I want to do a brake job on my 04 cobra, and was wondering what is a good brand of brake pads to go with?
Looking for brake pad brand recommendations
- Thread starter digital911
- Start date
I use the Carbotech street pads(bobcat) on the street and the XP12 and XP8 race pads on track.
Love them!:rockon:
Love them!:rockon:
I just ordered a set of Hawk HPS pads for the front and will be doing some braided brake lines as well as a full flush and upgraded fluid.
I second the brake pad recommendation request but need more info than just "use xxx brand, I like them".
If you have pads to recommend, please address the following compared to stock:
How much do they dust?
How is their stopping power when cold? Hot?
Are they noisy?
The stock pads have good stopping power and good initial bite in my opinion but I'd like something a little less dusty and not any noisier. Too good to be true? I've found two motorcycle brake pad compounds that have excellent hot and cold stopping power, practically no dust, and they aren't noisy. I have yet to find that combination in car brake pads but if there are motorcycle pad compounds like that, surely there are car pads like that as well.
If you have pads to recommend, please address the following compared to stock:
How much do they dust?
How is their stopping power when cold? Hot?
Are they noisy?
The stock pads have good stopping power and good initial bite in my opinion but I'd like something a little less dusty and not any noisier. Too good to be true? I've found two motorcycle brake pad compounds that have excellent hot and cold stopping power, practically no dust, and they aren't noisy. I have yet to find that combination in car brake pads but if there are motorcycle pad compounds like that, surely there are car pads like that as well.
I can only comment on the HPS pads on my S2000.
DEAD quiet. No noise at all. good initial bite and little fade as they heated from spirited city driving. Granted I never Auto-xd or tracked, but I did want a semi aggressive pad for street use and the Hawk HPS was that for me.
I will give more details about the cobra when I get them installed.
DEAD quiet. No noise at all. good initial bite and little fade as they heated from spirited city driving. Granted I never Auto-xd or tracked, but I did want a semi aggressive pad for street use and the Hawk HPS was that for me.
I will give more details about the cobra when I get them installed.
EBC red stuff pads. theyre ceramic so they have low dust and no noise as long as they are installed properly. my friend uses them on his gtp (not a mustang i know) but they bite real good cold or hot. very little fade.
I've only used stock and the Hawk HPS, I loved the way they hooked, and they where quiet, however they dusted like hell lol!
Hawk HPS - silent, relatively dust free (maybe I wash my car too much and don't notice?). Stop great. Added stainless steel brake lines and you are good to go!
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Funny, I had EBC Redstuff pads on my wife's 300C and they were absolutely terrible. Cold, they had about as much bite as stock, if not a little less, which is to say that it felt like I had pieces of plywood for brake pads. Hot, they were a little better than stock but not a huge improvement. The also squealed when cold and they dusted HORRIBLY. They were completely worn out in 10K of street driving, almost all of which was done by my wife, who is a bit more aggressive than the average driver but far from hard on brakes. I will never use another EBC product ever again, ever. (I have also had less than fantastic experiences with them on other cars and motorcycles.)
First off a disclaimer:
I do not have Carbotech street pads(Bobcats) in my Brembo front calipers just the rear. My fronts are still the very high dust Galfers that came with the kit, they work very good but they hate my chrome wheels and coat them with vast quantities of corrosive dust.
On track I run Carbotech XP12 or XP14s up front and XP8s in back, I won't bother to describe them since they are race only pads, I'll just say they are so good I decided to run the Bobcat street pads when my rears needed replacing.
Obviously being on the rear I can not really evaluate cold stopping or hot stopping because they are only doing about 20% of the work.
What I can evaluate is the dust levels and noise levels.
They are the least dusting pad I have ever used, and the dust it does make is non-corrosive.
And they are quieter than the Galfers up front, mostly completely silent, I think once or twice after a sound beating I got a little peep out of them which went away after they cooled down in a couple miles.
From here--> Carbotech Performance Brakes
Carbotech™ Bobcat 1521™
The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known for its awesome release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. Like our AX™ & XP™ line of compounds, Bobcat 1521™ is a Ceramic based friction material offering minimal rotor damage and non corrosive dust. Bobcat 1521™ offers outstanding performance, even when cold, low dusting and low noise with an excellent initial bite. This compound’s virtually perfect linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Bobcat 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 900°F. Bobcat 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle, police cruiser, and has won multiple SCCA Solo 2 and Prosolo National Championships. The Bobcat 1521™ compound has been found to last two-three times longer than OE pads you can purchase at a dealership or national retailer. Bobcat 1521™ compound has also been found to extend the life of your rotors 2-3 times. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use.
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Thanks, Jimmy. I am going to order a set for my Cobra and almost definitely a set for my wife's 300C. I have some Disc Italia titanium kevlar pads that I was going to put on the C when the cryo treated Powerslot rotors arrive. I was kind of taking a risk with the Disc Italia pads as I haven't seen any especially detailed endorsements, but if the Bobcat pads work as well as you say, then they ought to do well on the C.
