We just finished Car and Driver's One Lap of America, and used Carbotech 1108 race pads in front and Bobcats in the rear. I felt the stock pads were very weak considering the size of the rotors and calipers. The Carbotechs worked GREAT. There is much better bite with NO fading. A little noisysometimes, but that comes with race pads. I am going to live with the occasional brake squeal and run them on the street.

What other pads have you used on the street? Track? what was your impression? Thanks!

Mike

How is the brake dust with those pads, i am looking to upgrade also but i also want to reduce the amount of dust

You do know what One lap is right? good luck with those pads in Chi-town winters. They wont stop a skate baord when its 10 below.

Yes of course, i am looking to start road racing and was looking for a good pad upgrade, but also less dust would be nice. Chi-town winters are brutal that is for sure, and I would switch back to something closer to stock

I have the carbotech pads as well and lets just classify a"little squeal"

Lets be honest - they are freeken loud...the loudest thing I have ever heard...and it is relentless, it never stops...my friends can hear me coming from 1/2 a mile away...

that being said the do stop very, very, very well. I am going to a track event at Putnam Park in Indianapolis Indiana next month and I put on the race pads for that event. I was hoping to leave them on all summer but now I am not sure. Between the loud screaching and the tremendous amount of brake dust, I do not think I will use them as everyday pads. They are excellent at stopping and do not fade at all at the high temps you will see on the track...

The pads are very think and therefore the shims will not fit, there is just not enough room. My plan is to wear the pads in a little and then try and put the shims back in...I am hoping that will help with the noise.

The pads are excellent at what they do....they were just no intended for everyday street use. While you can use them for that... you will just have to put up with tremendous noise and dust levels.

I "hear" ya...might want to give this a try. I switched to 1108 from Panthers and the squealing is almost gone with these shims. The springs need to be spread out a little so they pop inside the piston with the same effort needed to pop them in the 993t caliper.

Taz,

Can you be more specific? What shims? Where did you get them?

Thanks man - I would love to leave my 1108's on so am willing to give it a try...

-Doug

yes please...

How are the XP8s and XP9s holding up long term?

I have a set of Bobcats and they were OK for about 6 months, but now have gone completely "off". They no longer modulate well and require HARD initial pedal to get them started, then they either brake slowly of very quickly - it's a coin toss. Much worse than the stock pads were when I took them out. On the bright side, they don't make noise any more

I'll be pulling them out shortly, but I'm still trying to decide what to replace them with.

To be fair, I did kill them on a race track. They were going off and I decided to just leave them on the car and see how they held up. They did stop the car all day, and when I completely smashed the pedal they did grab hard. I am still interested in how the XP8 and XP9 series pads will hold up under prolonged track use.