OEM Sport Brakes vs XP8 vs XP10
 

A recent thread has me wondering...

Now, myself I like OEM. The brakes on the Z are seriously good, scary good IMO. I feel like my soul is being ripped out of my body and continuing down the road when I really get on them.

But, there's always that "itch" for something better. Better how you say? Well, I don't know!

So, anyone who's used the Carbotech XP8 or XP10, coming from the sport brakes - what are your thoughts on them under the obvious criterial - track use (which will be next to never for me, but others may be more), daily driver use (commuting), performance car enthusiast (weekender, typically either cruising open roads or running the occasion errand and taking the long way).

One thing mentioned is they produce more dust than the OEM pads. How much dust? How much noise over OEM?


Any thoughts you can provide, I appreciate!

You can't get any better braking performance than what you have with the OEM pads, the XP pads simply have a greater (and higher) temperature range and may require more pedal pressure when cold (i.e. the first 2 or 3 stops).

Track pads can squeal a fair bit, mainly when cold or really hot. The dust isn't bad in average driving if you wash your car on a weekly basis.

But there really is no good or logical reason to install track pads if you aren't going to the track, you're braking distances will not be reduced.

I've never ever heard track pads squeal once they are warm. Too hot? What pads made noise when they were hot?

This is fasle. XP10's bite wayyyyyyyyyyy harder than stock pads. It's like driving a different car and requires a very gental braking foot. That being said, even though the bite is wayyyyy better with XP10's, tires are your limiting factor for stopping distance. Stock tires can't handle XP10's in my experience. Also they dust more than stock and are pretty noisy sometimes. I would not recomend them for daily use.

I have no experience with XP8's so I can't comment on those.

I'm actually looking at getting some track pads soon and the XP10/XP8 combo keeps coming up. I would LOVE to find a pad that is good enough for HPDEs but also not too much for street use as far as dust and noise goes. I do wash my car every 5-7 days or so as long as the weather isn't crappy so some dust is okay. Any further information on using these or other pads would be greatly appreciated; especially if there's a good recommendation between the two extremes.

/subscribe

to the OP: You do not need XP8's, much less XP10's for the driving on the street. In fact it may even be dangerous if you aren't used to it because track pads often need a little heat to work. I've heard of people forgetting they have track pads on and blowing through stop signs on cold mornings. My recommendation is that if you want "better" without dealing with all the issues associated with track pads, get something like EBC Yellow Stuff. If you want a huge change in performance and are willing to put up with moderate noise and dust get Hawk HP+ pads; they are semi track pads.

I'm going to have to side with import111 (no surprise here); better pads will drastically change braking performance. There's no getting away from physics in the end... a higher coefficient of friction, all else being the same, will decelerate an object quicker and will generate more energy in the process. I will also repeat what he said about tires. XP10's will be a little overwhelming for the stock tires, but should be OK. Tires are the limiting factor...you can only slow down as fast as your tires can grip the road. To really make use of track pads, you should have stickier tires, otherwise you're wasting perfectly good tires and pads.

Also, for the folks who want XP8/XP10s for the track, but will also drive with them on the street. I would say they are streetable; cold bite on them inst as bad as say...a set of endless pads...so you can get away with them. The only real issue that I have with XP's on the street is the damn noise. Get ready to get stared at when you pull up just about anywhere but the race track and lets not even talk about braking while going in reverse...eEeeEeeeeeEEeeEEeeeeeeeeee....eeEEeeEeeE EeE!!!eeeeeEEEE! E! Also, you're going to get used to saying this phrase more often: "They are track pads, that's why"

Track pads make noise when they get hot too, but chances are you wont have to worry too much about getting them up to temperature on the street.....

What about XP12 and XP16? :)

The XP's will bight harder (once warm) but the overall stopping distances will be exactly the same for street driving. The XP's will achieve the same maximum co-efficient of friction that the tires can handle, just with less pedal effort and generate more dust in the process. Tires are the limiting factor as you have stated.

Biting harder doesn't equate to better street performance, for street driving the limiting factor is street tires and the OEM's have more than enough friction to instantly activate an ABS condition. The track is a different situation entirely, I wouldn't run anything other than XP10's up front in that case.

Tires aside (or with stickier tires), braking distance will be greatly reduced by better pads. Also, its a lot easier to get to threshold braking with better pads even on the stock tires. So yeah, like Chris said, if you are really going for ultimate performance you need to swap tires too :) Will HP+ Make a huge difference in your non ABS braking....I think so absolutely... it will change the feel of your car. You dont really know how hard you can brake on the stock tires until you get better pads....

R-comps only :)

I guess I have a stupid question then...

When people say that track pads are noisy - does that also apply to when they aren't being used to slow/stop the car?

nah, only when you are using them. They dont make noise when you are just driving around. Not a dumb question.

Thanks for the confirmation - that's what I thought, just wanted to be sure! :)

No one mentioned it yet, but track pads on the street can eat rotors---high wear rate. Certain track pads are very harsh on rotors. When used correctly, the pads leave a film of material on the rotor. This is friction source. If you use track pads on the street, the braking is done with pad material against on rotor surface, not pad material against pad material. If track pads are too cold, they "scrape" off the pad material and then start wearing on the rotor face.

This is why using track pads on the street can help smooth out rotor shudder when you get street pads too hot and leave uneven deposits (99% of the time wrongly called warped rotors)