hemi_fan

I've been searching through the brake pad threads but most of them are several years old now so I figured I'd start a new one to capture any newer pads on the market.

I use my '04 V a LOT. It does 40k km (25k miles) per year and 4-5 track days. Its coming time to replace the brakes and I'm looking for recommendations. Currently it has drilled/slotted rotors and unknown pads (from previous owner) and the performance is less than impressive although they did hold up to a couple of track days.

I've run Hawk HPS and HP+ on my Mustang. The HPS's were toast after one track day. The HP+'s hold up really well to abuse but they squeal like crazy after a couple of track days and honestly don't have much for initial bite from my experience.

I'm looking for input on what pads are good for daily driving but also up to the task of occasional track-days. I lap at Toronto Motorsports Park mainly which is pretty hard on brakes. I'm looking for something with good street manners but can hold up to the heat. I'd compromise and deal with the dust more than squealing. For rotors I've seen some people recommending centric premium's or OEM so I'll probably go one of those routes.

Suggestions?

Fweasel

iTrader: (6)

HPS and HP+ are street pads and have no business being on a car as heavy as the V at the track, from my personal experience anyway. My usual track day prep including swapping over to a dedicated set of track pads that I would squeal my way to the track on, back home, and swap over to street pads Sunday night before work on Monday.

The right pad depends on your track layout, the straight away speeds you're seeing, the tire compounds you run, and your driving style. If you're sticking with the Hawk brand, which I'm most familiar with, you'll likely do pretty good with HT-10's on street tires. I was a fan of the DTC-60/70 combo when I ran R-compound tires on my Legacy. There are several other avid trackers here with much more experience on pads the the CTS-V specifically. I would defer to their suggestions.

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

If you want good dual purpose ones, Raybestos ST43s. I've used Hawk DTC 70s on the track and they have great bite but are hard on rotors.

k24556

I use Raybestos ST47's on my C5 Corvette track car and like them. I have also used ST43's. I like them both on that car, and that would be the first track pad I would buy to try on the track on a -V. The cheapest place to buy them is Randall race parts:

http://www.randallraceparts.com/

They are usually 40-50% cheaper than anyone else on Raybestos. If you go to the AC and RR section of the Corvette Forum, you won't find anyone with a bad word to say about RRP. I've been to the shop. They do a lot of NASCAR stuff and bedding of their rotors, so they know brakes. I think you need R592 and R1001 part numbers for the Raybestos pad for the CTS-V.

It seems the Brembo caliper on the -V is used on a lot of other cars so you should find a good selection.

For certain I would swap back at the end of a track day, and make sure when you swap pads for the track to re-bed your rotor so you get the right oxide film on the rotor. otherwise, you will get variable performance until they are bedded on the track.

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

If you're budget conscious, look on eBay for the BrakeMotive rotors and pads for our cars. They're REALLY reasonably priced, and I've been fine with mine after a year of daily driving. The plating that they put on them to resist corrosion even stood up to a nasty Ontario winter - the rotors still look great. Not showroom, but pretty damn good all things considerd.

hemi_fan

Thanks for the tips. I'm leaning towards picking up the st43s and some street pads. I'm thinking either OEM or Stoptech Street Performance pads for daily duty. Are the Centric high carbon rotors the ones to get (12562075/12562076 Rockauto PN)? Or does everyone go with the economy Centric rotors?

isis

iTrader: (1)

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=4663080&cc=1432727&jnid=460&jpid=0

I need fronts soon. This is probably what I'll do.