Carbotech Brake Pads Installed, WOW and an interesting finding.

spearfish25

In preparation for track day season, I replaced the stock sport pads with some Carbotech pads (XP10 front, XP8 rear). Following the DIY made the process very easy (with thanks to those who helped me realize the stock squealer bracket is not needed on the Carbotechs!). One thing that has bothered me about the Z is that mine always required a very firm pedal press to actually brake hard and get the antilock to kick in. Well, that's no longer the case!

The Carbotech pads bite like nothing I've ever experience before (first track pad experience, but wow). Where I would have to really exert myself to stop with the stock pads, the Carbotechs only require about 1/10th the pedal effort before they want to throw you through the windshield. The difference is night and day. I'll see how the fade factor improves next week.

One very interesting and potentially concerning finding occurred with a very fast, hard pedal stomp. The brakes bite ferociously, the antilock system engages, and then it felt like I entered the dreaded 'icing mode'. Knowing I couldn't burnish the pads on the street, I made a feeble effort going around the block a number of times. Hard panic stops always started with an abrupt, violent deceleration but then the antilock would come on and the braking force almost stopped. It truly felt like I was on ice and I actually rolled through one intersection. The sensation is exactly like having your antilocks come on while you're on a patch of ice, and you just stop very very slowly.

The pads aren't burnished yet, but the amazing initial bite makes me think this 'sliding' sensation is the damn icing mode we've been talking about in another thread. Have you guys with track pads noticed this phenomenon with a massive pedal stomp? The alternative is that the pads are losing grip without them being appropriately burnished yet, but I just don't feel like that's the issue.

Thoughts?

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z