Greg W

To help manage costs, I'm trying to get more life out of my track pads and am looking for your thoughts.

I currently track 4-6 times a year in Norcal HPDEs. For the track I use Carbotech XP10/XP8 with OEM rotors and Toyo R888s. For street I use OEM pads with the same rotors and Dunlop Z1 Star Specs. I always switch to the Carbotech pads a week or so before track days, then back again to my OEM pads afterwards. When I swap back to OEMs I do about 10 hard stops from about 60mph to bed the pads back to the rotor (I let the first track session bed the Carbotechs in).

Problem is I'm only getting 2-3 track days out of my pads, and at ~$280/set would like to extend pad life to manage costs. I'm an advanced-intermediate driver but know I need to brake later and deeper for quicker laps, and that will increase pad wear. If I went to dedicated (solid) track rotors, would that extend the life of my Carbotechs? It would require adding rotor replacement to my pre-track day pad swap routine, adding about an hour to the prep tim, but it's pretty straight forward to do. How about switching track pads to another type that gives similar feel with better wear/cost performance?

Thanks...

bellwilliam

are you running brake ducts ? it will significantly reduce wear.

QuadraJet

When carbotechs run out of their temp range, they evaporate. I know it's not really evaporation but, that's how they seem to wear. I've been contemplating the accord brake swap because you end up with a bigger pad.

This isn't good news for me though. I was hoping for more than 3 days out of a set of pads. That's what my 3300 lbs WRX gets out of pads and it's both more powerful and heavier (though it does have brembos).

With ducts running lets say in the top 10% of an advanced HPDE group, how many days can I reasonably expect out of a set of pads?

I doubt the rotors will matter at all.

tinkfist

I am also interested in this topic with regard to how much a BBK will extend the life of pads. Can anyone that has converted to a BBK for the track comment on this?

bellwilliam

What matters most with pad life, given equal same pads and rotors.

1. Driving style.
2. Track. AAA Speedway infield is 3 times harder on let's say SOW CW.
3. Temperature. Hotter it gets faster they evaporate. Brake duct helps here.
4. Stickier the tire, shorter life for the pads.

rob.ok

BBK does extend the pad life but mainly due to its heat dispersion properties (aluminum calipers and larger ventilated rotors keep the pads within operating temps better). Just buy a pad that can work at a much higher temps than the Carbotechs and you don't even need brake ducts


If you ask me their temp ranges are way off from what they advertise, at least for XP10.....I boiled fluids and faded XP10s easily. The pads I run now are not even supposed to go as high as the CTs yet I haven't experienced any problems with them what so ever.

WynnS123

^^what pads are you using now?

Billj747

Yes but you will still heat soak the rotor = short rotor life.

If you're boiling the fluid, you're not dissipating enough heat from the rotor.

rob.ok

I run Cobalt XR1. They are not track pads...they are race pads. XR2 might be a better pad depending on your set up but I like XR1 a lot.

Secondly, Cobalt is miles a head of the rest in terms of technoligy.....a lot of the dust you see on the wheels is just the additives that are used to bond the actual friction compound together. The Cobalt pads contain no additives. The pad material is 100% friction compound which also increases its life significantly.

I like Carbotech a lot but I'm a huge fan of Cobalt

Billj747

I'm familiar with the XR1. Those, Performance Friction 01 compound, and Pagid Blues are pretty common in Grand Am/Koni Challenge.

We use PFC 01 on our NSX.