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Brake Pads -- RP2 vs XP12 or....

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pufferfish

Supporting Vendor
1,094
66
Maryland
If you can afford them, the DBA 5000 2-piece are awesome! There's more up front cost, but replacing rotor rings is only marginally more expensive than replacing the single piece DBA 4000's.

But, best bang for the buck I have found are the Stoptech/centric cryo rotors.

Rear tow hook/hitch has been a tough one to get a manufacturing process worked out, but it's gonna be sweet when it's done. I will start a thread on it when I have more details to share.
 

drano38

Wayne
1,130
318
I'll second what others said about Carbotech pad transfer.
I guess I'm not good enough at their finicky bedding to prevent the transfer and resulting shudder. I tried XP10, RP2 and XP12, all at Mike Jr's advice from Carbotech, then moved on.

I ran PFC 01 this summer up front, and they worked well with NT-05. But as they lost their grip from heat cycling, I could feel the anti-skid kicking in at most corners. Retired that set of tires, and was good to go on the next set. Plant to try PFC 08 next summer.
 
YellowJacketBoss302 said:
Slotted rotors... Hmmm. What do you recommend, and what is the price? Very interested in the new rear hook design. Will hold off on getting tow hooks for now.

The DBA T3 4000's are very good rotors. I used them this past season with Carbotech XP20's and had no issues. These pads and rotors together will give you great performance with good pad/rotor life. KNS has the rotors on sale now and if you get the pre-bed carbotech's for a few extra dollars ($15 I think) you don't have to worry about doing it wrong. As other have mentioned, I would also recommend (at the least) R comp street tires or (preferred) slicks.
 
To those who had shuddering with Carbotechs: did you guys bed them in on turned/new rotors or used rotors?

I too have gotten bad shuddering, although braking has been great.
 

steveespo

Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child
Moderator
4,008
1,924
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Cookeville TN
New rotors and used with previous Carbotech compounds. I only had it twice in 2 years of running them, once on the front and once on the rear, both with XP-16 compound. It also went away after running a session with less agressive braking. I really believe it is due to not properly bedding the pads before hard use. You have to get a layer of pad transfered to the rotors evenly, Overheating the new pads caused the transfer to be heavier in some areas of the rotor face and lighter on others. Acts like a "warped" rotor. After some street or less agressive track use the material is stripped away and sucessive layers go on evenly since the pads are seasoned.
Steve
 

pufferfish

Supporting Vendor
1,094
66
Maryland
i have bed my brakes to the book and always got the same end result...a hard breaking day would result in sporatic glazing, which NEVER goes away. went to the prebed option and experienced no change.

swapped out the factory rotor for slotted and never had the issue again. i brake as hard as i like all day and swap between street and track pads at will.

not even carbotech themselves could explain it to me! but the results are the results. so, i advocate slotted rotors to all my customers and not one person has come back to say it didn't work.

my best guess (and that is all it is), is that under extreme braking, the dust generated gets trapped between the pad and rotor, causing glazing. the slots give a passage to expel the dust.
 

steveespo

Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child
Moderator
4,008
1,924
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Cookeville TN
pufferfish said:
i have bed my brakes to the book and always got the same end result...a hard breaking day would result in sporatic glazing, which NEVER goes away. went to the prebed option and experienced no change.

swapped out the factory rotor for slotted and never had the issue again. i brake as hard as i like all day and swap between street and track pads at will.

not even carbotech themselves could explain it to me! but the results are the results. so, i advocate slotted rotors to all my customers and not one person has come back to say it didn't work.

my best guess (and that is all it is), is that under extreme braking, the dust generated gets trapped between the pad and rotor, causing glazing. the slots give a passage to expel the dust.

Good anaylysis Steve and I believe what you experienced. There are so many variables with brakes, style of the driver, cooling methods or lack of, ambient temps, rotor materials, track requirements etc. that all experiences are different. I have had the shudder but both times it went away without changing the rotors. I would love a set of 15"slotted blanks, no one makes them yet and the 2 pc FRPP one are very expensive and not worth the trouble. Are you running Pagids or Performance Friction now?
Steve
 
Thanks for all the info on slotted rotors. I ordered a set of the T3 from KNS as was suggested. So, next track day ( in a couple of weeks) will use carbotech XP20 f and XP10 r with slotted T3 rotors.
 
YellowJacketBoss302, how was your new brake setup on the track?

(I'm trying to decide between XP12 and XP20 Fronts for use with Pilot Super Sport tires. Carbotech says try XP20, yes, even with these street tires.)
 
Bob said:
YellowJacketBoss302, how was your new brake setup on the track?

(I'm trying to decide between XP12 and XP20 Fronts for use with Pilot Super Sport tires. Carbotech says try XP20, yes, even with these street tires.)
The pads and rotors worked well. There was no brake shudder from pad deposits. There was no brake fade. The ABS was activated twice
-- once on about the second lap when the tires were still cold (it was a cold day)
-- and once when I hit an oil slick laid down by a car with a blown engine (that was a wild ride).
I am happy with the combination
 

johnrehder

New Boss 302 LS owner
Too many dang choices! Arrgg, I need a complete set of rotors and pads for my LS for a few track days this year. I'm a pretty good driver with about 15 track days under my belt. Just don't have a lot of coin to spend, maybe 800.00 for the whole lot. Best bang for the buck and recommended vendor from this site?? Sorry for a rehash guys, I did read the whole thread here! :p
 
If it helps, here's what I think is a rather inexpensive way to get nice new pads and rotors:

From Amazon.com
126.61089SL StopTech Sport Rotor Sold by Car Part Kings $85.11
126.61089SR Slotted Brake Rotor Sold by Car Part Kings $85.11
+$26.50 shipping

From ebay.com
$50 for OEM rear rotors
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-2012-FORD-MUSTANG-13-2-GT-FRONT-BRAKE-ROTORS-SET-OEM-FACTORY-TAKE-OFF-/271303153475?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AMustang&hash=item3f2aed9743&vxp=mtr

From ctbrakes.com (after asking for 5% forum discount)
CT1001-XP20 $247
CT1082-XP10 $158
+$40 for pre-bedding
+$15? for shipping?

That's about $706 total.

You can do it for about $55 cheaper if you want XP12/XP10 and get them from pufferfish

If you don't want slotted front rotors you can find the centric premium rotors for $60 each (plus shipping) or pick up NAPA rotors for about that much.

I've also been told that KNS can get you some DBA T3 rotors with XP12/XP10 pads for just a little over the $900 mark.

Hope it helps!
 

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