Let's Discuss C5 Z06 Brakes (Daily Driver Replacement)

It looks as though the pads (and possibly rotors) are going to be need replaced in a month or so on the Z06. In most instances, I normally replace all cars with Wagner or Wearever (Advance Brand) ceramic pads and rotors. However, this isn't exactly an F-250 or Jeep...

I literally know next to nothing about performance brake pads and it is difficult to get a consensus on what is comparable. The current OEM Z06 Pads are pretty good. Stop well, make a lot of dust, and squeak occasionally. The dust is irritating in that mine has the polished aluminum wheels, so I work a bit harder to keep them clean to reduce long-term damage. Noise does not bother me too much. I'm looking for something comparable to OEM, but am definitely willing to upgrade if I can. My only real criteria is not something that will dust like crazy and eat the finish of my wheels, or stop noticeably worse than stock.

The car is 98% of the time used for mundane "cruising" and running errands. Occasionally I get to go on a highway run or drive some wonderful country roads. I'd like to do an Auto-X or track day with the Corvette Club, but would be perfectly ok upgrading to "track-only" pads if it is warranted. Truth be told, I have no idea when I would have the time for this sort of thing. If it will stop when I need it to while driving in the twisties, that is of the utmost importance. Before anyone mentions, I buy a fresh tin of ATE Typ 200 and suction out/refill the master cylinder with every oil change.

My rotor options are as follows:

Wagner/Wearever from Advance $130/set. Wagners do not appear to be available currently. I've had good luck with Wearever and supposedly they are very comparable in quality. This is from a few guys I know who use them in fleet use, not from corporate propaganda. I know most rotors are made in China, but Wagner WAS machined in USA. Wearever supposedly uses the same grade steel.

Centric C-Tek from Rock Auto $90 for a complete set. I know Centric makes decent stuff, but am unaware where the C-Tek falls into line here. I'd imagine they would be similar in quality to the Wearever stuff?

Delco "Advantage" from Rock Auto $120 for the set. Look similar to the above mentioned rotors. Supposedly a "service-grade" replacement.

Delco "Durastop" form Rock Auto $148 for the set. Center "hat" looks like black e-coating similar to OEM. Supposedly still "Chinese" replacement rotors.

OEM Rotors from GM Parts House $220 for the set. Wondering if these are the actual OEM rotors (Hecho en Mexico), or the Durastops. Rockauto lists the "OEM" Delco rotor for about the same price.

Some C5 track guys I've seen posting say they warp pretty much all rotors. I'm thinking of going with the Centrics unless there are good reasons not to. If quality is pretty similar, the only advantage is easily being able to warranty the Wearever.

Pad options are as follows:

Wagner Thermoquiet from Rockauto $65 for entire car. Can do Ceramic or Semi-Met. Might these be enough for my DD duty?

Akebono Pro ACT Ceramic from Advance $132 for entire car. I know Akebono does a lot of GM OEM stuff. I'd wager that these are pretty similar to the Delco Ceramics a lot of Vette guys seem to run.

Hawk HP + from Advance $175 for entire car. Supposedly a lot better than stock. Do they dust TOO much? Is the dust highly corrosive?

Hawk HPS from Advance $151 for entire car. Better than OEM but a step down from the HP +. Are they worth more than 2x the price of a Wagner for my application? How do they compare to the Akebono for that matter?

I'm open to other suggestions, but this is what I tried to narrow everything down to.

I just sold my C5 Z06 after 8 years of ownership, and going through a lot of brakes. I can help here.

For daily driver, I switch to a powerstop kit with rotors and pads. I knew some people who don't like them, but I got them on a whim and used them on several cars since with very good results. The level of dust is acceptable, heat tolerance and fade were never a problem even in very spirited driving and some track time, though I wouldn't use them for a full on race. But for some HPDE type activities, they were great. Also, they look good.

