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Question on brake bias and Carbotech pad options

3K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  exlondoner 
#1 ·
I think it's time to stop using Porterfield R4s and switch to the Carbotech XP series. Hearing so many good things about the Carbotechs, and I like that they come pre-bedded.

The question is: What set-up for front and rear brakes? (And to be clear: This is for track driving, plus the 100+ miles of street driving, to and from the track.)

Sector recommends running the more aggressive pad (XP12) in the front, and the less aggressive pad (XP10) in the rear. I assume the same logic would apply to XP10s in front and XP8s in the rear. This set-up would seem to reinforce the car's leaning to an already pronounced front bias for braking.

Meanwhile, my service tech is having success with the opposite approach, running XP8s on the front and XP10s on the rear. The premise being this balances out a car that comes from the factory with too much front bias.

So what do folks think about the two schools of thought? I'm a competent but not particularly fast driver. I trail-brake appropriate corners, but I'm not interested in a set-up that's too much of a hand-full at the limit. My gut is telling me to go with XP8s or XP10s on all four wheels, yet it seems the staggered approach -- with more aggressive pads at the front -- is the favored approach among very fast drivers.

I have searched the forums and have found only one instance of an Elisetalker (Jasondew) putting the more aggressive pads on the back. Anyone else have experience with this type of set-up? To what degree does this really change driving dynamics? Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
I'm also very interested in this because I'm tinkering with the idea of switching to Carbotechs from my current Pagids, which I've been running for 10 years now.
 
#3 ·
It depends on your brakes. I run XP10 front XP8 rear, but I have the 315mm front/330mm rear ap racing BBK. At one point, through a bit of confusion, I ended up with XP12 front and XP8 rear, and the fronts locked up way too quickly and induced ICE mode at the track. Some folks with OEM brakes run the higher compound in the rear and like it quite a bit, but I think those folks tend to have the 1-pot rears.

You could always start with the same compound front and rear and see how you like it and make a change at the track fairly easily. Tell your brake supplier what you're trying to do and they may help you on pricing.
 
#4 ·
The 2008+ cars come with bigger calipers on the front, that may account for some of the variation you see.

It does seem that most vendors recommend a staggered approach on the cars with 2pot fronts. (12/10, 10/8, etc). I have gone that way, but unfortunately its all I've ever known. For sure putting more bias up front gives you less ability to trail brake.

I have also seen people recommending the more forward bias because they claim it helps/eliminates getting locked out of the rears, which can be an eye opening situation if you haven't experienced it (search ice mode). At some point in time I'm going to try even pads on f/r, but I bought well into the future last time sector had a sale :)
 
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