scareyourpassenger

I bought some Carbotech 1521(bobcat) pads last year. My rotors were turned and I used brake cleaner to ensure all surfaces were clean.

The first stop was outright scary with the new pads. The pedal was pumped and had a firm feel but I went right through a stop sign despite going 20mph! They were scary unlike, OEM, EBC, Hawk etc that I have used before.

I followed the bedding instructions to the letter and was very conscious about keeping the initial heat low since these were not designed for track type duty like the rest of the Carbotech pads I bought for the track. After bedding (the next day) it wasn't quite as scary but the stopping quality was still below that of the OEM pads. I decided to repeat the bedding instructions using the same speeds but ramping up the braking input a bit more to see if that would help. Once warm the pads seemed better and I got a bit of brake fade due to degassing. I parked the car overnight. Since then the pads have never worked right. They had very low initial bite. The improved when warm but were terrible when cold.

I sent them in to carbotech to take a look at. They determined that they were glazed and they resurfaced them. The pads were not shiny so that was a little surprising.

They are being sent back to me and I don't really want to deal with them anymore. I had another set a friend had issues with from them that I was told were glazed and after trying them again they were still no good.

So has anyone else had issues with ax6 or lower carbotech pads?

Sobe_Death

Yes. I currently have the Bobcats on the front of my car and my belief is that they are an inferior pad compound for a much higher price. They also told me that the pads were glazed; though after I resurfaced them the braking improved a little. They still don't quite feel as good as the OEM pads to me.

My opinion of Carbotech is that their XP10/12 and higher are great compounds, but below that you might as well go for a different brand. I will be trying out the Porterfield R4-S for my next set.

GPW AP2

scareyourpassenger,

Are you sure it is the Bobcats that are causing this issue? I also have a 07 with a similar issue, but it started happening on the OEM pads and rotors. Every once in a while the car would not want to stop. Pedal feel was solid and not dropping to the floor, but the car was not slowing down much at all. I figured I had glazed the OEM pads so I bought some Bobcats and new rotors. Even after the new rotors and pads it is doing the same thing. Brakes are fine one minute and then out of the blue I can’t stop again. I know it is not brake fade, since I am not braking hard before I have the time where I can’t stop. I am going to try a brake fluid flush with the hopes that I have some condensation buildup in the fluid, otherwise I am out of ideas.

John

scareyourpassenger

Well I never had the issue with the oem pads and I swapped to some ebc yellow pads. The ebc pads are doing great and bedding was a snap!

It makes me feel better that it isn't just me having issues with the bobcats. The other carbotech pads have been fine but these just suck!

On another note I found another company that seems interested in helping me out so may be ditching carbotech as a supplier for my brake pads.

scareyourpassenger

How many miles are on your car?

A couple things to consider. The brakes can get quite hot if you track it and the dust boots can melt and cause the piston to not apply pressure evenly to the pad. The slider pins will need to be greased more often because of this as well.

Less likely is that on the dbw cars they hold the idle rpm up higher when the egine is cold which reduces the braking power and resists deceleration.

GPW AP2

No track time and i was having these issues on the OEM pads, that is why I switched to the Bobcats. The car has like 6000 miles on it. I dont think the issue is from the Bobcats. I think it is something else on the car.

John

scareyourpassenger

Time to check for leaks to your master cylinder then.