CL Racing Pads...You want these.
 

I thought I would share some info for the guys out there looking to upgrade their pads with the Akebono sport kit in the near future. I have tried many different compounds for the street and track, but these kick some serious butt.

The CL Racing pads are an amazing solution. The CL RC 5+ are perfect for the street. Amazing bite, low rotor wear, low noise, and moderate dust... these are the perfect daily driven pad.

The CL racing RC 6 and a great solution for the guys who want a pad that makes your sport brakes feel like 6 piston calipers. They are noisy, but the bite is crazy. They have low rotor wear and moderate dust, but I am confident you guys will trade the occasional squeal for the nasty amount of initial bite. They are near impossible to fade as well.

With either kit you will find they require little to no break in and your rotors will last as long or longer than stock. I thought I would start this thread to get a discussion/review going and see what you guys think about them.

We can get them for anyone interested or if you are in the area I can take you for a ride in the shop car to see them first hand.

http://www.essexparts.com/media/uplo...esized_700.jpg

Everything John says here is ABSOLUTELY true.

I run RC6E pads on all four corners and can tell you, the stock sport brakes paired with good rotors and the RC6 pads will rip your face off.

They have incredible bite and cold stopping power at every ambient temperature I have tested them at (From the 40's to over 100, so far). Once they're heated up, they're even more awesome, which is hard for me to believe, every time I get them nice and hot.

They are, for all intents and purposes, incompressible. Pedal feel is amazing. With two days of high speed tracking, multiple trips to the drag strip, a couple autocrosses and at least 5k street miles on my set, I have over half the meat still on them and the rotors look almost brand new. So if you can tolerate the noise, do it. You won't regret it.

sounds sweet, but why does the CL box say for racing only, not for "xxxx" use (cant read the word in xxxx)

im sure like most other things exhaust and intakes that say not for street use, but brake pads? if they have great bite then wouldnt that make them good street pads? im not an expert just trying to understand what constitutes a street "safe" pad. do these not bite hard at cold temps?

It's not a safety issue I don't think. I've driven with it in the 40's and noticed no difference at all after the very first application to scrub the inevitable thin layer of rust. Maybe at REAL cold temps it could become an issue? I have never had a problem warming brakes up though, it's not really difficult lol

I have driven them in the cold as well...no issues. I have them on the Z now...on the EVO before that...and a few other cars. My wife ran a whole season with the RC5+ on her STI and then through the winter. I would suggest the RC5+ for a dual purpose car. The RC6 is a far more aggressive pad. I run them all year, but I do not mind the added noise. The 5s' are a good compromise for moderate track duty and daily driving.

what's the price for both sets?

Just like to say you have an awesome wife, I'm trying to convince my GF to get into cars a bit more. :tiphat:

Are they avalaible for the front and the rear Akebono calipers ?

I love the RC6E, although i wouldn't recommend street driving these since they are self lubricating by heat. A day or two either side of an event is fine and helps scrub the rotors clean.

On track they are quiet (no squeal) and only take one stop to get up to a suitable operating temperature. Easy to modulate, smooth bite and release. Which is good for the Z since the ABS doesn't like super aggressive bite pads. They have twice the wear life of other pads I've used which offsets their cost.

Yes.

What about NonSport models? I love squeeek...

Unfortunately not available currently.

How much noise are we talking about. Will I be embarassed like it is a twenty year old POS screeching, or how would you describe it? I need a brake solution by September.

That's exactly how mine sounds. However, I don't have shims and they haven't been lubed since late March. They were much more reasonable back then.

And what about the RC6E ? Seems to be a good option for long track running ? But not avalaible for the Akebono calipers...