Pads and Fluid...

[SlowCivicHmm]

So time to step up to some name brand pads...and better fluid....

I have GSR Discs all around w/SS lines and stock MBC and BB.......

I'm looking into getting Cobalt GT-Sports or the ZR3......

any other recommendations?? I'm thinking GT for lack of power i have....who would have these locally?? may be axxis ultimates for the rear??

Also looking to drain my brake fluid from the Valvoline Syntec Full synthetic dot4 stuff to ATE super blue or Motul....also who would have it locally??


What are you guys using??

[Mafioso]

I dont know many that Auto X but I intend on getting into it soon.

Hope you find some good answers homie. Been a long time since I've seen ya.

[SlowCivicHmm]

werd....sup homie.....what you been up too??

[Mafioso]

Nada.. absolutely nada. ASU.. that's about it. Divorced.. hahaha.. ummm.. can't think of anything else.

[SlowCivicHmm]

that same gurl??

I know we met a gurl about the same time...and from online....you won...you lasted longer...hahahhahaa

I've been the same really...ups and downs...

[Mafioso]

Well, there was a girl that you met a LONG ass time ago at Scottsdale mall. Yea.. not that girl. This was a girl that I was with shortly after her though.. for 5 years. Wayyy to much bullshit to go through but thats said and done now, thank god.

Headed to bed. Good luck on your search bud.

[topramn]

as always, try UMS tuning.. being that they are one of the few local shops in town that actually participate in road racing, they generally have everything you need.. and if they dont have it, they point you in the right direction to get it..

[SlowCivicHmm]

lol...true

[Tage]

I personally think brand is a matter of personal preference mostly. There's lots of pads that will work just fine. Cobalts are good, Hawk, Carbotech, blah blah blah. Pick a high performance one and it will be a night and day difference from what you're running now if it's a stock/street pad.

FYI - I've got some GSR brakes you might be interested in. I'll PM you with the info.

[SlowCivicHmm]

Thx Tage....pm'd back.....edit'd my 1st post for some additional info on my current set up...

you do bring up the rotor thing...mine have a short life left.....no grooves but deff worn.....

Lets talk brakes guys...c'om!! tech on a board...wow...

[cibola]

Use the ATE Super Blue for sure, its the best bang for the buck. Is your car being used just for track use or is split as a DD? If its just track I would go more aggressive. than the pads that you stated. Also what is the power of the engine that you need to stop?

[BlueTeg]

I'm looking into getting Cobalt GT-Sports or the ZR3......
any other recommendations?? I'm thinking GT for lack of power i have....who would have these locally?? may be axxis ultimates for the rear??

Also looking to drain my brake fluid from the Valvoline Syntec Full synthetic dot4 stuff to ATE super blue or Motul....also who would have it locally??

What are you guys using??

I've never used the ZR3's (you're not talking about the XR series from cobalt are you?). You'll like the GTS for a street + light track pad. I think for your car (+/- 2400lbs), engine (sohc), and skill level (DE 2/3) it will be a good pad for you. Contact UMS, Jeremy can hook you up. If not, then contact Brian at Fastbrakes.
If you're on a budget, I wouldn't bother with upgraded the rears just yet.

ATE Blue FTW!!! Try UMS (again), if they can't get it for you try Patrick Motorsports.

What I use on my dedicated track car (beer can on wheels) wouldn't necessarily be the best for you (daily driver + occasional track duty). My pads require a decent amount of heat before they begin to bite, dust a lot, and are tough on the rotors.

[SlowCivicHmm]

I wont daily the same pad......c'mon now...haha Cobalt has a new series of pads....the4 XR is the older models I guess you could say......I'll post the web info when I get home

mines a beer can on wheels too bro....

Thx for the info guys....going to try out the current set up one more time its FIR main again anyway....time to get bored......I talked to UMS bout some cage work after the Holidays.....we can work out parts then...UMS FTW!!!

Thx guys.......

[dantana]

raybestos race pads for me, 1 enduro, 3 sprint races, and 6 months of DE and they show little wear. pricey pads, but they have already paid for themselves. break them in properly and youll outlive 2 sets of tires. takes a little time to get used to the lock up urge of these pads(really need a sticky tire for them), but they really a great product

[ILIKETODRIVE]

I'd get OEM's for the rears. They're less than $40 my cost.

[cibola]

I ran hawk blues DE'ing a dedicated track car with Super Blue fluid and it worked great. The second I started Race Group I would only get 2 weekends out of a set of blues before they were fried and crumbling in my hands. I was using a stock brake size set-up, with drums in the rear.

For the 2008 season I will be using the Raybestos endurance pads that you get at Porterfield Brakes. Danny has had great luck with these guys in 2007, so I decided to copy his set-up.

I am using 1994 LS Calipers; 11" Corrado Fastbrakes Rotors in the front, rears are the stock 1994 LS Disks. ATE Super Blue Fluid, 15/16 MC, Stock Brake Booster and the Raybestos Enduro Pads all they way around.

