Looking for Recommendations for Brake Pads

**Terry Quinn** · 05-28-12, 09:15 AM

I'm looking for recommendations on brake pad replacement and possible shim additions.

I have a stock 2002 Z06. I've autocrossed it, but will be taking it to Katech at Autobahn CC in Joliet for two track days at end of July. I've hear that I should flush the brake fluid and change brake pads, and maybe install titanium brake pad shims to reduce heat transfer to the calipers.

Car is 99% street use, and I'm comfortable with the amount of dusting that the stock pads produce. Given some bad experiences with ceramic pads by others, I'll probably want to avoid those. Mostly I want to insure that I've got the brakes I need for the track days.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Terry

**kim** · 05-28-12, 09:21 AM

I use the Hawk HP Plus for autoxing, they work great no more brake fade. I do put my street pads back on for none competitive use.

**melsy** · 05-29-12, 08:10 AM

My '03 Z06, purchsed new, is my daily driver, as have been all my Vettes for the last 50 years. I put the AC/Delco ceramic pads on at 20k miles and just replaced them with Hawk Performance ceramic pads. The AC's were excellent and the Hawk's appear to be the same. Hope this helps.

**6 Shooter** · 05-29-12, 08:35 AM

http://www.westcoastcorvette.com/p-73-corvette-brake-pads-hawk-hpsstreet-front-1997-2013-c5c6.aspx

http://www.westcoastcorvette.com/p-74-corvette-brake-pads-hawk-hpsstreet-rear-1997-2013-c5c6.aspx

**Terry Quinn** · 05-29-12, 08:43 AM

Originally Posted by melsy

My '03 Z06, purchsed new, is my daily driver, as have been all my Vettes for the last 50 years. I put the AC/Delco ceramic pads on at 20k miles and just replaced them with Hawk Performance ceramic pads. The AC's were excellent and the Hawk's appear to be the same. Hope this helps.

I'm a little goosey about ceramics. One writer reported that he put on ceramics and took them to a track day, and they quickly glazed over, causing him to lose most of the day sanding off the glaze. If anyone has any experience to the contrary, I'd be interested.

Thanks for the input.

Terry

**Terry Quinn** · 06-01-12, 02:54 PM

Further information: I spoke to a rep at Hawk, who was very helpful. His first recommendation was HT-10 pads, which are track-only pads that give moderate performance on the street (not as good as factory Z06 pads), but when they heat up give about 30% more stopping capability on the track.

Alternately, I could go with HP Plus, which can be used on the street, and have about 15% more braking torque than the factor Z06 pads.

Both of these would be noisier than the factory pads for street use, so as someone else said, I'd probably pull them off for the street.

Question: Has anyone had adverse experience putting high performance pads on a stock C5 Z06, resulting in damage to rotors or calipers?

Thanks for any help.

Terry

**Hib Halverson** · 07-04-12, 09:29 AM

I'm familiar with the Katech track day event and, for that, I think the pads Hawk has recommended would be a good choice. There is one other thing you MUST do if you're really going to "use" those pads and that is flush and bleed your brakes including running the "autobleed" procedure on the ABS modulator.

I'd suggest using at least a DOT4-rated synthetic brake fluid (I like Valvoline because it's a good compromise between performance and cost) and, better, yet Motul DOT5.1 fluid, which is a synthetic, non-silicon, racing brake fluid which can, also, be used on the street.

You can expect shorter rotor life with aggressive brake pads. In fact, if you run hard, you can use up a set of front rotors in a few events. You can also expect a lot of brake dust. Additionally, a sometimes problem with C5 brakes which are regularly run on road courses are melted outer brake piston boots so, after every event inspect them. Finally, depending on how hard you run on the track and how many events you do, C5 front hubs are a weak spot. If you're going to run track day events regularly, I'd check for wheel bearing play every few events. If you find play outside of the service manual specs, scrap the front hubs. The best replacements come from SKF.

Lastly, given the stock C5 brakes, there is NO way to have Hawk pads and good track day braking and, also, have low/no dust and rotor life typical of street driving and OE pads.

**Terry Quinn** · 07-04-12, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by Hib Halverson

I'm familiar with the Katech track day event and, for that, I think the pads Hawk has recommended would be a good choice. There is one other thing you MUST do if you're really going to "use" those pads and that is flush and bleed your brakes including running the "autobleed" procedure on the ABS modulator.

I'd suggest using at least a DOT4-rated synthetic brake fluid (I like Valvoline because it's a good compromise between performance and cost) and, better, yet Motul DOT5.1 fluid, which is a synthetic, non-silicon, racing brake fluid which can, also, be used on the street.

Hib,

Thanks for the additional information. Since my earlier posts, I've flushed the brake lines with a power bleeder using DOT3, which is what the car is shipped with from the factory. I did not "autobleed" the ABS because my factory service manual says I need to use the GM service tool to initiate the autobleed procedure, and I don't have that tool. So I'll probably see a little of the old brake fluid mixing in from the ABS.

I installed the Hawk HP Plus brake pads. I still have half rotor life, so I think I'll be okay for this two day event at least.

Thanks for the information on the outer boots. I'll keep an eye on those.

Terry