they strictly track pads, 1st used them on a 1LE camaro after eating through all other pads/rotors, my goto regardless of car now
I think you meant 2:12-2:13's, unless you are in a rocket ship . My PB at VIR is a 2:08 and I am pretty consistently in the 2:09-2:10 range, which is about 10-12 seconds off what the Z06 and ZR1 guys are doing at VIR.
Lol. Yes. 2:12s...I run with PDE, who are you running with?
Must be some crazy fast guys, because I see guys with fully prepped cars only doing like 2-2:05s... most Z06 guys can only show up when it's cold because the cars overheat so bad.
Lol. Yes. 2:12s...I run with PDE, who are you running with?
Must be some crazy fast guys, because I see guys with fully prepped cars only doing like 2-2:05s... most Z06 guys can only show up when it's cold because the cars overheat so bad.
I usually run with PCA and NASA, but have also done VIR with Chin, Audi, and Mustang Cobra Club. In fact the Mustang/Cobra club will be at VIR next weekend for their Winter Fest and I may attend if the weather continues to look good. I was with them at VIR in mid-February, 2017 and drove home in shorts and T-shirt when temps got up to the low 70's.
It is the automatic C7 Z06's that have the over-heating issues. Guys I know with the C7 Z06 manuals generally do not have any over-heating problems.
I’m on DBA rotor rings using my stock hats now. They are on day 5 and still going. They are wearing a lot better than the stock rotors. I know DTC are hard, but I’m in love with the pad. Just an amazing pad with the GS platform.
Hey Victor, good to put a face with a screenname. I'm Sean with the White Z06 (PCA). Looking forward to seeing you at the track this year again. You'll have to take me for a few laps!
My consumables for 2018 - 22 total track days, 7 of which were in rain or partially in the rain.
1 set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cups
1 set of Hoosiers R7's
1 set of MIchelin Pilot Super Sports
All tires were mounted on OEM wheels
All tires except for the Hoosiers were purchased as take offs with less than 1,000 miles on them.
2 sets of Raybestos ST 43 Brake pads for Z07 front calipers
1 set of Girodisc front steel rotor rings in Z07 fitment, these lasted 18 days including rain days
1 set of Girodisc front steel rotor rings presently on car with 2 track days on them.
5 bottles of Motul 600 brake fluid - new fluid at beginning of season , 1 flush and new fluid when new pads went in mid season, 1 flush and new fluid when rotors were swapped towards end of the season.
5 oil changes.
Last edited by NiceGuySanti; 02-09-2019 at 05:32 PM.
How did you determine it was time for rotor replacement - measure thickness, down to the slots, cracks, other?
Same with oil change - when the car reminded you or some other metric like miles or hours?
I started to feel a slight vibration at the pedal under heavy braking coming from the front brakes, I visually inspect them on a regular basis and they looked ok but worn. The oil change was dictated by how hard the car was run, if it was very hot I would change the oil after a track weekend, if the weather was cooler or if the car had run in the rain I would wait for two weekends or more for an oil change. My events varied from single days to 3 day weekends.
I bought a 2017 GS last year and got in 26 track days at SP, VIR and WG last year. The car is a dedicated track car and I drive my car to the track. I put just under 12,000 miles on the car last year. In no particular order, here are some observations/thoughts:
-the expendables are definitely more than my C5 (or even my 996 911) but less than what I expected
-my go-to pads have been Carbotech XP12 pads in the front and XP 10 pads in the rear and I have been happy with them. I get about 6-7 days on the fronts and 8-9 days on the rears. I tried 3 or 4 sets of Powerstop Trackday pads which are comparable to the Brembo/Ferodo pads that came with the car. The Powerstop pads are about half the cost of Carbotechs, but they only last about half the track days. Therefore, I will just stick with Carbotech pads because the end cost is about the same and I only have to change them half the time.
-Raybestos ST 43's are what I ran in my C5, but they are not available for the C7 GS.
-I got 17 days on my front discs and have not worn out my rear discs yet. I bought DBA rings rather than the entire disc assemblies because they are about half the price of the discs and hats. You can re-use the hats. They are a hastle to change on the track so I bought spare Powerstop discs and hats that are much less than the DBA discs, and I will use these temporarily on the track so that I do not have to change hats on the track. When I get home I put the old hats on the DBA discs.
