Time for me to get some new track pads and I would appreciate some advice on the Carbotechs.

I track my car maybe three days per year. Stock rotors, stock seat, stock 3 point harness and no roll bar.

For years I have been running Carbotech XP8s front and rear. I usually install the pads at home and drive to the track. I run Motul 600 brake fluid. Right now I'm running Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires with a tread rating of 340.

I always run intermediate and consider myself to be running maybe 9/10 at most. I always joke that I'm there to look at the scenery. Momentum tracks in the northeast. Representative best lap times are in the 2:32 - 2:34 range at Watkins Glen and in the 1:07 - 1:09 range at Lime Rock.

I'm not the most confident heel and toe'r, and my longitudinal g force tracings are pretty good, but not as steep as they could be, even with the XP-8s.

The question is whether to move up to XP-10 pads, move up to XP-10 pads on the rear only, move up to XP-10 pads on the front only or stay with the XP-8 pads as I've been running.

Can anyone give me a sense of any change in feel in the three XP-10 scenarios as compared to the XP-8s as I am now running?

I like the Carbotech pads as they have been very rotor friendly, are not too squealy on the street (at least with the XP-8s) and I have no thought of changing brands.
Thanks for your thoughts and advice.

 

What year is your car, and do you have the stock wheel/tire setup, or something else? What street pads do you run?

 

2004, stock wheel/tire setup. Except for a Canton oil pan purchased as part of that original group buy, the car is bone stock. Dealer alignment, so nothing fancy there.

On the street, I'm running Autozone Duralast Gold C-Max ceramic pads, parts DGC829 and DGC537. Nice pads but they appear to be discontinued. So much for the lifetime warranty.

Over about 10 years I've used up perhaps three sets of XP-8s and I've always been quite happy with them. Just wondering if I should bump up to the XP-10s.

 

I’ve got a square setup and run xp10 front and xp8 rear. Granted that’s all I have run in my limited history. I’m sure someone like Nate with more experience can provide a better opinion.

But I think the idea is to have the most braking force you can use in order to brake the hardest for the shortest amount of time and keep average speed through a corner as high as possible.

im assuming based off of your other stock parts that you are on a stock wheel width and tire width. That said I don’t think adding the higher bite/temp pad at only one end makes as much sense. But again other more experienced folks should chime in. I guess the way to gauge is could you be braking later with a more aggressive pad at the courses you run?

In my opinion you are probably reaching the grip limit of the conti tires usinn xp8 and while xp10 might give you a quicker decel you find yourself overcoming grip on braking and thus negating any positive effect of the more aggressive compound.

just my 2c

 

I posted a similar thread last year but I was thinking I'd go XP10 all the way around. Here's the thread: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-ra...1193665/page2/

The gist is that I'm in an 06 on 245/255 RE71's on an otherwise stock car. I ended up buying R10/R8 GLocs, which are supposed to be the same compound as the Carbotechs. I was finally convinced by calling GLoc customer support and talking to a guy that has some 06+ S2000 track experience. His recommendation was R10 fronts/R8 rears. He said that he was experiencing the rears triggering ABS prior to the fronts when using the same compound front and rear. I'm not sure how much carryover that tidbit will have over to your car. I also did learn from the rep that there should be no issue swapping between the R10/R8 and an OEM pad on the same rotor.

I only have one trackday under my belt and everything performed great. The pads stop squealing once bedded and warm. However, mine squealed pretty quickly again on my 4 hr. drive home. The braking on the street was adequate but the noise/dust was too much. I can't leave them in on the street. If you don't do a commute and are only driving for leisure, they should be fine.

 

Don't stagger compounds if your tires are staggered. Honda built the appropriate bias into the stock brake / wheel size setup. Inspect your used pads for disintegration due to overheating. If you don't experience fade or disintegration don't buy higher temp pads. We have always found carbotech to use weak backing plates that flex and with their compounds give a soft pedal feel. This probably isn't noticable with 340tw skinny tires though. Either way, dont confuse soft pedal with fade.

Also, use amsoil and/or an oil cooler with that steel oil pan. Ppl are logging higher temps with the canton pans.

 

Thanks very much for the comments / advice. I'm not getting pad disintegration due to overheating.

Will be travelling for 10 days, so will not likely to be on the boards, but will try to follow if I can.

 

Just to bring my musings to a conclusion, I took a look at my XP-8 brake pads. They are probably good for a couple more track days. The fronts show about 66% of wear, the rears about 50%.

The fronts show some glazing, the rears do not. Compared to what I have experienced on my MGA pads, I would say the glazing is light. But is does mean that I am right up there on the temperature bubble, so I have opted to go with the XP-10 pads.

Thanks for the input. Quite helpful.

 

Give me a shout in the future, we have lots of Carbotech and Gloc pads in stock and would be happy to hook it up. As somebody else mentioned, they are essentially the same pad.