I am shooting for a late braking machine.

[UMS Tuning Sales]

joser-

ATE super blue is on the shelf here =D

I use it......shit I didn't bleed my brakes from May-Oct....its the best!

As for pads...its preference...I used Axxis Ultimates all around when I was running the Fastbrakes 11" kit back in the day.......

[Agent Smith]

I use ATE super blue ss lines & pbr ultimate ceramics (used to be called Axxis Ultimates) all around for some daily commute & canyon runs & track time with stock integra hardware (until march when I get my 11"rotors up front + 1" itr mc/bb+ nsx caliper set up :) )... I love my brakes now, but they will be even better...

[Vtecracer]

Heck right now I am using axxis ultimates up front on stock GSR rotors, OEM pads in the rear on stock GSR rears and ATE super blue in the system. There was a night and day difference in stopping power compared to oem stock pads (or autozone duralast crap) and when i installed the axxis ultimates. I am using this setup in DE2 and my brakes beat my tires every time. I will be going with a stickier tire this weekend to see how that feels.

[SlowCivicHmm]

oh shit are we having a tech thread on azht

[UMS Tuning Sales]

oh shit are we having a tech thread on azht

tech........................it happens

[LoooseGSR]

i'll be running the hawk blues for my first race this weekend, i've been a huge fan of Cobalt's, but I might pony up for the Raybestos ones since they seem to be so badass. carbotech have been good as well. In the rear on my car I still just run OEM as well.

[SlowCivicHmm]

aren't the OEM rear just about the same as an axxis pad or AEM? I think me and you justin having this talk a loooong time ago when you were at honda...not sure...lol

[Tage]

All I know is, if you're using an OEM rear pad and a good front pad, you're giving up braking ability and causing more front end weight transfer than necessary. I know this because when I had a performance pad in the front and stock pad in the rear, I could do max braking to the point of ABS engagement AND then pull up on the parking brake HARD and still not lock up the rear...

Obviously Honda does not think American's can drive (in general, we can't) and are affraid we're going to loop the car under braking so they have biased WAY too much braking towards the front.

Other data point is ask any Honda owner and they will tell you that they're on their x set of front pads but the rears are still the originals!

A 3rd data point is look at the braking performance stats on Honda's. The 60-0' are HORRIBLE!!! Granted this could be mostly due to the crappy all season tires but there's plenty of other cars on all seasons (even some mini-vans) that have better 60-0' stats.

A 4th data point is a C5 Corvette Z06 or E36 BMW M3. Both have outstanding 60-0' braking performance and guess what? The rear pads wear out at about the same rate as the fronts!

I'm telling you guys... race car or street car, you're giving up braking performance by not upgrading the rear brakes or pads...

[UMS Tuning Sales]

he has a good point..........

I have over 100,000 mile anf 5 years on my rear pads...............

I am definately not using the rear brakes

[Tage]

I just remembered a 5th data point. A long time ago, there was a magazine who did a test on a Honda Civic where they upgraded the front brakes with the AEM big brake kit (around 12" or so). They only did the front and the 60-0' stopping distances got worse than stock. Their excuse was, while the 60-0' stats didn't improve, it really wasn't meant to. Big brakes were more about running them on the track and now their Civic had superior fade resistance... blah blah blah...

I believe next they did the rear brake upgrade and then the stopping distances dropped dramtically and far improved over stock. It's all about "balance"...

[Agent Smith]

Tage needs to enlighten us on a how to for his rear ep3 rotors with integra calipers set up ;)

[Tage]

Just buy my setup for $100. If I tell everyone how to duplicate my setup it will cost you $200-300 to duplicate even buying all used parts.

Justin I'd be surprised if you could find the brackets you need for less than $100 by themselves... If you buy them, I'll tell you the secret and then you can carry the torch...

Back somewhat on the original topic, I still say pads are a matter of "brand preference". It's totally unfair to compare a Hawk Blue to the Raybestos "race" pad. Hell I had Raybestos pads on my Integra back in the day. I got them from Checker for $29.99 and they had a lifetime warranty. If you're going to compare across brands you need to compare apples to apples. A Hawk Blue is FAR from their most aggressive. Don't forget for Hawk it goes something like

Hawk HPS <-- least aggressive
Hawk HP+
Hawk Black
Hawk Blue <-- Not sure why everyone seems to think this is the most aggressive pad???
Hawk HT-10
Hawk HT-12
Hawk HT-14
Hawk DTC-60
Hawk DTC-70 <--- most aggressive

Carbotech looks something like this:

Carbotech Bobcat
Carbotech Panther
Carbotech Panther Plus (I think they call this XP-6 now)
Carbotech XP-10 <-- I have these
Carbotech XP-12
Carbotech XP-14
Carbotech XP-16

Raybestos likely looks similar:

Raybestos cheap
Raybestos upgrade #1
Raybestos upgrade #2
Raybestos upgrade #3
Raybestos ubber race compound <-- this is likely the one that everyone says is bad ass and compare it to the other brands "relatively" mild compound.