I just finished my 2nd track weekend (awesome!) and I have another next month. Im currently still on the stock pads (6200 miles) and I think Im going to a track pad for the next event. I was wondering, is it okay to get the new pads and run them on the used, stock rotors or should I go ahead and get new rotors at the same time?

Also, I was thinking about getting the Carbotech XP-10's. I know these are a very aggressive compoud, will I begin to outbrake my tires? Ill still be on the stock Advans for this event.

 

If you are not at least an intermediate driver on track, and if you are running street tires DO NOT use Xp10's. they are simply amazing on track, but will STOP you now. You will lock up a street tire at heavy braking loads, and they are not particularly streetable. I would suggest looking at the "Evo specific" performance friction pads. Excellent pad, about 130.00 from Road Race Engineering.

 

The general rule of thumb is you can use new pads with old rotors but never new rotors with old pads.

-nurb2-

 

I ran HPDE numerous times with racing brake pads, and stock rotors. The front rotors finally wore out and I got slotted rotors that are not that much more radical than the stock rotors. If you get racing rotors, you need good racing pads, and both will wear quickly -- and they are EXPENSIVE. I'd say get racing pads, and drive on the stock rotors until they wear out, or until you find they just don't have enough stopping power for your driving skill, whichever comes first.

 

As long as they are not terribly grooved or warped and have enough thickness which im sure yours do then its ok to use new pads... I agree your carbotech picks are a little agressive for street tires.

 

New pads on old rotors shouldn't be a problem.

I just got a set of Project Mu Titan Ki. On the street they seem to be performing better than the Ferodo DS2500. I'm not sure what the DS2500 ratings and cf are, but Project Mu's cf is from 0.4 - 0.6 depending on temperature. They max out at 800C.

Compared to the Ferodo DS3000 (race pad), the Project Mu have a higher temp resistenace (800C compared to 750 for DS3000). The 3000 cf is 0.62 constant while the Project Mu varies b/w .4 - 0.6.

Project Mu seem very streetable in cold weather too because of their varying cf (coifficent of Friction). If I get a chance to track the car this week I'll write up a review comparing the DS2500 to the Titan Ki.

 

Alright, thanks for the advice guys. I am only planning on using street tires for this last event, next year Ill be moving to R-Comps. I wont be using the XP-10's on the street, my stock pads still have plenty of life for street driving.

My next question is, is it okay to run stock pads on the rear for this event with the Carbotech's up front? Will that throw my brake bias off? Once again I will get new rear pads for next season so this will just be for one event. My friend is recommending the XP-8's for the rear, good choice?

Thanks for the help.

 

I haven't personally tried running 2 different sets of pads on the car (ie different front and rear combo), but people have recommended not doing it as it will affect your brake bias. If people like chronohunter advise against it then i'd definitely listen. I was in the same position as you and i ended up buying the same set of rear pads even though my other pads had over 90% life left.

Hope this helps.

 

No problem going with new pads on old rotors. Its not like a World Championship or something, just some open track time. I've gone from Endless CCX pads to Project Mu Titan Kai's, to Performance Friction pads on my current slotted rotors, no problem. If you do a lot of track days, it would get really expensive to replace the rotors with each pad change. Some people turn their rotors when they change pads, but there are negatives to that too.

As far as the rear pads go, they arent crucial since the rear brakes on an evo do so little work; you dont need much torque back there and they don't get very hot. You dont want to have too big a difference between the characteristics of the front and rear pads tho' because of the brake bias issue. Clearly matching pads front and rear is optimal, but If you are running a crossover pad on the front, (ie. CCX's, PF's, Titan Kai's, Porterfield R4S's, etc), you probably want a crossover or stock pad on the rear. If you are running race pads on the front, you probably want at least a crossover pad on the rear. Carbotech XP-10's with stock rear pads doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

 

Okay, I'll go ahead and pick up some pads for the rear while Im at it. Thanks.