This guy really likes the Bobcat 1521 compound: http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/suspension-modifications-211/726763-carbotech-bobcat-pads.html
I would like to hear your opinion of the Carbotech race pads, though, if you don't mind.
This guy really likes the Bobcat 1521 compound: http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/suspension-modifications-211/726763-carbotech-bobcat-pads.html
I would like to hear your opinion of the Carbotech race pads, though, if you don't mind.
One more question, Jimmy. Where do you order your Carbotech pads from? I see Carbotech has prices quoted on its site, but are there other vendors that are cheaper?
I run Kumho 710 tires on track for reference 275/40/17.
Once the race pads are hot(warmed up) the braking is very easy to modulate, and is very predictable and linear, with great initial bite.
Racers often talk about release but not having run any other race pad I'm not sure what they are talking about since I have never had a race pad act like it's not releasing.
I am still using slightly cut stock 600# per inch springs with stock shocks so these little 13" brakes with these pads and tires will overwhelm my front springs pretty easily, so I have to be smooth and gentle with them.
I prefer to not trigger ABS at every corner, at least not with the fronts, the rears get unloaded pretty bad though, so often the inside rear will lift off a little and trip the ABS.
It's all wonderfully predictable though.
I do have brake ducts so pad and rotor life is fairly good considering how heavy and fast these cars are(can be), and how thin and small the rotors are.
Unfortunately for people interested in this discussion, race pads are a new thing to me, this is the first car I have run them on and all I have ever used are Carbotechs. So I am not the best or most experienced witness.
After reading multiple horror stories about guys getting rained on at events running Hawk Blues and Blacks, and the awful mess and involved clean up that ensued. I was not going to use Hawks, even though the price is great!
There is another race pad that I really want to try and that's the Performance Friction 01 compound.(w/ the 97s in the rear) The Grand Am Mustang drivers and three good friends(instructors) that track heavy fast Mustangs have been using them for a while and they rave about them.
I buy directly from them but I call live and tell them I am active on the forums and that I am not shy about telling people I like them, and they have given me a small discount at least twice.
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The Carbotech website says this regarding installing their pads on existing rotors:
When changing brake pad types, I've always just used some coarse sandpaper and scuffed up the rotors. But it sounds like Carbotech says that's not good enough. What do you guys think?
When changing brake pad types, I've always just used some coarse sandpaper and scuffed up the rotors. But it sounds like Carbotech says that's not good enough. What do you guys think?
I have used sand paper when I first switched to Carbotech from some el cheapo Motorcrafts. I scuffed them by hand pretty good though.
I have had no problems bedding in.
If you are going to be in a hurry with the bed in, then I would skim cut them.
If you have time to bed them in somewhat slowly, the pads themselves will actually remove some of the molecules left from the old pad compound.
Race pads do this quite rapidly if they are kept cold, it's a little dangerous though.
But the street pads will too, to some extent, if you get most of it first with sand paper or whatever.
What we do NOT want to happen is the plating out over top of heavy or even medium previous pad residuals, this can cause uneven transfer and run out issues and bad results.
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i`m glad to see a thread like this cause i have plans to do more open track events also
i have a couple friends using carbotechs & they seem to like them too & what kind of rotors should i go with now ? i was thinking about getting some DBA`s 5000 series or the ones that full tilt boogie offers
i have brake ducts installed too BTW ( mid continent kit )
i have a couple friends using carbotechs & they seem to like them too & what kind of rotors should i go with now ? i was thinking about getting some DBA`s 5000 series or the ones that full tilt boogie offers
i have brake ducts installed too BTW ( mid continent kit )
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The FTB rotors are nice, that would be my first choice. Less mass too.
Jimmy, I've got a couple more questions after reading your most recent post. You reference slow breakin and fast breakin. I'm assuming fast breakin is the "do x number of hard braking from x mph to x mph". Is slow breakin just using the brakes "normally" or "gently" for a few hundred miles?
And what is skimming? Is that just sanding off a small amount of the pad surface?
Thanks!
And what is skimming? Is that just sanding off a small amount of the pad surface?
Thanks!
Got the Hawk HPS as well and seem to perform well. Dust buildup is noticeable especially if you have chrome. But if you car wash frequently like I do then it shouldn't be a problem. :thumbsup: Extra dust comes with the territory of a more aggressive pad.
This might be a dumb question, but I need to know. Don't the 03-04 Cobras come with SS braided lines already or am I wrong? :shrug: If not then is it worth getting front and rears? I was looking at a set made by Russell part#693270. Since you road race a lot Jimmy maybe you can shed some light on this for me.
This might be a dumb question, but I need to know. Don't the 03-04 Cobras come with SS braided lines already or am I wrong? :shrug: If not then is it worth getting front and rears? I was looking at a set made by Russell part#693270. Since you road race a lot Jimmy maybe you can shed some light on this for me.
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