Rodan

I know there has been some discussion about the Cobalt GT-Sport Brake Pads on this forum over the last few months, so I thought I would weigh in on what has been my experience with these pads thus far. This account is only my experience and I will be the first to disclose that I am certainly not an expert when it comes to experimenting with different brake pads other than OEM or participating in HPDE events.

I've had the S2000 for over a year and a half, and during that time I have done some autocross, but had been thinking about HPDE as something to strive for in the future. In September, I finally planned it out and signed up to run an event with Chin Motorsports at Sebring International Raceway on 11/10/07. Having done some research on this forum back in September, I came down to the conclusion that I may need to get a few things done to my car prior to the event. On my list of things was to replace my worn out Bridgestone RE050s with some new rubber, upgrade brake fluid to a high-boiling point type and to possibly replace my brake pads - I say possibly because I had also read on the board that most novices can get by on OEM pads on their first track day.

I consulted some of this information with CoralDoc, who I've talked to at various local autocross events and he also was kind enough to spend a good part of his day with me during a local autocross school back in December last year. He is also an instructor for HPDEs and is always a very generous at giving his time and advice to help other enthusiasts on this board and in South Florida. During various PMs he recommended a couple of upgrades to the car prior to my track day including the previously mentioned tires, brake fluid, and he did mention that getting brake pads that would provide a greater level of performance to OEM would probably make my day more enjoyable. He told me he had a good experience with the Cobalt XR5 (I think this is correct) pads on his Miata and that a good track day novice pad may be the GT-Sport.

I purchased my pads from Cobalt on Oct. 16th. Over the course of the following two weeks, I revisited this forum (which I don't visit much) in order to read up as much as I could about track day experiences for beginners, and I ran into the threads discussing GT-Sport pads. Although he would not be participating on this track day, I had requested CoralDoc help me with installation of the pads, so about a week prior to my track day, and a day or two before our scheduled meeting day to do the work on the car, we talked on the phone and discussed a few issues including the concerns regarding the GT-Sport pads mentioned here. I told CoralDoc that my plan from the get-go was to install these pads a few days prior to Sebring and then uninstall them a few days after the event - it was never my intention to keep them on for street use due to the excessive dusting and noise most people seemed to experience with the more aggressive compounds. Because of my limited use of these pads on this "first run" I was not too concerned about the how my brakes would fare. But truth be told it was still on my mind, especially since this would be my first time out and I would not want to run into any issues. CoralDoc suggested I contact Glenn at Cobalt (who I had previously spoken to and purchased the pads from) and discuss with him the concerns that had been previously voiced on this forum.

I called Glenn that same day and we talked for a few minutes. As has been mentioned before, he reiterated that this pad would work very well for my track day at Sebring, and while it is possible to use for street use, it is not recommended for this application. I told him I would install them prior to the event, and take them off soon after.

Since I live somewhat close to the Cobalt offices, he suggested, if I wanted to take part, that he could have someone at his shop install and uninstall the pads, all the while taking measurements of the rotors and pads before installation and after removal as long as I could keep track of my mileage and usage with the pads. That way we could have some measurements. I agreed to do this since I was also curious about getting some actual empirical data.

I would like to share with you the information we were able to gather:

2005 Honda S2000. Stock pad and rotors for +/- 17,500 Miles prior to installing GT-Sports

GT-Sport Pads Installed 11/06/07
Rotors (measured while pads were installed)
RF 24.8mm
LF 24.5mm
LR 12.0mm
RR 12.0mm

Right Before Track Use 11/10/07
Mileage with GT-Sport Pads 276.9 Miles.
This includes about 85 Miles on the Florida Turnpike and another 85 miles on country roads on my way to Sebring. The remaining 106.9 Miles would be stop and go traffic back and forth from work.

Track Use - Sebring International Raceway - Long Course 3.7 Miles 11/10/07
Warm Up: 2 Laps = 7.4 Miles
Hot Laps: 35 Laps = 130 Miles
Total 137.5 Miles
Temp. ranged that day from 60 deg around warm-up time just before 9:00am and by 4pm, it was probably close to 80-85 deg.

