Carbotech Brake Pads Installed, WOW and ICE MODE???
 

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?

the dreaded ice mode..

there are a few threads about it already with a lot of info man.

And yes, the carbotechs are unbelievable, told ya ;)

You sure did :) Absolutely amazing pads. I don't want to take them off now.

As for ice mode...I read through those other threads a few days back which is why I'm curious if what I experienced is 'it'. The strange thing is that I could reproduce this every single time I hammered the brake pedal (other said it happened very sporadically). It would stop like a beast if I stayed out of ABS, but a few seconds of ABS turned into that glazed sliding feeling with no stopping. If this is really the ice mode, then the Z just doesn't tolerate prolonged, heavy ABS activation. I suppose one can threshold brake, treating ABS activation like wheel lockup in a non-ABS car. Scary schiesse though...I better not have that happen on the track!

Are you DDing this brake pad setup? If so, how's that going?

I don't think you will experience it on the track. The pads are overwhelming your street tires, and you are going much slower when burnishing them then you will be going on the track, and I think they will work out just fine. I believe the ice mode is something people see more in autocross.

Then again, I have brembos up front and was running ferodo pads. I use XP12/XP10 now, but didn't get any hot laps in with them before the oil cooler failed.

Re: "icing mode"...you broke those pads in before using them on the track, ya?

Not sure if this is at me, but if it is....no, haven't tracked yet. I plan to break the pads in on the highway to the track in the wee hours of the morning :excited:

I'm hoping the 'iced' sensation is just due to the need for burnishing. Looking at the rotors after my local spin, it appears the track pads just removed the stock pad material from my rotors rather than transferred any new material to them. I think I just resurfaced my rotors!

I'll report back on how the pads are going after next weekend. So far, they have me amazed with the difference in feel.

Carbotech claims they are rotor friendly and have non-corrosive dust making them usable as DD pads. The feel alone has me tempted to keep them on for a while beyond next week. The squeakiness doesn't bug me too much yet. Dust is...ummmm...substantial.

Does this mean I have to tell my wife that I need some Hoosiers?

Haha, yup. Tell her its not safe without race tires.

although, I'm really liking the Goodrich R1's. 90% of hoosier performance for 75% of the cost, and they are lasting pretty long too. I think I have about 9-10 track days on them and they still look and grip really good.

Oh yeah? Good to know Mike, thanks for the info.

I'm a big fan of the 888's.

I haven't tried them new. I would buy qualifying takeoffs used for my corvette, but they never really lasted more than a weekend. I know Sharif runs them too.

I run them daily on my old 350z, C6 and RX-8. They stop great, but they are so noisy that you probably won't be able to stand them for too long. They also dust a lot. if you care about wheel, I don't recommend it

The squeaking is minimal for me thus far. They are very dusty but Carbotech says the dust will not harm the wheel finish. It just looks like crap.

Yup, their pad material is not as abrasive as some others like the Cobalt's (which are also pretty good) so it won't destroy your wheel..I wouldn't let it cake over though so wash them often.