[Silver Bullet]

Didn't know if anyone has any hands on knowledge if the stock pads held up well with little fade during racing schools. Figure 20-30 minute runtimes.
If not what have you found that works well still on street?

 

[Gordy M]

If you want to invest the money, get Hawk Plus pads (for the front) with new rotors and put them on for track events the stock rears are ok. Otherwise the stock pads will hold up fine. If you plan on running several track events then pop for the rotors and pads. For autocrossing, the stock pads are fine.

 

[corvette dave]

There is no way I would take a Z06 or any other corvette on track for 20-30 minutes with stock front brake pads.
Get a good aftermarket pad and change them before and after each event. Once you do it a few times it becomes very easy.
Also change brake fluid before each event.
Dot 4 or racing fluid.
If you want some horror stories, I can give them to you!

 

[Zippy]

Great advice guys, thanks!

Zippy /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

 

[racerx454]

Well, we did at the Bragg-Smith racing school. We even used the stock Camaro SS brakes. I think 30-45 minutes was the most time we would drive without a cool-down session. All courses are different, but I would keep them until I noticed significant amount of fade or wore them out. I have the Hawks (HPS and HP+) on my Camaro so be advised that they will absolutely coat your wheels in graphite. I guess not such a big deal if your wheels aren't chrome. The stock rotor should be fine. Unless you go to serious dollars, the slightly more expensive rotors won't do dick. It is all about the pad.

 

[Silver Bullet]

I agree. I have raced at many different tracks and on street tires the brakes don't get near the workout they do with race tires.
On some trackes like CMP and Road atlanta I would never do it but VIR or summit point I have never been to so don't know if there hard on brakes or not. I will probably go with street Z pads from autozone. They work great!! and you can replace them free under warranty. Hopefully they offer them for C5's. If not I might call carbotech and talk to larry.

 

[corvette dave]

I keep hearing some people talk about
"little or significant fade".
When you are on track you do not want ANY fade! NONE!
RacerX: The problem with your thinking is that if the fade happens while you are on the brakes hard at 140 mph, which we are seeing at some tracks, you are in deep crap.
The brakes do not always give you an early warning.
Maybe you did not get fade with stock pads on a track on a 70 degree day. What happens when you go to the same track on a 95 degree day? Ambient temp has a lot to do with fade.
I repeat, Do not take your vette out on a medium to high speed track with stock front pads. Yes there are some low speed tracks that a stock pad would be ok for, like Waterford Hills in Michigan.
I am not trying to flame anyone here but if I can save one member's butt then I will be happy.

_________________
'99 SILVER 6-SPEED COUPE, LOWERED, CHROME WHEELS, CAGS

 

[racerx454]

I welcome all opinions, I was simply relaying what I knew. I never went that fast in the straight and the weather was extemely cool in January. I agree you should upgrade the pad if you have the dough and are truly racing. Once again, I recommend any pad from hawk (www.hawkbrake.com), but think the HP+ is as aggressive as you should go if you want to use the pads on the street. Beyond that, you will chew up the rotors when they are cold. Just my $0.02.

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Good input from everyone here so far. racer X is correct about running a race pad for the street. For the first 10 minutes, they don't grab at all (untilthey warm up). They will cause more wear on your stock rotors.

The one thing that I have not heard yet (unless I am not reading everything very well) is that it depends on what kind of track you are going on. Wide turning high speed tracks like Willow Springs (in CA), don't put much demand on brakes. On the other hand, tracks like Buttonwillow will eat brakes up like crazy.

If you go with a racing pad, make sure to bed them properly. If not done correctly, it could lead to some extremly heavy wear on your pads.

Good luck and be safe.

 

[corvette dave]

Brad, read my post 2 above yours. I mentioned stock pads as a possibility on slow speed tracks. Thanks

 

[Silver Bullet]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts. I am in the same place also. Stock pads can handle a easy braking track especially in a car that's a little lighter like ours. Just didn't know if anyone knew if VIR north or summit point were hard on brakes like a CMP.

 

[Mako]

I used stock pads and rotors in 2 says of driving school at Willow Springs with no problems.

I go to Button Willow 6/2-6/3 and will check the pads and rotors before I go. I will have DRM SS Lines, SS Pistons, High-temp fluid and DRM front cooling ducts before I go. I bpught a set of Durastops from Fitchner Chev. on Bob's recommendation and will install those first if the pads need it. I will decide what other pad to use after the Durastops are gone.

I am most looking forward to getting the car back from the install of the DRM top-end pkg--3 weeks on WEd!

 

[corvette dave]

Let's see.
DRM top end package=more horsepower=more braking needed=non-stock pads.

 

[wtknght1]

The stock Z06 brakes are actually pretty good, especially for beginner drivers with stock tires. They also work real well for modified cars with pro drivers on "easy" tracks. Both Dave Farmer and I were teaching at Charlotte. He still had stock pads on his (but more horsepower due to exhaust work), and sticky tires, and I had mine in full SCCA T1 racing trim (Kumho tires, Hawk HT-8 brakes, etc.) There was no real difference in braking performance between the two cars even from 150 down to about 60 or so. The stock pads wore more than the Hawk, but the performance was virtually equal. The Hawk's destroy the rotors and the stock pads didn't hurt the rotors much at all.

Charlotte is fairly easy on brakes, like Roebling and a few others so I wouldn't think twice about using them there. They'll also do fine for most beginners on even extreme braking tracks, but once you get some experience under your belt and start modifying your car, seek Hawk, PFC, or other racing brake pad to haul you down. Have fun!!

 

[Mako]

I also did the following to help my stock Z06 brakes: DRM SS Lines; DRM SS Pistons; DRM Front Brake Cooling Ducts; and high temp Brake fluid.

I run in a time-trials group, not the full race group. I will take the Durastop Pads I already have as backups to Button Willow next weekend.

After the Durastops, I may try something else. I know Button Willow (we are running the full course) will be harder on brakes than Willow Springs was.

 

[Silver Bullet]

Well the asnwer to the $24 question is they worked great on the north course at VIR and I was driving the car very very hard. Front straight speeds were near 135-140mph range and not braking till slightly inside marker #4.
I need to bleed the system though after the workout. Will see if anyone carries speed bleeders, they were a major plus on my other corvette.
By the way VIR is just a blast in a stock ZO6 with only a donaldson air filter. Those stock tires do fairly well (nothing compared to Kumho's but still good).