Which pads for the track?
 

So my 1st track day with the Z is coming soon. I currently have:

-BC BR series coilovers
-SPL rear camber arms
-0 toe all 4 corners, -1.4F/-1.7R camber
-Berk HFC's
-F.I. catback (12" res., C.F. mufflers)

going on the car before track day is:
-Stillen race oil cooler, with some kind of thermo plate
-track pads
-Motul RBF600 brake fluid

I am torn on what brake pads to buy for the track. When I started tracking my 05 STi years ago I started with Ferodo DS2500's. They worked for a while but on my second set, about 1 year after I began doing HPDE/Time Attack, I needed a higher temp pad. I jumped to the Performance Friction PFC-01's (rated up to 2000 degrees) and used those until I traded the STi for the Z. The 370Z's brakes being much bigger than the STi's, am I still going to need 2000 degrees of safety with a pad or would I be ok with the Carbotech XP10's rated at 1650 degrees?

If you dont feel the DS2500s are enough, pick up a set of DS3000's. The Carbotechs are great, if you are going that route, get XP10 fronts and XP8 rears. You dont need to get XP10 both ends.

Ill keep it on topic, ninja edit.

but I do think your alignment is pretty mild... I run -2 camber all around on the street :)

DS3000's got a lot of bad reviews on the STi forums. A lot of people said the 3000's didn't last long, they would get 1 or 2 track days out of them and that was it.

I am going to continue to run the same pad compound front to rear as I have in the past. I am debating between XP10's and XP12's.

About my alignment...I would actually rather my alignment be reversed. I want -1.7 front and -1.4 rear, but I have no camber adjustment up front yet and the rear gets too much toe getting any closer to my -1.4 goal. I ran -1.8F/-1.4R on my STi and the contact patch on the track was perfect. Sidewalls never rolled over, had even tread wear, and the car was very neutral.

Question. The Carbotech website says that you must remove all old pad material from the rotor before installing them. Has this been an issue with you when swapping out your street pads?

If it has, what method do you use to remove the pad deposits.

Hey

I ran DS2500 pads on my STI as street pads too and hated them. I figured everyone gives the DS3000 a good rep so they gotta be better. Personally, the best (performing) street pads I've used are HP+. Some might argue they are track pads, but I don't think they can hold up too well to a full day of racing.

XP12's? really? Do you have R-comps on the car? You don't gain anything by going to the higher friction compounds unless your tires have enough grip to make use of the stopping power.

I didn't want to get into specifics about your alignment, but yeah..you do have it backwards IMO. I do understand that you are trying to maximize the grip at the expense of understeer, I've had to do that on this car before. I would definitely look into getting some SPL control arms to adjust camber, etc. with.

On my STI I ran -2.7 / -2.3 for my street/track setup ;)

I have always ran HP+ on my 350z and my corvette, so I am sticking with them for now.

No R-comps. I run Max performance street tires. I am not looking to gain stopping power, I am looking to not over heat the pads. The XP12's are good up to 2000 degrees, same as the PFC01's I had to use on my STi to keep from over heating on tracks. The XP10's are good to 1650 degrees. Now the 370Z's rotors are much bigger than the STi's and the cars weigh about the same, so my thinking is I wont need a pad rated at such a high temp with the Z, which is why I am leaning towards the XP10's.

XP10 front XP8 rear is enough for the 370z. Once you get sticky tires then move up to the XP12's.

Carbotech XP10/8 combo worked great at the track this weekend for me at TGPR in Talladega! This track was pretty short which meant lots of braking and very little cooling time. Brakes got super hot, but never faded a bit...

Good to hear. I am going to go with XP10's front and rear. I think it will work well for me. Thanks for all the input guys.

10s in the back might be a little too grabby...

Anyone have a comment on the noise? Is it possible to leave the 8/10 combo on on the street without driving the local population nuts?

+1

HP-Plus for the track, FTW!