I went looking for previous threads but was unable to find the answer. I have the Z07 Grand Sport and track it. I would like to have a second set of brake pads with me, I only recently started changing my own pads and would like to have a full set of pads that I can replace at the track if needed. Do I need to stay with the OEM carbon ceramic, or can I switch to a different ceramic brand and possibly have dissimilar front and rears on at the same time? If I can use other brands what is a good recommendation for 50/50 track road usage?

Thanks

 

You can change to any brake pad that you want. I would recommend that if you are doing a DIY change - you lightly "clean" the rotors with sandpaper before you put a different brake pad material against the rotor (both sides of the rotor need to be done). Some pads supposedly leave a "residue" of pad material on the rotor - this can hurt break in with new pads if the compound is different. Lightly sanding the rotor eliminates that residue. Along with the jack, jack stand, wrenches and sandpaper - you should probably carry a can of brake cleaner and a way to compress the caliper pistons with you as well - or the brake pad change ain't gonna be real easy.

As for what pad "compound" to use - that's a more difficult question to answer. The car has ABS - so even with a hyper-agressive pad on one axle, and a ultra low friction pad on the other axle - you will be able to haul the car down, but it would be far "better" to stick to something that is relatively close to the coefficient of friction of the factory pads.

If you ask 50 people about what brand and compound of brake pad to use - you'll probably get 51 answers. Everybody has their favorites, and everybody has their opinions of what a fair price is and what's too expensive. The subject of Brake Dust has occupied many many pages of threads on this forum - the OEM pads seem to be marvelously proficient at generating brake dust. How important brake dust is to you will most likely play a role in your selection criteria. Most of us tend to think that factory Brake Pads are substantially overpriced. While I NEVER buy "cheap brake pads" - I don''t believe that you need to spend $500 on a set of brake pads either. Hawk, Performance Friction, Carbotech, Pagid, EBC and others all make good brake pads - I 'd suggest doing a search on this forum and seeing what others think - and why. I will say that I just bought two sets of of Hawk Ceramic pads for my C7, but that I went with EBC's for a C6 I worked on last year.

 

What tire will you be using on track? Carbotech offers a few different compounds for your car depending on your needs. With the rotors you have you cant just put any pad on them.

 

I don't see in your post why you're wanting to muck around with non OEM pads with your Z07 rotors. As Adam says just above, you have limited options and it's not like experimenting with cast-iron rotors. . All the best, in any event. .

 

Do NOT sand Carbon Ceramic Brake (CCB) rotors unless you want to spend $6k+ for a new set The above poster is clearly mixing using low dust ceramic pads on iron rotor cars with the OPs question about the Z07 CCB rotors

 

Indeed, just use OEM pads, and nothing else. As your rotors start wearing out, they will have a more coarse surface, and will wear down pads at a faster rate. As such, don't rely on your initial experience on pad life; inspect often! Or just switch to Z06 iron brakes, and keep your current setup for when you eventually sell the car. )

 

I stand corrected - I missed the Z07 in the original post.