I say again, this is a DD setup that works great and has great cost to performance ratio, but is not a full on race setup. Use good fluids!

http://tinyurl.com/pzff8x5

my .02: I purchased my c5z06 at the start of last summer, the PO had replaced the front z06 compound pads with base model pads (rears were still stock z06 compound) they dust far less he told me and lasted quite a bit longer, he also gave me a box containing 3 sets of front z06 compound pad for track use. I questioned having 3 sets but I'm all for freebies with new purchases. on the street the base pads worked great, stopping on par or better than anything else I've had. I attended an auto-x with them as well and no complaints there. Before my 1st track weekend I put on a pair of the new oem z06 pads, they performed great at the track day although were extremely dusty as mentioned. After the weekend before driving home I was giving the car a once over and noticed how thin the front pads were. I had managed to nearly destroy an entire set of brand new pads in a weekend! That surprised me coming from light/low hp momentum cars but its the nature of the beast I suspect. I spent the rest of the summer auto-x and street driving the base pads while burning through the sets of z06 pads for track use. I only replaced the rear z06 pads 1 time throughout the whole summer despite needing to replace fronts 3 times plus using the base pads on the front for street/autox

As for rotors, I wound up warping/cracking whatever front rotors were on the car at the first track weekend so I replaced them with Centric High Carbon Rotors (not the cryo treated ones just the high carbon plain 125 series rotors) They held up fantastically the rest of the season. 2 auto-x events later I wound up getting more shaking under braking and thought initially it was a bad front rotor. turned out the backs also wanted to be replaced. So matching high carbon centrics went on there as well.

Finally at the very end of last year before SEMA and the Optima street car finale event with my collection of stock pads all used up I decided to give Wilwood a shot with some upgrades, I switched the front setup to their superlite 6 piston 13" setup 140-8031-R with BP-20 compound pads billed for street and track use. Then added PM - Promatrix pads to the rear OE calipers (Wilwood suggested them as the matching compound for use with above) using the same set of Centric rotors from early summer. This setup worked fantastically on the track, a bit more bite than the oem setup once warmed up and 0 hint of fade. the cold bite is as good if not slightly better than the base model pads too. After that event amazingly the pads looked to have hardly any wear which was a surprise to me as I was use to wearing nearly fully through a set of pads every weekend.

I'm estimating I'll get 3 weekends out of these pads if the wear holds up this season the way it did last year. As for dust I'd put them somewhere in between base pads and z06 pads, they don't dust much on the street similar to base model pads but on track they are nearly as dusty as the oem z06 pads. since I already have the part numbers in my email folder easily searchable if you want to check them out the rear pads are: 150-D0732K and the fronts are: 150-D0731K

Sorry for writing a huge novel but I spent a lot of time changing brake pads last summer so I figured I'd pass along the info I had.

You sound like another guy who wants EBC Redstuff. Plenty better than OEM, but quiet and low-dust.

My favorite performance (street or track) pads have probably been Carbotech. If running multiple (street and track) compounds, it's nice to not have any concerns about about compatibility between the two on the rotors when both sets of pads are Carbotech. I'm probably going back to them for my non-performance use daily drivers too, just because I've been less than satisfied with my recent budget pad experiences. Brakes are just too important to mess with cheap crap anymore. For rotors I've typically used Brembo 'blanks' or Centric Premium. None of my experience has been on anything nearly as hard (or expensive) on brakes as a Vette, but at the same time I can't imagine a Vette being used the way God intended would be nearly as tolerant of inferior products either.

I've thought about trying EBC, as it sounds like their quality may have improved in recent years...I still have a hard time taking anything with "stuff" in the name seriously though.

OT: How is it DD'ing a c5 z06?

Driven5 wrote: I still have a hard time taking anything with "stuff" in the name seriously though.

Some of the world's most sensitive information and critical systems are hosted on Linux servers composed entirely of software with cutesy/silly names.

Edit: Also most of the UK's police cars are running Yellowstuff pads now so I think they have the QC issues sorted out.

I have EBC Redstuff front pads on my 328i (similar weight to a C5), and they have good stopping power. The bite isn't great, but they're performance street pads. I have generic rotors on it. I find the dust to be moderate, the rear ceramic pads have really low dust. I'm not sure how much more braking power you would get over OEM Z06 pads, however.

Driven5 wrote: My favorite performance (street or track) pads have probably been Carbotech.

Big +1 here too. I know they're expensive, but who wants to fiddle around with 600 degree brakes at the track? I never "DD" my track cars, just occasionally to/from work. If it literally does DD duty, you're going to have to compromise somewhere.

I don't think I could track a Z06 with a pad compound that would be acceptable for a true daily driver duty. That car is a beast on track and if you're driving it right, you're going to kill street compound pads. Personally, I don't give a crap about dusty brakes and would call the friendly folks at Carbotech, tell them what I wanted and go with their recommended compound.

