Brake Pads

#1

I’m going to have rocks thrown at me on this one, but I am trying to help in the end, so here goes:

In a perfect world, all of you would run Carbotech brake pads. Well, the world isn’t perfect but its really really easy to order the Carbotech pads. I even get a discount that I would be happy to pass along. I see so many cars running Hawk or other pads, maybe just by creature of habit, but the Carbotech pad is, in my opinion, superior to all else.

So what’s the rub? If I can get you guys set up to buy them competitively priced, who is in?

#2

first you have to define “competitively priced”

#3

Somewhere around $120 per axle set plus shipping.

#4

that’s exactly what i paid today for a front set of pfc06. and they’re damn good pads.

#5

Topbrakes.com has the best PFC prices I’ve seen for the E30.

#6

$120 sounds awfully close to what I paid for my Hawks. I’ve used Hawk for years and have been very pleased with them.

#7

Scott,

Educate me. I don’t know a thing about what makes one brake pad better than the next. I assume you’ve run different pads on your other cars, what makes one better or worse. I’ve been using hawk because of price pretty much, but that is all I’ve used. They feel like they stop the car great, but I don’t have anything to compare to.

When people that are winning National titles talk, I try to listen so…

Thanks,
Jason

#8

jtower wrote:

+10 pfc 06 rocks!

#9

BigKeyserSoze wrote:

Gents, Carbotech pads are pricey. $120 is a good price. I don’t think that you’ll find better.

I did a lot of pad testing a couple yrs ago. The purpose was to figure out which pads had more brake torque then others. As such, I didn’t learn much about one late generation pad being “better” then another late generation pad. But I can tell you that old school pads like Hawk HT10’s aren’t as good.

IMO the most significant thing that Carbotech brings to the table is that they have the widest range of brake torque. You can get XP8, 10, 12 & 16 for both our front and rear. No one else gives you that range of torque to experiment with.

#10

Contingency for Nationals?

#11

Carbotech has a new compound for the front. It’s similar to XP12 but lasts longer. I’m currently running RP2 in the front and XP10 in the rear. It’s much better than the Hawk HT10s that were previously on all four corners. When I bought the car, it had a brake proportioning valve to help achieve the proper bias… I didn’t much care for the Hawks, but understand Hawk has better compounds to offer. The HT10s were somewhat off and on and very hard to modulate. Having great luck with Carbotech for the past two years, I intend to stay loyal, but I’m a rookie driver with very limited experience.

#12

I guess I’m weird because I love Hawk HT10’s. One whole lemons race, IFU3 weekend, a day at VIR, and double duty for a whole weekend at RA and they’re still not done. I’m really not sure you can beat that for the price.

#13

5 Race Meetings (20min Qualifying, 3x 10-15mile races) and some practice days using PFC06. Fronts half worn, rears down 1-1.5mm. FTW.

#14

I found the hawks to have great stopping power and lasted a long time, but they were harder to control.

#15

I’ve been a loyal Hawk HT-10 user for years. And haven’t really tried anything other than PFC 06’s and was all that happy with the braking but they lasted a good ways through the 8 hour race in which I used them. Not sure they were worth switching for. HT-10 would have lasted as long if not long with better braking. I’m going to be giving some PFC 01’s a shot at CMP in November. I’m not gonna hook them up to a bunch of gauges and meters and a bunch of bell and whistles. But I will drive the piss out of my car and report back with my opinion.

#16

I found the carbotechs to have a huge selection of friction compounds, they stop like mad, wear well, and do not eat rotors. They do not have a contingency plan, per se, because Hawk bought the right to be the “official brake pad of NASA”, but for both national championships I won with Carbotech, they treated me very well.

I would also suggest any doubters check the national championship registers. Lots and lots of winners have Carbotech pads on the car. They make a good product.

I am happy to order up pads for any of you that need them. Just let me know.

-Scott

#17

BigKeyserSoze wrote:

[quote]I found the carbotechs to have a huge selection of friction compounds, they stop like mad, wear well, and do not eat rotors. They do not have a contingency plan, per se, because Hawk bought the right to be the “official brake pad of NASA”, but for both national championships I won with Carbotech, they treated me very well.

I would also suggest any doubters check the national championship registers. Lots and lots of winners have Carbotech pads on the car. They make a good product.

I am happy to order up pads for any of you that need them. Just let me know.

-Scott[/quote]

I’m interested in play with some different pads next year and have always heard good things about the Carbotech’s… which compounds do you recommend for the e30’s?

#18

BigKeyserSoze wrote:

[quote]I found the carbotechs to have a huge selection of friction compounds, they stop like mad, wear well, and do not eat rotors. They do not have a contingency plan, per se, because Hawk bought the right to be the “official brake pad of NASA”, but for both national championships I won with Carbotech, they treated me very well.
[/quote]

What does “they treated me well” mean? I would like to see a contingency plan for Nationals otherwise its unlikely I’ll try them.

#19

A $2400 custom race suit for free for starters. A pile of free pads for follow-up. And cash back in 2008. And discounted pads now. Run their stuff at the front, with stickers on the car, and they treat you right.

-Scott

#20

I run XP10 all around and the car stops hard. I am told that XP12 or 16 for the rear and XP10 for the front is a good setup.