Why would you bother running xp8 on the street? They're incredibly loud and need heat to work at their best levels. That doesn't even account for the fact they're just shy of $300 for a set vs. a lot less for stock pads.

 

my first set where I used the old rotors squeaked a lot but the second set with new rotors and the paste didn't realy make a lot of noise

 

Sigh.... XP10 and XP8 pads are race pads. They're really streetable, for race pads, but they need to be warm to work their best. Using them for daily street driving will compromise the effectiveness of your brakes in emergency situations (XP10 more than XP8). \

Why people want to do that, rather than spend the half hour it takes to put the street pads back in is beyond me, especially given the noise and dust from race pads compared to street pads.

 

Well, today I needed to drive my car in to the emissions test place. I did it on my XP12/XP10 pads. I don't even have any street pads.

But no, I wouldn't daily drive the car like this.

 

I don't daily drive my car, but I do still drive it on the street. I don't know why it would compromise the effectiveness of the brakes in emergency situations when they perform better than stock even while cold. Sure they don't work as well as when they are up to temp, but they are still better than stock pads

I don't care about the noise, and the dust just blends in with my matte black wheels

 

[QUOTE=124Spider,Oct 12 2009, 03:19 PM] Sigh....

 

No comment on the XP8s, but having just been driving mine around today, I am certain that XP12s do not stop the car better than street brakes when cold.

 

Sure; I drive on the streets sometimes with my race car, very short distances, but neither my Spec Miata nor my S2000, with race pads, stops nearly as well, in emergencies on the street, as my S2000 with my street pads.

If you don't switch back and forth, you can convince yourself that the Carbotechs are fine for regular street use, but the first time you're driving to the track with race pads in, and there's an oops right in front of you, you notice (if you're aware of your car's systems) that the brakes aren't as good as stock with cold (essentially any time you're on the street) race pads.

 

I didn't have time to swap my xp12s out and ran an autocross with them. They were completely useless!

 

Yeah, I heard XP12's won't do well on the street, but my XP10's work better than stock even while cold. If you call Carbotech, they will tell you the 10's work as well as stock on the street (minus the noise and dust), but I think they are actually better.