-I have used both Castrol SRF and Motul 600, but now just use the less expensive Motul 600 because I have not seen any brake fade or brake fluid boiling issues with the less expensive Motul fluid. I bleed the brake fluid every 4 track days.
-I bought 19" wheels from House of Wheels in Florida for the rears and kept the original 19" wheels on the front. I am now running Toyo 888R's and have about 10 track days on them and expect to get another 2-4 days or so. A set of tires was about $1700-1800 so they are comparable in price to the Michelin Cups, but I was told that I will get similar performance with the 888R's and many more track days. I cant speak about the comparable performance, but 12-14 tracks days is pretty good IMHO. I did put the recommended track alignment on the car. I probably will try a set of Cups soon just to see the difference even though I expect to get many less track days on them.
-I was getting a whine in the GS's rear end at high speeds and the dealer said it was likely a bad diff pump. This is not a replacement part and they replaced the entire rear end. I got a loaner for 7 days and a new diff at no cost to me. Also, I still have another 4 years of warranty left on the drive train and engine-not a bad deal!
- I had the good fortune to sit in the right seat of a new 911GT3, a new ACR Ford Viper and a C7 GS on the same day at VIR just before I bought the GS. The Viper and GT3 were truly great track cars, but not at 3 -5 times the cost of my GS. I came back from the track that day very impressed with the GS and decided that life was too short and decided to buy a GS. I do not regret that decision by one iota. Overall, I love the GS and it has exceeded my expectations. I do not think you can get more bang for your buck with a track car. I am guessing that I spent about $2500 more on expendables last year than with my C5 or maybe $100 more for each track day-IMHO definitely worth the extra cost!
Hey bud. You're overpaying for r888r a lot. Go to simpletire.com for next set. All of us are paying like 1100 a set.
How did you determine it was time for rotor replacement - measure thickness, down to the slots, cracks, other?
Same with oil change - when the car reminded you or some other metric like miles or hours?
Cracks determine when to replace the OEM rotors, they show cracks quickly but then seem to pause a while before propagating to the edge. I'm about to install DBA rings this week so I'm curious to see how they hold up.
Oil wise I've been going with the cars oil life monitor and changing before reaching 50% which is about 4-5 events or roughly 6 months or 3000-3500 miles. I don't daily drive it so it's working out to twice a year. The OLM takes into account rpm's, oil temp, etc and seems legit since I can lose 6-8% of oil life in a weekend. I do trans and diff once a year.
We will see you at VIR next weekend. Weather looks good(ish)
Raybestos pads for C7Z - I want to find the thickest D1382 that will squeeze in there with the DBA rings. I have a thicker version of this in Hawk that may work as well. Hawk's D1405 is HB649 but I think I can cut down a HB631 and get more meat.
Car comes with shape D1405 FMSI D1405 - OEM shape - 15.4mm thick Raybestos does not make this. FMSI D1382 - GTR Pad - fits the same but thicker Raybestos makes this in a 16mm thick pad. FMSI D1291 - The AMG version of this pad. A bit narrower as it has 'wrap around' shims. (You can see the outline of that in the drawing) I think this is what Porterfield uses. It can move around since the race pad has no shim.
FYI, I've contacted Porterfield about this issue, but they don't seem to see any issue with it, and they kept mentioning happy customers : )
I need to get a car on the lift and see what can fit. They make it in 18mm but that might not fit especially with the DBA rotors.
Your thoughts on the lower friction ST43 vs DTC70 or GLoc R16 pads? The ST47 can be had but I have to order 10 sets and wait weeks for them (made to order)
Considering that you get about 10mm of pad material of which 8 or so is usable every mm is worth it.
I've used ST47s, too. They have a bit higher bite than ST43s, but the difference was more pronounced on my Miata. On the Corvette, it felt like ST43 already had enough bite, so I preferred it since it allows more modulation.
So your pads are a tighter fit for fronts than Porterfield's? That's great to know! Why are the rears more expensive than usual? That was what swayed me away when I saw it on your site : )
02-08-2019, 04:47 PM
. My PB at VIR is a 2:08 and I am pretty consistently in the 2:09-2:10 range, which is about 10-12 seconds off what the Z06 and ZR1 guys are doing at VIR.
