C5 Corvette Caddillac Brembo Brakes - Brake Pad and Rotor Reviews

Available Track Day Pads - Compared

At this point I've got through several sets of pads over 18+ track days with the Cadillac Bremos. Here's everything I'm aware of that is available for these brakes and my thoughts on what is available along with endorsements from what I like.

EBC SR series brake pads ENDORSED!

• SR11 - DP81210.15SR11 (Medium/Endurance)
  • 10+ track days thus far on a single pair with some to go, LOVE them!
  • Great initial bite, no fade over many laps. A very consistent feel!
    • Can run 40 minute sessions all out, no problem.
  • Requires minimal time (under a full lap) to "warm up"
  • Low dust and rotor wear, Confirmed!
  • Some brake fade does seem to come up as pads wear more, possible more heat transfer?
  • Claimed good street manners It's passable, but squeals a lot. I don't endorse for street.
  • EBC recommends with ABS
• EBC SR21 - DP81210.15SR21 (High friction/Time trial) (Have not tried this)
  • EBC does not recommnd with ABS. If your ABS is out though, this is an option?
  • Claimed ultra low dust and rotor wear, but more than SR11?
  • Not so great street manners, intense initial bite
  • Doubts raised about these for intermediate track drivers, advanced only reccomended.

Carbotech XP-10 Brake Pads

• Carbotech XP-10 (CT1001A-XP10) - $220 a set
  • Personally track tested! I endorse these for street/track!
  • Excellent track wear. 9 track days before changing, and probably had one day left.
  • Reasonable street manners
  • Modest brake dust compared to Powerstop Track pad, but still notably dusty.
  • Modest rotor wear.
  • Some fade as they heat up and pedal travel that I did not experience with any other pads. Perhaps consider an XP12

Powerstop Track Day Pads - PST-1001- $128 ea

• Personally track tested! I DO NOT RECOMMEND.
• HIGH rotor wear. 3 track days with these looked twice as bad as 9 with the Carbotechs and infinitely worse than EBC.
• The worst brake dust I've ever seen, and it's very caustic and destroys paint. Not recoomended!
• Tested and Lasts 3 to maybe 4 track days.
• Zero brake fade, okay cold feel entering track, bearable on the street minus intense rotor wear.
• Surprisingly good bite and feel that is consistent accros an entire session, but not as good as the EBC.

Other Options I am aware of but haven't tried:

Hawk HB910G.590 - DTC-60 - $200 a set

• Medium wear ?
• Less braking power
• See Hawk Brake pad compound comparison

Hawk HB910U.590 - DTC-70 - $230 a set

• Medium/high wear ?
• Notable braking power
• Modest cold braking power

EBC DP51210NDX  - "Blue" Track Pad - $120 a set

• Medium/high wear
• Good street manners. (tested on our NC Miata)
• Supposed/reported brake fade above 600 degrees.

Available Rotors - Compared

Going into a recent track weekend, I noticed my rotors were starting to crack a bit along the drilled holes. This is a pretty common complaint for the drilled rotors and why very few people recommnd them for track weekend. For what it's worth, with the powerstop brakes the holes got so filled with brake dust they were pretty much worthless anyways, so there really isn't a reason to run them. I started doing some investigation into the brake rotor options, and I figured I'd document my research here for those interested in comparing everything.

Rotors, and general notes on them:

• KNS Solid Rotors - $110ea (ENDORSED)
  • I've tested these. Work good. HEAVY, but wear well.
  • Available direct from KNS (Manufactured by DBA)
  • PROS
    • Tested and known to have pretty good durability.
    • Supposedly has special vane structure to improve structure durability and cooling. No test data found to support this though.
  • CONS
    • No cooling benefits like slotted or cross drilled
    • Heavy!
• DFC Blank Rotors - Part # 60047034 - $78ea at time of writing
  • Available from Rockauto.
  • PROS
    • Cheap
  • CONS
    • Unknown durability
    • No cooling benefits
    • Heavy
• DBA T3 4000 Series Slotted Rotor - $210ea
  • Available from KNS
  • PROS
    • Potentially improved braking and cooling
    • Slightly lighter than solid rotors.
  • CONS
    • Pretty much double the cost with no confirmation of double the durability or additional cooling data
• DBA T3 5000 series Rotors - $447ea
  • Available direct from KNS (Manufactured by DBA)
  • PROS
    • Probable reduced rotational mass, but not mentioned in description.
    • Better cooling and rotor shape since inner and outer can cool at different rates.
  • CONS
    • Expensive initial buy in of 4.5x as much as KNS blanks.
    • Replacement rings are 3.5x as much as KNS blanks
    • No data supporting these lasting 3.5-4.5x as long or improved cooling.
• Girodisc C6Z06 rotors - $500ea
  • Available direct from Girodisc
  • PROS
    • 6lb reduction in rotational mass over OEM
    • Better cooling since inner and outer can cool at different rates
    • Full floating setup (improved pad wear + braking power)
    • Low noise design with springs as part of full floating setup.
  • CONS
    • $650 replacement cost for rings, so again 3.5x as much as OEM.
    • No data supporting the increased durability of these rotors.
• AMT Motorsports Full Floating Rotors - $1050 total / $525ea
  • Available direct from AMT
  • PROS
    • Takes the KNS 5000 series and improves upon them with a floating design
    • Presumed reduced rotational mass
    • Better cooling since inner and outer can cool at different rates
    • Full floating setup.
  • CONS
    • Presumed higher replacement cost of rings as you not only need to order the KNS rings, but also presumably replacement AMT hardware to work with their hat design, unless the hardware never wears out?