ssucsy

I would like to hear from some of you autocrossers who have their cars equipped with brake pads that have more bite than stock pads. Since stock pads can induce abs deployment, what are the advantages of having aftermarket pads? Do you merely get brakes that respond to lighter pedal pressure? What are the racing advantages? Do they likely result in better times?

glagola1

Has anybody noticed that on the first major braking zone of the first run of the day that the stock pads act cold? I've noticed this at several events. I can't believe stock pads would need a heat up, albeit small compared to real pads. Am I tripping?

This leads me to my point. You may notice that the after market pads will need at least one good hard stop to get to temp. Sure, the first run is usually garbage but it may be important to not blow the first braking zone. I try to keep my first run fairly clean so I can stay focused on the rest of the course. I've noticed that if I blow the first run with a major mistake the "study" of the rest of the course is blown too because I'm distracted by the error.

I'm waiting for someone who uses aftermarket pads to chime in.

Ludedude

I've sold a bunch of our GT-Sport pads to some of the local autocrossers. Let me see if they have had a chance to use them yet.

solo2racer

We use Carbotech Panther Plus pads on the car. Compared to stock pads, they have better initial bite and possibly a bit more overall braking than stock pads. The advantages really do come on high grip surfaces, especially concrete. But they are also noticable on asphalt on hot days. But I really like the extra initial bite of the pads - they are more confidence inspiring as I dive into a corner.

The pads do require some heat to work properly. I typically drag the brake up to the starting line on my first run of the day to get some heat into them.

PedalFaster

I'm going to echo Brad's sentiments. I've historically been a proponent of stock pads, but I spent a lot of time on R-compounds on concrete recently, and I found that I had a lot more trouble triggering the ABS than I did on asphalt in both shaggy's car (stock pads) and my own (Hawk HPS). If I planned ahead, I could get into the ABS by making a conscious effort to mash the brakes, but then there was no possibility of modulation at all. I'm a convert; whatever I drive next year will have more aggressive pads on it, dust be damned.

I also agree with Brad that you can get heat into your pads by dragging your brakes as you pull up to the line, or doing some quick accelerations and stops. The latter approach will also put a tiny bit of heat into your tires.

Steve

ssucsy

Steve:

Didn't Shaggy drive your car at Nationals? If so, what did he think of your pads, since he's used to stock pads on his car?

Are you saying you like to activate ABS, but not at the expense of losing modulation through the need for excessive pedal pressure?

Whatever you were doing in the Warm-up sure was working! Talk about dust! You dusted everybody both days!

PedalFaster

[QUOTE=ssucsy,Sep 20 2004, 05:32 PM]Didn't Shaggy drive your car at Nationals?

soundzero

You are not the only who swears by them
I am planning on switching to Carbotech Panther Plus.
Now, where do find them in decent price?

Windscreen

The only place I know to get Carbotechs is directly from them, about $120/axle for Panther+ if I recall. Be aware that they dust like crazy (a single event will actually put a light coating of dust on the side of my car), and may squeek a lot on the street (I dont' have any shims installed on my fronts, and they actually squeek when driving straight, with no pedal pressure).

I forget about all that bad stuff when I get stuffed into my seatbelt under braking!

I know Yom (PilotSH) really likes his Cobalts, and the gofastlab can take care of you for those. I've never driven on them, so I can't comment on them relative to the Carbotechs.

Steve

Windscreen

I, personally, like to induce the ABS. When I want to straight line brake hard, I just mash the brake pedal and let the ABS do its job. With good pads, you can't out brake the S2000's ABS, in my opinion. When people go for a ride in my car, their first take away is usually how awesome it stops, and how late I brake. I will then modulate the pedal as I blend braking into turning.

I also think that high friction pads are a plus in terms of resonse time. In those situations where you need to bleed off 5, 10 or 15 mph of speed quickly and then turn in (like by the clump of three cones in the South course Oh S*#t! section), the sticky pads dump speed now...BOOM! Not so sticky pads take just a fraction longer to respond. All the small bits add up to saved time, IMHO.

Some car's ABS systems will not tolerate that severe of an application of brakes and go into ice mode (back way off on the brakes because you fooled the algorithm into thinking you're on a low grip surface). The S2000 ABS system algorithm is top notch, and I've never induced ice mode on my car.

Steve