Stoptech Street performance pads have worked well for me as a DD and autox pad. I did take the car out for one track day last year when my Miata was down and had some fade, and chewed through a decent amount of pad. I expected that though. As mentioned above, you're not going to find a DD pad that's going to work well on track once you get past the beginner stages. I'll be upgrading to dedicated pads for autox/track use this year, but I'll be buying another set of Stoptechs for the street when this set is done.
Overall they seem to do just as good as the OEM pads, but they are a lot cheaper. You can pick up a full set for around $120 on Amazon. Front, Rear They seem to dust a little more than OEM, but with a good coat of wax (jetseal109) on the wheels it washes off with little effort.

I run hps and im happy with them, dont dust much stop way better than stock and plenty fine for autox duty. Being a daily im sure you would be happy with them. As far as rotors go they may all be made in the same chinese factory and unless you are getting something drilled or slotted you wont not a difference between those brand rotors

Edit I have stoptech whatever performance non ceramic pads on the rear of the same car and they dust so much more than the hps even though it's on the rear. I wouldnt recommend them if your worried about dust otherwise they are good cheap performance pads

yupididit wrote: OT: How is it DD'ing a c5 z06?

Easy as pie. Power when I need it, docile when I dont. Put nearly 1000 miles in it over the past 2 weeks, including driving to Columbus.

Looks like I might sacrifice a bit of stopping power and do Wagner ceramics and plain rotors. When the time comes to hit the track, I'll just do better pads. As much as I like to think I need better new, the reality is that I drive 90% of the time at 1/10ths of the car's ability.

I REALLY want to powdercoat the caliper brackets but am unsure as to whether or not I can have the car down for that length of time. It looks as though my friend's mom's bf will let me do the brakes In his shop (using the lift) for the price of beers and a ride in the car. No complaints there.

Pick up some used calipers and brackets and take your time. Rebuild them and paint / powdercoat. Swap them at your leisure then do the other set. Sell freshly rebuilt and pretty calipers for enough to cover your materials.

Tyler H wrote: Pick up some used calipers and brackets and take your time. Rebuild them and paint / powdercoat. Swap them at your leisure then do the other set. Sell freshly rebuilt and pretty calipers for enough to cover your materials.

Exactly what I was going to suggest.

That's what I did on my Miata when I was still street driving it, picked up sport brakes, completely rebuilt and powdercoated. I switched up to a lighter set of brakes, I was amazed what I got out of them since they were rebuilt and looked good.

Not a horrible idea, actually. For some reason, rebuilt C5 calipers sell for big money. No idea why.

Mazda787b wrote: Not a horrible idea, actually. For some reason, rebuilt C5 calipers sell for big money. No idea why.

They are a terrific upgrade for C4s.

Indeed! A C4 with z06 calipers and ra1's was the best stopping car I've ever driven, including the 964.

I've run hawks on a ton of street and race cars, they make great products.

Ended up with the Wearever rotors. Used Advance's coupon code to get all 4 for $120. Figured if they hold up fine in the F-250 they'll be fine on the Vette. Everyone said that any rotor will warp on track, so the ability to warranty them anytime I want (I work there part time and my dad runs a store for them) was worth the extra $15 after shipping. Taking them to the local Carquest to be turned slightly to ensure they're 100% true.

Anyone have luck painting the hats with engine paint? I have a ton of it and figured it might hold up better than BBQ grille paint.

Still unsure on pads and whether I want to do Hawk, OEM, EBC, or Wagner. Might call Carbotech but don't want to waste someone's time if I go with another brand.

Mazda787b wrote: Anyone have luck painting the hats with engine paint?

Did this with my first Miata an it worked great...until my left rear caliper froze on The Dragon and caught on fire. Still looked OK but the color no longer matched the others.

I have no C5 experience, but I really like Hawk HP+ pads in my autocross cars. My CTS-V with those pads had insane stopping power.

Ended up getting a deal on Wagner Semi-Metalic pads for $65. Figured when the time came to do trackwork (whenever that ends up being), I will end up switching to a track pad to begin with.

Going to paint the rotor hats with engine paint this weekend and have the local shop throw everything on. I'll suck the MC nearly dry and re-fill with Typ200. I do this yearly/with every oil change.

I should be into everything for $300, not bad all things considered. I would've liked to go with something "better" just because, but I couldn't justify the extra $$$. The Fox Body needed $1000 in repairs this past week (new rear main, engine mounts, front coil springs, oil pan, control arm busings), so it definitely ate into my "fun" budget.