Looking for recommendations for pads with more life.
I have been running Project Mu Club Racers and am on stock calipers. They are decent for my use case EXCEPT that I have been killing them in a weekend; advanced run group.
I know I should add ducting or upgrade to BBK, but with the limited number of track days I do per year, I would prefer to solve the issue with a pad change if possible.

Things that are important to me:
-I street drive track pads, don't care about noise but needs to have good cold bite
-non-corrosive dust
-no fade on track (NA car, no aero, 200TW 255 square setup)
-better life than Project Mu CR
-ideally, plays nice with other compounds on the rotor without needing to resurface

Was looking at the Raysbestos ST43 vs Carbotech XP10/XP8, happy to hear thoughts on those and if there are any other recommendations.

Thanks!

 

Raybestos ST43 is my go to pad.

I've tried the following pads:
-carbotech XP10/8
-hawk DTC70/60
-P-mu HC800+
-P-mu CR

It's pretty much everything you're asking for on the stock calipers. That said, don't expect them to be some magical pixie dust. The main limitation is going to be the stock caliper, pad size/shape, and rotors - being so small, they do not have the thermal capacity to last on tracks with numerous heavy braking zones. If i'm not mistaken, I believe you're located in SoCal. If that's the case then tracks like ACS, SoWS CCW, and BW CW13 will destroy your brakes. Even with these pads, you won't get more than 3-4 track days. That's what I was getting on a stock s2k 10 years ago on RS3s and RE-11a tires running 225/255. Today's 200TW tires are insane and are around 2-3 seconds faster per lap than the RS3/RE-11a tires from 10 years ago.

 

I have been running CSG Spec C2 pads on the BRZ last 2 track seasons. They are pricey but they are my go-to pads now. They work fine stone cold, great bite, highish c.f. but also very modulatable (important since I disconnect ABS fuse at the track), and I put 9 events, 18 track days (!) on the fronts before replacing. 4 stints per track day, probably averaged only ~12 minutes per stint. Dust isn't bad and cleans up easily enough. They make some noise but not as bad as most track pads. IMO they're quite streetable, I often end up driving to/from events with them and sometimes street on them between events as well. This is with the huge Performance Package Brembos btw, probably won't get as much life out of them with stock S2k rotors/calipers.

I had previously tried the Project Mu CR pads on the BRZ, but they lacked bite, particularly when cold. I kinda couldn't wait to replace them.. CSG C2 were a tremendous improvement and seem to combine all the things I like. Except price...
Before them I ran Winmax W5, which felt great but were *stupid* loud, people turned their heads in disbelief at the track where most are running dedicated track pads!
I used to run Carbotech XP10s on the FD, S2000, and 240Z. I liked them, but the C2s have better bite cold and hot.

 

Appreciate it. The CSG pads are interesting but are quite $$$. I'll give the Raysbestos ST43 a shot next time around for the S2000, if I get 4-5 days out of them I'll be happy.
Funny @ZDan you mention the BRZ PP - I wasn't planning on tracking the BRZ initially but will be taking it out at least for a couple sessions in a couple weeks. I have some Powerstop Trackday pads coming for it so I don't completely run out of brakes on track, but was surprised that their more aggressive Trackday Spec pads weren't available for the Brembos considering the pad shape is shared with the Evo and STI.

 

I ran a couple of sets of DTC60's and they wore super fast. I am currently running on XP10/XP8's and like them so far. They wear a lot better, but do not have as much initial bite as some pads. I like more bite so that is a slight downside but overall they are good pads and do not wear as fast much as the DTC's did. Hard to compare on the number of track days since we all run on different tracks. I run some events on a short course near where we live with short straights and thus a bit easier on brakes in that sense. But some events are at BIR which does have a few harder braking zones and longer straights. But overall I still am liking the Carbotechs. May try the Raybestos though as I have heard a lot of good things about them.

 

Do the Carbotech compounds require resurfacing the rotor before putting them on, or do they play nice with other compounds with just a simple pad swap?

 

XP10/XP8s play fine with OEM pads. Carbotech recommends their street pads if you want to swap out but OEMs are just fine. XP10/8 do squeal on the road quite a bit but work fine. They are the only set of track pads I've had so I cannot comment as to how they compare to others.

 

I use Pagid RS29 (yellow) race pads for my stock calipers. They are a medium to high bite endurance racing pad with a wide temperature range. I ran 10 full weekend events with them and they were still at 50% thickness. Another nice thing about the Pagid yellows they are low noise and low dust. The only downside with Pagids is the cost ($300/set).

 

Tried a few different compounds and have been EXTREMELY happy with CSGs C21 front and C11 rear, on stock calipers. They lasted almost the entire 2021 season, about 9 track events (2-4 days each event) so pretty impressive. Liked the modulation a lot more compared to ST47s/43s, they lasted a VERY long time similar to the Raybestos, have some nice ceramic coating on them to help with temperature control on the calipers but are definitely pricey.

After switching to the ST-40 front kit, i'm running the RST3 front and RST4s rear (stock caliper) from Pagid. They're also very good, but the rear definitely won't last as long as the C11s did last season, so there is the trade off. Went with the Pagids because the C21s were out of stock in the ST-40 shape at the time, otherwise would've run those again.

The price for the CSGs definitely hurts but i'm definitely a fan. I've tried a large variety of pads, from Winmax, Raybestos, Carbotech, G-Loc, PFC, Pagid, CSG, Hawk to Ferodo and so far the stand-outs were Pagids (RSL29 for endurance, RST3 for Sprint with good value for money) and CSGs (C21 and C11. Did not like the C2. Very pricey but also very nice and long lasting.)

Regarding Carbotechs, they dust A LOT. It's not really corrosive like some Hawk compounds, but still fairly annoying. Raybestos have been pretty good, dust a fair bit, but not as bad as the Carbs/G-Locs.
Pagids and CSGs have dust as well, but not a ton and not aggressive (I get lazy and leave brake dust one for quite some time after an event, it all comes off easily though, lol).

 

I just had the wheels powder coated dark gray to camouflage the brake dust. ?