GT-Sport Pads Removed. OEM Pads Reinstalled 11/12/07
Rotors
RF 24.4mm
LF 24.5mm
LR 12.0mm
RR 11.8mm

Pads
REARS - I believe new these start at 14.8mm

3vilmonkey!

Nice write up. I daily use my pads and laugh when I pull up to people and they are thinking badly about my car.

GT Motoring

I appreciate your efforts in participating in the study. Im glad cobalt and yourself tried to do everything as scientific and acurate as possible.

alejo

[QUOTE=Rodan,Nov 20 2007, 06:55 PM] I am not affiliated with Cobalt Friction in any way

Slows2k

The pad thickness was over 10mm? Is that overall thickness including the backing plate?

Most pads aren't over 9-10mm of pad lining

CoralDoc

Thanks for the write up Rodan. I'm also curious about how you measured pad thickness as those values do seem high.

I'm a satisfied user of Cobalt Friction products having used various iterations of their compounds on my S2000 and Miata. I think it is a good sign that the people at Cobalt are working with Rodan so that they can get more information on the problems reported by other drivers.

I have used the older GT-Sport compound on the S2000 and on my Miata, and also have used the SM older compound and XR5 new compound on the Miata. All material types have performed very well. The new XR5 compound is on the car now, and has been used for 3 track days (350 track miles), 28 autocross runs plus about 2,000 street miles. Dusting is higher than OEM, they're noisier, but there is no unusual rotor or pad wear. I estimate that there is another track day in the pads as I usually change them out at 2-3mm thickness.

By comparison, in the Miata I used to get about 5-6 track days out of the old GT Sport compound on the front of the car, and more than double that in the rear. This information is based on wear rates for 6 sets of GT Sport front pads and 3 rear sets. So far, the first set of XR5 pads is wearing faster than the previous rates, but with improved initial bite and much better heat handling capabilities (less fade when braking hard in long sessions). I am now experiencing about the same wear rates in the rear as in the front, but I think that is due to a change in the brake proportioning valve, adding more rear brake bias to the previous setup. Rotor wear is similar to that of the previous GT-Sport compounds, and the pad material washes off my wheels without issue.

Willie Gee

Sounds like you received the old compound, which are quite loud. Many of my friends and fellow Auto-Xers had these pads, and thier great experience with them led me to my regrettable purchase. My pads (both sets) were always eeirely quiet, except for the grinding. Ruined my wheels and paint in two months and ground through two sets of rotors, not even so much as an "I'm sorry" from Cobalt.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...&#entry11908674

Rodan

Good question - I believe you may be right on this. If I remember correctly the whole pad was measured after they were uninstalled, but I will check again.

In that case, I also need to measure the width of the backing plate to take that into account.

Rodan

Thanks for the link. I did get a chance to read through that thread after I had already purchased the pads - thus my initial concern prior to installing the pads.

My experience turned out to be positive, but it is meant to be only an account of that particular instance.

S2Koupe

my experience with Cobalt GT-Sports mimics Rodan's review completely.

Ive been on track 3 times with them. USUALLY i switch them on and off immediately from my OEM pads. last time i thought i was going to another event but ended up not, so i got some street miles on and the dust was insane. washes off easily when its dry, if it gets wet, it leaves streaks that you do have to put some effort into. but only when wet. and they eventually come off. (just like any other brake dust)

yes, i got the loud ones. even tried without any shim plates. thats not the source of the noise. if im easy on the brakes, i can be lucky and dont hear them sometimes.

but im pretty sure i got the ones AFTER they were switched over because i had read about the switch over after i had bought the pads which were on the most recent delivery.

ive got plenty of pad left. and i have dedicated rotors for these pads. i do not allow mixing of compounds on the same rotor. and i dont recommend anyone else use two pads on the same rotor. it has caused issues in the past for me like faster rotor wear, uneven deposition which leads to "warped rotors" and compromised braking. pads always leave a bit of material in the surface of metal rotor.